“So you think that key might have something to do with this mansion?” Duncan asked.
“I do,” I said, hoping I was right. The deadline was rapidly approaching.
For the next minute or two, the room was silent, except for the light tapping sound of Cora hitting her keys. Everyone looked pensive and hopeful, but warily so.
Finally, Cora leaned back in her seat and said, “Bingo! Suzanne Collier sits on the board of directors for the historic preservation group responsible for maintaining the Pabst Mansion.”
Duncan sighed and shook his head, a hapless look on his face. “Mack is right. That’s too much coincidence for anybody. But now that we know who we need to go after, we have to figure out how. All we have so far is supposition and circumstantial evidence, none of which would be enough to make an arrest, much less get a conviction. Plus, we don’t know if she’s working alone. Based on the facts so far, I’d say it’s a good bet she isn’t. And as was pointed out before, someone with that kind of financial clout won’t be easy to catch.”
He was right, of course, and I knew that my problems were far from over. But at least now I knew who the enemy was, one of them, anyway. Suzanne Collier had just been demoted from hunter to prey, and for the first time in days, I felt hope again for the future.
To be continued . . .
Look for the next Mack’s Bar Mystery in August 2017!
Shot Recipes
THE ALMOND JOY SHOT
Yield: 1 serving
½ ounce brown crème de cacao
½ ounce Amaretto
½ ounce coconut-flavored rum
½ ounce cream or half-and-half
Pour all the ingredients into a two-ounce shot glass, stir, and serve at once.
THE PUMPKIN PIE SHOT
Yield: 1 serving
½ ounce coffee liqueur
½ ounce Original Baileys Irish Cream
¼ ounce cinnamon schnapps
Pour all the ingredients into a two-ounce shot glass, stir, and serve at once.
THE SANTA CLAUS SHOT
Yield: 1 serving
½ ounce grenadine
½ ounce green crème de menthe
½ ounce peppermint schnapps
Pour the grenadine into a two-ounce shot glass. Next, add the green crème de menthe by pouring it in slowly over the back of a spoon so that it creates its own layer in the shot glass. Then add the peppermint schnapps in the same way. The end result will taste like a candy cane and will have three pretty layers of red, green, and clear liquid. Serve at once.
THE APPLE PIE SHOT
Yield: 1 serving
½ ounce vodka
¼ ounce sour apple schnapps
¼ ounce cinnamon schnapps
1 tiny dollop whipped cream
Pour the vodka, the sour apple schnapps, and the cinnamon schnapps into a one-ounce shot glass and stir. Top with the dollop of whipped cream and serve at once.
THE PINEAPPLE UPSIDE-DOWN CAKE SHOT
Yield: 1 serving
1 ounce vanilla vodka (or plain vodka mixed with a few drops of vanilla extract)
1 ounce pineapple juice
¼ ounce grenadine
Pour all the ingredients into a three-ounce shot glass, stir, and serve.
THE BUTTERNUT SHOT
Yield: 1 serving
1 ounce Frangelico
1 ounce butterscotch schnapps
Combine the Frangelico and the schnapps in a two-ounce shot glass, stir, and serve.
THE CHEESECAKE SHOT
Yield: 1 serving
½ ounce Baileys Irish Cream
½ ounce pineapple juice
¼ ounce grenadine
Combine all the ingredients in a two-ounce shot glass, stir, and serve.
THE CHOCOLATE BOMB PUDDING SHOT
Yield: 8 servings
1 small (3.5- to 3.9-ounce) package instant chocolate pudding
¾ cup coffee-flavored liqueur
¾ cup coconut-flavored rum
4 ounces Cool Whip
Whisk the instant pudding and the coffee liqueur together in a medium bowl until thick, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add the rum and whisk until all the lumps are gone. Then whisk in the Cool Whip. Spoon the mixture into two-ounce plastic shot cups, cover with plastic wrap or seal them in a container with a lid, and put them in the freezer. Let them set for several hours or overnight. Serve the shots with a teaspoon or a wooden ice cream spoon.
Shots in the Dark Page 31
