“It all worked out,” Cam said. “Thanks for the flowers.”
“Thought they might brighten things up.”
Cam fell silent for a moment, her gaze on the foot of the bed. She couldn’t shake the images of the past week that circled in her brain. The bracelet and the bone from that poor Irish girl in her compost. Greta pretending to grieve when all along she was the one who had killed Wayne. Paul talking about the accident.
“Earth to Cam?” Pete said.
“I was thinking about Paul. Have you talked with him? Was he really blackmailing Wayne all this time?”
“He confessed that he was. He’s going to be charged,” Pete said. “He could have blackmailed Catriona, too. Or she him, but that never happened. He targeted straight arrow Wayne.”
“And he’s going to owe Megan and her brother a lot of money,” Ruth added.
“Poor Megan. Now she’s lost both parents.” Cam turned her mouth down. “At least she has those nice monks at the monastery to comfort her.”
The phone on the bedside table rang and Pete picked it up. “Cam Flaherty’s room.” He listened, smiling, then handed it to Cam, extending the receiver attached to the base by a curly cord. “For you.”
“Hello?” she said.
“Cammie, I heard you’re going to get the medal of honor or something. Listen, my dear, I am so proud of you, and grateful you put away that killer.”
“Aw, Uncle Albert. Thank you for calling. I really had no choice.”
“Well, next time try to avoid the situation in the first place, would you? My heart doesn’t need any more excitement.”
“I promise.”
“I love you, honey.”
Cam tried to say, “I love you, too,” but choked up on the last word. She handed the receiver back to Pete and gazed from him to Ruth and back. “How’d I get so lucky? To have both of you, and Albert, too?”
Pete stroked her hand. “We’re the lucky ones.”
Ruth cleared her throat and headed into the bathroom, emerging with the vase full of water.
“It’s pretty much your own doing, Cam,” Ruth said, arranging the flowers. She looked at Cam. “You may be a geek, but you’re pretty good company. Right, Detective?”
“She is, at that. A bit too interested in investigations, though.” He softened the comment with a smile. “We might have to hire her on as a consultant.”
“As if.” Cam snorted quietly. “So do I assume you still have your job?”
“As a matter of fact, I do. We’ll be lucky if Judith doesn’t sue our asses off for false accusations. But if she does, it’ll be Ivan’s head that will roll, not mine.”
Cam cocked her head at the sound of a different ring tone. “That’s my cell. But where is it?”
Pete opened the drawer in the bedside table and drew out Cam’s cell phone, handing it to her. Holding it in her slinged hand, she didn’t recognize the number but connected, anyway, and then managed to shift the phone to her free hand.
“Hello?”
“Cameron, honey.”
“Dad?” Her eyes widened. She never heard from her parents. Like, ever.
“The one and only. Hey, thought we’d come for a visit. After the semester’s out, middle of May or so? Wanted to check out that farm of yours, see Albert, et cetera.”
“Um, all right.” Her father was the only person she’d ever met who actually said, “et cetera,” as if he were reading an academic paper.
“You sound great, honey. Okay, Mom sends love. Talk to you closer to the time. Bye, now.”
The call disconnected. Cam swallowed.
“Your father?” Pete asked.
She nodded slowly. “They’re coming to visit in May. And he didn’t even ask how I was.” She rolled her eyes. “Some things never change.”
RECIPES
Irish Beef Stew with Stout
Makes 8 servings. Use as many local organic ingredients as possible.
Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 pounds beef chuck, cut into 1½-inch cubes
1 pound carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
6 large potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks
1 white onion, cut into large chunks
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups beef broth
1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
1 tablespoon rosemary
Black pepper
Hot sauce
1 12-fluid-ounce bottle imperial stout beer
½ cup cold water
3 tablespoons cornstarch
Directions
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Toss beef cubes with flour to coat, then fry in the hot oil until browned. Place the carrots, potatoes, onion, and garlic in a Dutch oven or large pot. Place the meat on top of the vegetables. Mix together the beef broth, tomato paste, rosemary, and a dash of hot sauce. Pour the broth mixture and the beer over the other ingredients in the pot.
Cover and cook until tender. During the last hour before serving, dissolve the cornstarch in cold water and then stir into the broth. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Simmer on high for a few minutes to thicken.
Alexandra’s Carrot Muffins
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Makes one dozen. Use as many locally produced ingredients as possible.
Ingredients
2 eggs
¼ cup honey
½ cup safflower or canola oil
¼ cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1½ cups whole wheat flour
1½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg
1½ cups grated carrots (about four medium)
½ cup chopped walnuts (may omit)
Directions
Beat eggs lightly, and then mix in honey, oil, buttermilk, and vanilla. In a large measuring cup, combine flour, baking powder and baking soda, salt, and spices. Add dry ingredients, carrots, and nuts to the egg mixture, and mix lightly with a fork until just combined.
Bake in greased muffin pan for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown on top.
Lamb Ragout
(Cam recreated the dish she tasted at her dinner out with Pete)
Serves four. Make with as many local organic ingredients as possible.
Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1½ to 2 pounds lamb stew meat (lamb shoulder), cubed
Salt and pepper
1 carrot, finely chopped
1 rib celery and leafy tops, finely chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
1 bulb roasted garlic
½ teaspoon or less dried chili flakes
1 teaspoon thyme, finely chopped
1 sprig rosemary, finely chopped
5 to 6 sage leaves, thinly sliced
1 cup white wine
2 cups lamb or chicken stock
3½ cups roasted tomato sauce or 1 28-ounce can San
Marzano tomatoes and juice, crushed by hand
1 3- to 4-inch curl orange or lemon rind
¼ cup cilantro (or flat-leaf parsley), finely chopped
Directions
Heat a Dutch oven over medium-high to high heat with olive oil. Pat the meat dry and brown in small batches; season with salt and pepper. Remove from pot and reserve. Lower the heat to medium. To the drippings (add more oil if the meat was lean), add carrot, celery, onion, garlic, chili, thyme, rosemary, and sage. Season with salt and pepper. Cook to soften, 5 to 7 minutes, partially covered. Add white wine and reduce by half. Add stock and lamb, scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula, and cover the pan. Bake in 300 degree F oven for 1 to 1½ hours, until tender.
Shred the meat with tines of fork. Add tomatoes, cilantro, and citrus rind and partially cover. Bake another 1½ to 2 hours. Remove citrus rind.
Serve over
baby roasted potatoes or rotini.
KENSINGTON BOOKS are published by
Kensington Publishing Corp.
119 West 40th Street
New York, NY 10018
Copyright © 2016 by Edith Maxwell
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.
Kensington and the K logo Reg. U.S. Pat. & TM Off.
Library of Congress Card Catalogue Number: 2015958946
ISBN-13: 978-1-4967-0025-4
ISBN-10: 1-4967-0025-2
First Kensington Hardcover Edition: June 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4967-0025-4
First Kensington Electronic Edition: June 2016
Murder Most Fowl Page 24
