Mulberry Mischief

by Sharon Farrow

The door opened and Jon Snow walked in. Although we had been together at the police station earlier, Kit and I flung ourselves at each other now. Then kissed for what seemed like five minutes.

  When we finally broke apart, applause greeted us. “This is so sweet,” Andrew said. “I always wanted Daenerys and Jon Snow to get it on.”

  “It’s really Marlee and Kit,” Theo said in a stage whisper.

  Kit hugged me close. “Did I miss all the cake?”

  “Almost,” David said. “But we hid two slices from the birthday girl. Otherwise you would have been out of luck. And cake.”

  “He’s lying.” Tess put down her empty cake plate on the bistro table. “There are three pieces left.”

  “Two,” Old Man Bowman said, smoothing down the hair on his costume. “I ate another piece when I was in the kitchen making coffee. And a couple of those mulberry cookie bars, too.”

  “I’ll get you the cake,” Gillian announced. She slowly minced her way to the kitchen in her tight mermaid skirt. At this rate, she’d be back with his cake in about an hour.

  Kit looked around the shop. “Everything looks fine. Last time I was in here, there was broken glass on the floor, along with sweatshirts and tins of tea knocked from the shelves.”

  “It wasn’t that bad,” Dean said. “Took me and Andrew about twenty minutes to clean it all up.”

  “You got here before Keith Sable’s goon had a chance to really tear my store apart looking for the laptop.” I glanced at the pile of straw in the window where I’d hidden the computer. “In fact, you must have arrived about three minutes after Keith chased me out of here.”

  “Wish I’d gotten here sooner. I would have liked to put cuffs on Keith Sable.” He gave me a wink. “Or been on the bell tower so I could have pushed him over.”

  “Hey, I didn’t push him.” I laughed. “Blame that bell.”

  “The bell is no more.” Old Man Bowman reached for his shotgun.

  “Marlee told us that James Smith is dying,” Tess said. “Will he live long enough to testify against Keith Sable?”

  Kit grew serious. “I don’t know. He was diagnosed with stomach cancer earlier this year, and given no more than a year to live. It’s why the Sables went after Ellen and Bonaventure first. I think they all assumed Smith would be dead before he could cause any real problems for them.”

  Dean looked disgusted. “Such a lovely family, those Sables.”

  “They underestimated Smith,” Kit said. “His prognosis made him regret his false testimony in the Nanny Murder case. He told us that he’s never gotten over his guilt about letting an innocent girl go to prison. And allowing the murderer to go free.”

  “I wouldn’t want to die with something like that on my conscience,” I said.

  “He didn’t,” Kit went on. “That’s why he tried to find Ellen. Around the same time the ghostwriter tracked him down for the book he and Ellen were writing.”

  “Serendipitous,” Tess murmured.

  “Sure was,” Max said. “Smith gets to expiate his guilt, and Ellen had an eyewitness to the murder she unjustly went to prison for. Proof that she was innocent of the crime. A shame she didn’t live long enough to see this.”

  “Without the determination of both Ellen and Bonaventure to keep the manuscript from the Sables, the truth would still be hidden.” While sorrowful over their deaths, I admired their courage.

  David turned to me. “Despite what Keith told you, it makes me wonder if the whole family isn’t complicit. I mean, they had to have realized Ellen didn’t do it.”

  I shrugged. “Who knows? And I don’t think they cared.” Ellen had been right. Except for Joshua, the Sable family were shadow people, comfortable with the dark sides of their nature.

  “Whatever the other Sables knew, the man who actually murdered three people will pay for his crimes,” Kit said. “And James Smith’s testimony against him will be on record, even if he dies before the trial.”

  “You look a little tired,” Old Man Bowman said. “Let me get you a cup of my coffee. I also think our Little Mermaid needs help walking in that fish tail.” Shotgun over his shoulder, he headed for the kitchen.

  “Until they return with your cake and coffee, I have something to tide you over.” I reached into the front window display and held up a big bag of candy corn.

  Kit gave a whoop. “Now it feels like Halloween!”

  Before he could tear into the candy bag, the front door to the shop banged open. Piper strode inside. She wore a black Catwoman costume and a furious expression. “Where is he?” she shouted.

  “Who?” I asked, although I could take a pretty good guess.

  “That hairy devil who destroyed my bell-ringing system! Odette Henderson told me that she saw him in here. Where is he hiding?”

  I heard a cup crash to the floor in the kitchen. A second later, Old Man Bowman dashed thorough the shop, shotgun in hand. He was out the door before she could get near him.

  “Come back here!” Piper ran after him, leaving her black Birkin behind.

  All of us crowded at the front window to watch Bigfoot flee down Lyall Street, pursued by Catwoman, who ran remarkably well in her designer heels.

  “Do you think she’ll catch him?” Andrew asked.

  “Not a chance,” I replied. “No one has ever caught Bigfoot.”

  “Even if she does, he’ll be protected,” Theo said solemnly.

  “What do you mean?” Kit asked.

  “He had a mulberry cookie bar in his hand when he ran past. And mulberries protect people, don’t they, Marlee?”

  “Indeed, they do, Theo.” I smiled and looked down at my bracelet. “Indeed, they do.”

  Recipes

  MULBERRY MUFFINS

  Since mulberry trees grow on Marlee’s property, she has hundreds of mulberries available to her every summer when they ripen. This low-fat recipe is a great way to utilize some of them. Marlee and Theo found the recipe on allrecipes.com and decided to do just that.

  1½ cups all-purpose flour

  ½ cup white granulated sugar

  1 teaspoon baking powder

  ½ teaspoon baking soda

  1 pinch of salt

  ½ cup fat-free sour cream

  ¼ cup skim milk

  2 tablespoons applesauce

  1 egg

  ½ teaspoon almond extract

  ½ cup mulberries

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

  2. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in bowl.

  3. Mix sour cream, milk, applesauce, egg, and almond extract in a separate bowl.

  4. Slowly add flour mixture to the batter. Stir until smooth.

  5. Mix after each addition until well blended.

  6. Gently fold in mulberries.

  7. Spoon batter into 6 greased jumbo muffin cups, or paper-lined cups.

  8. Bake 25–30 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out clean

  9. Cool 5 minutes before removing from muffin pan.

  Makes 6 jumbo muffins.

  MARTHA’S MULBERRY PANCAKES

  If you’ve never tasted pancakes made with mulberries, this recipe recommended by Martha Stewart is a great place to start. And don’t forget the maple syrup.

  4 teaspoons sugar

  4 teaspoons baking powder

  1¼ cups all-purpose flour

  1 teaspoon coarse salt

  2 large eggs, lightly beaten

  5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted. Additional

  butter, softened, for serving

  1 cup whole milk

  Vegetable oil

  2 cups mulberries, with more for garnish

  Pure maple syrup

  1. In a medium bowl, whisk together sugar, baking powder, flour, and salt. Set aside.

  2. Whisk eggs and melted butter in another bowl. Gradually add milk, whisking to combine.

  3. Pour egg mixture into flour mixture. Whisk until combined.

  4. Heat heavy skillet or griddle over medium-h
igh heat; hot, but not smoking. Brush lightly with oil and reduce heat to medium.

  5. Ladle 2 tablespoons batter onto skillet, placing 4–5 mulberries per pancake.

  6. Cook until pancake edges bubble, 1–1½ minutes.

  7. Flip. Cook until set and bottom is lightly browned, about 1½ minutes more.

  8. Repeat with remaining batter, cooking 3–4 pancakes at a time.

  9. Place cooked pancakes in a 200 degree F oven to keep warm.

  10. Serve with butter and maple syrup. Garnish with mulberries.

  HALLOWEEN BLOODY CUPS

  One of the pastry selections at The Berry Basket for Halloween is this berry version of peanut-butter cups. Not only is this a simple, three-ingredient recipe, but it’s gluten free and vegan. So it’s guilt-free, too.

  1 cup frozen raspberries

  1 tablespoon maple syrup or rice syrup or

  agave syrup

  1¾ cups vegan baking chocolate or chocolate chips

  1. In a small pot, heat frozen raspberries on medium-high heat until soft. Mash the softened raspberries to remove chunks. Add syrup. Mix and set aside to cool.

  2. Melt 1 cup of the chocolate in a double boiler.

  3. Place 8 muffin liners in a muffin pan. Spoon approximately 1½ teaspoons of melted chocolate in each muffin liner and tilt so the bottoms are coated.

  4. To allow the chocolate to harden, place muffin pan in refrigerator for several minutes.

  5. Melt ¾ cup of the chocolate in double boiler.

  6. Add a teaspoon of raspberry filling into center of each chocolate coated muffin liner.

  7. Once the chocolate has melted, pour it over the raspberry filling so that chocolate completely covers the top. Let it harden in refrigerator for five minutes.

  8. After the chocolate is hard, remove cupcake liners. Keep in fridge till ready to serve.

  Makes eight chocolate cups.

  STRAWBERRY GHOSTS

  Once you’ve melted the chocolate, this is a remarkably fast and easy recipe. And don’t worry about being neat. Any chocolate dripping from the strawberries makes a lovely ghost tail.

  30 fresh strawberries

  8 ounces white baking chocolate

  1 teaspoon shortening

  teaspoon almond extract

  ¼ cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

  1. Wash strawberries and gently pat completely dry with paper towels.

  2. In a microwave, melt white chocolate and shortening at 50 percent power in a microwave-safe bowl. Stir until smooth. Stir in almond extract.

  3. Dip strawberries in melted chocolate mixture. Place berries on baking sheet lined with waxed paper. Allow extra chocolate to form ghost tails. Immediately, before chocolate hardens, press chocolate chips into berries to form eyes. Freeze 5 minutes.

  4. Melt remaining chocolate chips in microwave. Stir until smooth.

  5. Dip a toothpick into the melted chocolate and draw a mouth on each berry ghost. Refrigerate leftovers.

  Makes 30 ghosts (approximately 54 calories each).