A Spoonful of Murder (35 page)

“Come down here. We can at least hear ourselves think.” Lucky opened the door to her office and indicated the two chairs by the desk.

“Whew! This is quite a party.” Eleanor collapsed into one of the chairs. “Lucky, I’d like you to meet Professor Horace Winthorpe.”

Lucky was momentarily confused, not sure who this man was or why Eleanor would bring him to the Spoonful to introduce him.

“
Retired
professor, my dear. A pleasure to meet you.” He reached across the desk to shake her hand.

“Horace has absolutely fallen in love with your house and would like to rent it long-term, if you approve.”

“Approve? I’m thrilled.” Lucky felt an instant liking for this elderly man. “You’re retired?”

“Yes. And I love this town. I need a quiet place to work for a few years. I’m writing a book, you see. I taught history my whole life. My field is the Revolutionary War years in New England. I hope you approve of me as a tenant, and I hope you haven’t changed your mind about your home—your parents’ home, I understand from Eleanor.”

“Not at all. I think it will be a perfect fit. Welcome to Snowflake.” Lucky smiled.

“Thank you, my dear. And I know I’ll be a regular customer here as well. Delightful restaurant, and I understand your chef is back in the kitchen now?”

“He certainly is.”

“Lucky, would it be all right if we stayed for a while?” Eleanor asked. “I’d like to introduce Horace to people, so he’ll get to feel at home.”

“Absolutely. Please do. Everyone’s welcome.”

“We’ll just rejoin the party then. Horace plans to move in next month.”

“I hope you’ll be very happy here, Horace.”

“Thank you. I’m excited about living here. So close to Bennington and that famous battle.”

B
Y TEN O’CLOCK
the crowd had thinned. Lucky was scraping casserole dishes and stacking them on the kitchen hatch. Remy, on the other side, was rinsing and loading the dishwasher.

Lucky saw Nate sitting at a corner table with Jack sipping a beer. She called to Remy that she was taking a break and joined them.

Nate smiled at her as she pulled up a chair. “I was just telling Jack that I wish I had listened to the two of you sooner.” He shook his head. “I just hope that poor guy”—Nate indicated Sage with a nod of his head—“doesn’t hold a grudge.”

“I think Sage is over the moon, and no, I don’t think he will.”

“I’m still having a hard time getting my head around it—of all people. She was a real nice lady.”

Lucky felt a wave of sadness wash over her, remembering Abigail’s song at the concert, the notes echoing from the rafters.

Nate shot her a look. “Starkfield’s completely fallen apart. He’s told me everything. How he pushed you down the stairs at the house…”

“Oh.” Lucky blushed. “I was hoping you never found out I was there.”

Nate’s lips tightened. “He was in a panic that something in the house would point to his involvement with Honeywell.
He was desperate not to have it known he was seeing her. He’s admitted to taking Elias’s car to go up to the house. He was afraid to use his own car—afraid someone might recognize it. I really don’t think he had any suspicion about Abigail at first—just afraid he’d be a suspect in a murder investigation.”

“I’m sure that’s true. My guess is Abigail used Jon’s phone to text Honeywell to meet at the Clinic. Honeywell thought she was meeting Starkfield, but Abigail was waiting for her.”

“That’s what Starkfield’s told me,” Nate replied. “It was only later that he saw there was a text sent the night of the murder. That’s when he started to put it together.”

“You think Abigail planned to kill her?” Jack asked.

“No. Not at all. I’m sure Abigail only wanted to tell her to stay away from her husband. She told me…that day in the belfry…” Lucky closed her eyes for a moment to shut out the memory. “She said Honeywell laughed at her and told her she was pregnant with Jon’s child. It must have been devastating for Abigail. When Honeywell’s body was discovered the next day, I’m sure Starkfield never suspected Abigail. Once he figured it out, he was only concerned with protecting her.”

“You could press charges against him—for assault—if you wanted.”

Lucky shook her head. “To tell you the truth, I’d rather never see the man again, if that’s possible.”

“And then again, I could charge him with obstructing my investigation. But he might have to kiss his license to practice medicine good-bye.” Nate raised his eyebrows and watched Lucky. “What do you think?”

“It’s up to you, but I think we should let the whole thing go. He’ll have to live with the consequences. I can’t imagine anything worse.”

“Yeah, I agree.” Nate shook his head. “We just don’t know how she did it. And Starkfield swears he doesn’t either. He never confronted his wife about what he knew. We
searched the house, both cars, even the Clinic—we still don’t have the murder weapon.”

Lucky had a clear image of Abigail in the church preparing for a baptism. She sighed. “You need to have a good look at the candelabra on the altar. I think you’ll find your murder weapon.”

I
T WAS AFTER
midnight by the time the last guest had gone. Jack had stretched out his legs and was sipping his beer at one of the tables. “I’ll swab the deck in the morning, my girl, if that’s all right with you.”

“That’s fine, Jack. We should all go home and get to bed. It’s looking like we’ll be busy tomorrow.”

With Janie, Meg and Remy helping, they loaded all the trash and napkins into garbage bags, started the dishwasher and put away their leftover food. Jack finished his beer and slipped on his jacket. Lucky gave him a hug and walked him to the front door.

“Go home and get some rest. I know you’re feeling better, but don’t push it.”

“I will, my girl. It’s just past eight bells. Midnight’s not late when you’re young at heart.” He leaned over and gave her a kiss on the forehead. “You’ll be okay on your own?”

“Sure will. No worries.”

“You’ve gotta learn to take your own advice.” He smiled and walked out to the sidewalk. Lucky locked the door after him.

“We’re done here, Lucky. Okay if we take off?” Janie called.

“Go ahead. I’ll be fine. Just leave the trash bags by the back door. I’ll dump them.”

Remy and the girls called good night from the corridor. Lucky heard the door to the alleyway slam behind them.

She was relieved the night was over. It had been a lot of fun, but she was very, very tired. She walked around the room, turning out the lamps and finally the neon sign in the front window. She thought she heard the laughter of her parents, but when she turned around there were only shadows. She sighed and slipped on her jacket. Opening the back door, she lugged four large trash bags down the stairs to the Dumpster. She tossed them all in and dropped the lid. She shivered, suddenly realizing she was standing on the very spot where Patricia Honeywell had been found. She shook the feeling off and locked the back door, shoving the keys in her pocket. She followed the narrow alley out to Broadway and looked up and down the street. Not a soul in sight. The night was so cold the air crackled. A wolf cried in the distance.

A week before, she wouldn’t have thought a night like tonight possible, but now Jack was in good health and spirits, Sage was back to his job and their customers and neighbors would no longer be afraid. She didn’t notice the shadow on the steps of her apartment building. She jumped when she realized someone was sitting on the top step.

“I didn’t mean to scare you.” He stood.

“Elias!” She was still for a moment, not sure what to say. He had been invited tonight. She had looked out for him all evening but knew he hadn’t been there in the crush of people.

“I was waiting for you. I just wanted to say I’m sorry.”

“No, I’m sorry. I handled everything badly. I was just so frightened…” she trailed off.

Elias loped down the stairs to envelop her in a hug. “I was wrong. I was pigheaded and stubborn and I should have listened to you the first time. Can you forgive me?”

Lucky’s heart leaped. “Of course.” Elias leaned down and, holding her chin, kissed her long and passionately. There was no doubt of his intentions any longer.

“There’s just one thing I want to know.”

Lucky waited. “What’s that?”

“What does Lucky stand for?” She couldn’t see his smile in the dark but she was sure it was there.

“You’re very persistent.”

“It’s my middle name.”

“It’s short for Letitia,” she mumbled.

“That’s a beautiful name.” Elias pulled away and studied her face. “But why not Lettie?”

“I told you, Jack named me. Someday maybe I’ll tell you why—if you’re lucky.”

POTATO-YAM SOUP

(Serves 4)

Remove seeds from red pepper and chop into cubes. Place pepper cubes in soup pot, cover with water and simmer for 10 minutes. Slice carrots and add to pot. Peel potatoes and yam, cut into cubes and add to pot. Add 4 cups of chicken stock to cover vegetables. Bring to a boil and reduce heat. Let simmer for 20 minutes. Add white pepper and stir. Potatoes should be quite soft. Continue stirring until potatoes have softened completely and soup is thickened. Add cream and stir again. Serve with a dash of paprika in each bowl.

WILD MUSHROOM SOUP

(Serves 4)

Add dried porcini to bowl of warm water and soak for half an hour.

Remove from the liquid and finely chop, reserving the liquid for later.

Heat oil in large pot. Add leeks, shallots and garlic, cooking slowly for 5 minutes, stirring until softened. Chop fresh mushrooms and add to pan. Stir mixture over medium heat for 5 more minutes. Add vegetable stock and bring to boil.

Add the porcini mushrooms, sage and reserved liquid. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Simmer gently for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Puree soup in food processor or with a wand. Stir in cream and reheat gently. Garnish with a sprig of thyme.

TOMATO SPINACH SOUP

(Serves 4)

Bring salted water to boil in a large pot. Add 2 cups of jumbo pasta shells to the boiling water with a few drops of olive oil. Stir and lower heat slightly. When pasta is only slightly al dente, drain and set aside.

Sauté the onion and garlic with olive oil in the pot for 5 minutes, then add the tomatoes, carrots, spinach, oregano and basil. Add vegetable broth to the mixture. Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Ladle soup over the pasta shells and serve with grated Parmesan cheese for garnish.

GOAT CHEESE AND PANCETTA SANDWICH

Brush olive oil and balsamic vinegar on two slices of crusty bakery bread.

Spread goat cheese, then a layer of pancetta and a layer of chopped figs.

FRENCH TOAST SANDWICH