The Missing Dough (19 page)

“T
ell it to me one more time, from the beginning,” Chief Hurley ordered as Maddy and I sat in his office an hour after the confrontation had taken place.

“Our story’s not going to change,” I said. “Have they counted the money yet? Is the entire hundred and fifty grand that went missing there?”

“It’s with the forensic accountant right now,” he said. “She’ll let me know when she gets a final count. I don’t envy her the mess the courts will have on their hands, figuring out who gets what after the trial is over.” The police chief glanced over at Maddy and added, “If any of it is even coming to you, I wouldn’t count on seeing it within the next ten years.”

“I’m not holding my breath,” she said. “Just knowing that Sharon thought so much of me is enough of an inheritance for me.” Maddy added with a grin, “Besides, getting Bob off the hook is really all the payment I need. Did you ever catch up with Bernie Maine?”

“We found him, all right,” Chief Hurley admitted. “We had to let him go, though, given Samantha’s confession.” He looked down at his notes and then shut off the video camera and tape recorder he had running before he spoke again. “When did you two figure it out?” he asked softly.

“Don’t give us too much credit. We didn’t get it until about two minutes before Samantha showed up,” I explained. “We were still digging the hole when we realized that she was the only one of our suspects who planned to run. She must have known how it would look, though, because she orchestrated a pretty elaborate cover for it from the first moment we saw her after the murder. She didn’t let it rest with that, though.”

The chief nodded. “If we didn’t go after Kenny, she was ready to frame Bernie Maine. Planting Grant’s bloodstained wallet at Maine’s place was pretty brilliant.”

“I guess it was, but I had to think about the evil in that woman’s heart. She seemed so nonchalant when she threatened to kill us. It was as though it didn’t matter to her one way or the other what happened to any of us,” I said.

“Did she say why she killed Grant?” he asked.

“No, but it’s not hard to figure out. He stole from her, broke her heart, and then wouldn’t take her back again once he was free of Vivian. It pushed her over the edge, and she snapped,” Maddy said.

“I hope she doesn’t try an insanity defense,” the chief said.

“I’m not so sure that it’s not appropriate in this case,” I said. “Is she talking now?”

“No, she’s still in surgery.”

“How badly did I hurt her?” Maddy asked.

“The doctors said that none of the damage is permanent, but she’s going to be in some pretty fierce pain when she wakes up.”

“Since she just tried to kill all of us, I believe that I can live with that,” Maddy said.

“I’ve got enough here,” the chief said as he looked back down at his notes. “If you’d like, you two are free to go now.”

“Thanks, Chief,” I said.

Out in the hallway, I was about to say something to Maddy when Bob appeared out of nowhere and wrapped her in his arms. To my delight, David did the same with me. After a few minutes, we all managed to pull ourselves free.

“Hey, guys, it’s okay. We’re fine. Really,” I reassured them.

“We were pretty worried about you,” David said. “You should have called us.”

“We managed on our own okay, but we appreciate the offer,” I said as I kissed his cheek. “I will admit that it was a little more than we bargained for in the end.”

Bob looked at Maddy and said, “I can’t believe that I almost lost you. Did you really throw a pickax at Samantha Stout? I heard that you wrecked her shoulder pretty thoroughly.”

“She got lucky. I was trying to bring her down completely,” Maddy admitted. “But I never could have done it if Eleanor hadn’t thrown her shovel at Samantha first. It was enough to distract her for the few seconds I needed to strike out.”

“And let’s not forget Kenny’s part in this. He’s the one who distracted her long enough to let me do that. How is he, by the way?”

“He got hit in the thigh, but the doctors think he’s going to be just fine, though he’ll probably have a limp for a while,” Bob said.

“Good enough,” I said. “Remind me to bring him a pizza here when he’s able to eat outside food. The man’s still a bully and a cad, but he saved our lives, and I’m not about to forget that.”

“I think it was more a matter of self-preservation, when you think about it,” Maddy said.

“Hey, whatever his motivations were, we couldn’t have done what we did if he hadn’t been crazy enough to run straight at a woman with a handgun,” I said. As I turned to Bob and David, I asked, “So, are you two ready to get out of here?”

David nodded. “We are, but we’re probably all too wired to sleep. Is anybody else up for a cup of coffee and a piece of pie?”

“I could eat something after I get cleaned up first,” Maddy said with a grin as she looked at her clay-stained clothing, and I agreed as I followed the three of them out of the police station.

It had been a close call tonight, closer than I would have ever liked, but we’d come through the other side with nothing more than a few blisters from digging, a pretty solid scare, and another story to tell someday. I was particularly proud of my sister for the way that she’d acted. When Kenny had taken her stun gun from her, I’d been worried that it would kill her willingness and ability to defend herself, but she’d proven to everyone, and most importantly, to herself, that when the stakes really mattered, she was fearless and ready to take bold action. In a very real way, Samantha Stout had given Maddy a valuable opportunity to prove to herself that she had what it took to stand up and be counted when it mattered most.

Not that any of us would ever thank the crazy woman for it.

As for me, I was looking forward to getting home, cleaning up, and then going out with the three people in the world I loved the most, to celebrate our lives and what tomorrow might hold for each of us.

It was the perfect way to end the day and another period of turmoil in all our lives.

Sometimes when I’m making pizza, I find that I have extra dough. Instead of throwing anything away, I like to see how creative I can be when it comes to using up my ingredients to the last bit, so these treats were born.

The first step is taking some dough, rolling it out to a quarter-inch thickness, and cutting it into strips about three inches long, if the amount of dough allows it. Then I work directly into the dough whatever cheese I have on hand. Parmesan cheese works great, and so do mozzarella, cheddar, and just about any cheese you like with your pizzas, if they are grated finely enough to be incorporated into the dough.

Next, I braid these strips together loosely and then bake them in my pizza oven. These cook fairly quickly, so it’s a good idea to keep an eye on them. When they are browned on top, pull them out and add a dusting of Parmesan. Your regular pizza sauce makes a great dipping sauce for these sticks, and chances are, you still have some on hand.

You can also make a dessert version of these sticks by substituting a little diced butter and diced apple or pear for the cheese, dusting the assembled braids with cinnamon and sugar, and baking. These braids will be a little more difficult to work with, but they are a delightful dessert to go along with your pizza.

Finally, if I have enough dough, I like to make mini calzones out of the same ingredients. Roll the dough out, top with some pizza sauce and your favorite toppings and cheeses, wet the edge of one side of the dough before folding the other side over, and bake.

You can also make dessert calzones this way. One easy way I’ve found is to use canned apple pie filling or canned cherry pie filling. Simply fold the dough over the fruit filling and bake.

As an added treat, try incorporating pineapple and mozzarella into the savory mini calzones, and pineapple with cinnamon sugar into the sweet ones. You’ll be amazed by how great the pineapple tastes in both versions.

KENSINGTON BOOKS are published by

 

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Copyright © 2013 by Chris Cavender

 

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Library of Congress Card Catalogue Number: 2013947855

ISBN: 978-0-7582-7154-9

 

eISBN-13: 978-0-7582-9154-7
eISBN-10: 0-7582-9154-X