‘Don’t you guys go eating too much toast,’ said Maisie Sue. ‘I’ve got a special cake here. It’s one of your Twelfth Night cakes. With a bean inside.’
The others all looked at each other in puzzlement.
‘Isn’t it a traditional part of your Twelfth Night festivities?’ said Maisie Sue. ‘Or have I got it wrong again?’
Nobody replied until Tricia said, ‘I expect it’s very tasty, Maisie Sue. I’d like a piece if you’re going to cut it anyway.’
‘Wait a minute,’ Dave interrupted. ‘Amaryllis hasn’t finished her story yet. What was all that about the letter? The one Jemima lost in the car park.’
‘Oh yes,’ said Amaryllis. ‘That was part of the McCallum archive. Luckily I had read it before giving it to Jemima, and something to do with Mrs Greig had stuck in my mind. I just had to put the timescale together with the name and with the way the police were trying to look at old newspapers...’
‘Was it Elizabeth French who sabotaged the microfilm?’ said Christopher suddenly. ‘I remember her being in the library one day, but she said she was looking for a book about West Highland Terriers for her father...’
‘Little white terriers,’ said Amaryllis. ‘That should have given us a clue about who she was. If you had passed on that piece of information, we might have put it together with the rest.’
‘I can’t imagine that was the vital piece, though,’ said Christopher indignantly. ‘There was hardly any information at all at that stage.’
‘We couldn’t even see what the whole picture was meant to be,’ Amaryllis agreed. ‘And it really turned out to be one of these double-sided puzzles that are even more confusing. On one side there was the responsible Council worker who loved Christmas and organised the whole market and ice-rink and the tram for the benefit of the community.’
‘On the other side, the evil killer who wouldn’t hesitate to murder the next person who got in her way,’ said Tricia, blushing immediately in that appealing way she had. ‘Sorry – I read a lot of mystery novels.’
‘It’s a pity you couldn’t fit those FOOP people into the picture somewhere,’ growled Dave. ‘And that Jason Penrose.’
‘If it hadn’t been for them poking about in the area, we might never have found either of the bodies,’ said Amaryllis. ‘So their activities worked in our favour, even if they didn’t mean them to. And then it was Jason who gave me the idea about getting Zak and Harriet to do the ancient voices through the loudspeakers. But he must have been practically on the scene when Elizabeth killed Jackie, and did nothing about it.’
‘Are you going to cut the cake now?’ said Charlie Smith to Maisie Sue.
‘I’d be happy to do that, Charlie. Then we’ll find out who’s Bean King.’
‘Been what?’ said Dave.
Maisie Sue glanced round at the assembled throng. ‘You’re kidding me, aren’t you? This is supposed to be one of your traditional customs. The one who finds the bean becomes the Bean King, and then he oversees the chaos.’
‘Chaos?’ said Christopher, sounding distinctly uneasy at the prospect.
‘No, no, Maisie Sue,’ said Jemima. ‘You’re mixing everything up. For a start, we’ve never done anything much around here for Twelfth Night – people are usually still recovering from Hogmanay by then.’
Maisie Sue began to look a bit offended. ‘Well, if you don’t want a piece of my cake...’
‘Of course we do,’ said Tricia. ‘It looks lovely. Let’s go into the kitchen and find a knife.’
What a woman! Diplomatic, domesticated… not bad-looking. Jock was pleased with himself for making an excellent choice. At least it proved his judgement hadn’t been impaired by old age or infirmity. If anything, it had improved over the years, he considered. Like fine wine, or whisky, or good tobacco.
Of course he still had get round to actually asking her out, if only to justify the expense of the new socks.
THE END
If you enjoyed The Christmas Puzzle, you might like the others in the Pitkirtly Mystery series:
Crime in the Community
Reunited in Death
A Reformed Character
Death at the Happiness Club
Frozen in Crime
The Queen of Scots Mystery
A Tasteful Crime
The Christmas Puzzle (Pitkirtly Mysteries Book 8) Page 21
