The Coloring Crook

by Krista Davis

  Her shoulders heaved and fell. She wiped her face with her left hand. “We dragged him up the stairs.” She snorted. “I remember old Mrs. Collins dropping by. We were in such a panic. I thought she would never leave. We couldn’t bury him. A neighbor would notice that for sure. And he was too heavy for the three of us to put in a car and take someplace. We could barely get him up the stairs. So we propped him up and built that bookcase.”

  “Why didn’t you call the police?” asked Eric. “You could have said it was an accident.”

  “Are you kidding? We didn’t want to go to jail. And none of us had any money for expensive lawyers. And you know the funny thing? For twenty-seven years no one came looking for him. Not a soul. No neighbors asked how he was doing. No friends dropped by to see him. His employer didn’t call. Nobody reported him missing, either, as far as I know. He was a man who disappeared and nobody ever came looking for him until the day Edgar showed up with that picture of his dad.”

  “You’re confirming that the man in the photograph is the skeleton behind the bookcase?” asked Eric.

  “I thought you had figured that out.” She sounded a wee bit sarcastic for someone who was about to go to jail.

  “The police did a DNA test to see if the bones were a match to Edgar. That man wasn’t his dad,” said Eric.

  Olivia froze. “We went through all of that for nothing?” She buried her head in her hands and sobbed. It wasn’t until she looked up that I realized she was laughing. “Priss tried to kill that boy Edgar seven ways to Sunday. He’s destined to live for sure.”

  “Olivia!” screamed Priss.

  “Honey, it’s over.”

  “She’s the reason Nolan fell down the stairs?” I asked.

  “Yup. She unscrewed the lightbulb and placed a magazine on one of the steps. He flew right on down. Was just the wrong guy is all. It was supposed to be Edgar.”

  “And the firecracker at the concert in the park?”

  “All the news reports said she was a boy. They never would have said that about me, that’s for sure. And she clobbered some poor guy who was hanging around. She thought he was Edgar.”

  Eric looked at me and raised his palms. “Who was that?”

  “I think it was probably Jack Miller. Was Priss the one who threatened Edgar by choking him? She could have killed him then.”

  “Can you believe it? Somebody else almost did the job for her.”

  “She could have killed him last night when she drugged him,” I said.

  “I thought I left him belly down in a stream bed. I whacked him over the head pretty good, too, with the neighbor’s shovel.” Priss sighed. “All I really wanted was that picture of Randy. Without it, he had nothing on us.”

  “So you were the garage thief?” I asked. I couldn’t have been more surprised.

  Priss seemed proud of herself. “Where did you think I got the fireworks and the shovel?”

  A group of police officers walked in. Priss and Olivia were going to jail.

  “Wait!” I cried. “How did you get the van Gogh?”

  “It was a gift to Priss from Randy.”

  “What happened to the other three items?” asked Orso.

  “I have no idea,” said Olivia. “I imagine Dolly sold them. We had to get rid of everything in the room he was renting, so they might have gone in the trash.”

  Chapter 38

  Now that Maisie, Olivia, and Priss were in jail, Edgar could have stayed in his apartment. But the empty house was creepy. He stayed at my place with Eric and me.

  Edgar and Orso had gone for a DNA test that very afternoon. I had no doubt that they were father and son, but I could understand that they wanted confirmation. They were making plans to go visit Lucy. Orso said if his kidney was a match, he would willingly donate it.

  Professor Maxwell had already contacted his lawyer, Ms. Strickland, to see if Orso’s criminal record could be expunged. Of course, three of the remaining items were still missing and might never be found. But that wasn’t Orso’s fault.

  In the evening, Jack Miller dropped by the carriage house. I served after-dinner drinks and the mini-cheesecakes out on the patio. I lighted Dolly’s lantern and wished she could be there with us.

  “Thanks for all the work you did to find the van Gogh. Especially you, Edgar. If you hadn’t come to town and kicked up some dust, we might never have found it.”

  Edgar flushed at his praise.

  “The reason I came by is we may have solved an old murder as well. Lucianne Dumont hired Frederic van den Teuvel to locate The Florist and procure it for her. Mr. van den Teuvel isn’t known for his delicate manner. He’s now been arrested for attacking you, Edgar, and for breaking in to Color Me Read.”

  I knew Edgar felt better with van den Teuvel locked up.

  “As part of the investigation of Orso, we looked into the Dumont’s extensive collection of art. Unfortunately, a substantial number of them are pieces that have been missing for years. In going through some papers, we discovered handwritten statements of authenticity from Dolly’s husband. The metropolitan police are reopening the case of his death. Depending on what was collected at the scene of the crime back then, we hope to be able to link Mr. Dumont to the death of Dolly’s husband.”

  At that moment, the candle in Dolly’s lantern toppled over. I hurried to right it before anything caught fire. But when I set the candle on its base, it fell again. I finally blew it out and turned it over to see why it wouldn’t stand straight. On the bottom was a key to a safe-deposit box.

  * * *

  The next morning Mr. DuBois delivered breakfast to the carriage house again. I had become very spoiled and hated to think this luxury would end when Eric went home.

  As Edgar rolled the cart into my garden, someone knocked on the door. I opened it to find Norman standing there.

  “Hi, Florrie. I’ve been trying to catch up with you.”

  “I’m sorry I didn’t have time to talk at the bookstore the other night.”

  “That’s okay. I just want you to know that I have applied to the police academy.”

  A chill ran through me head to toe. “Oh, Norman.” Surely he wouldn’t be accepted. He would shoot himself in the foot.

  His chest puffed up. “Yup. I’m going to be a cop.”

  “Does your mother know about this?” Even though Norman was an adult, his mother was still trying to be a helicopter mom. I couldn’t imagine that she would allow him to do anything so dangerous.

  He scuffed the toe of his shoe against the pavement. “Not yet. I wanted you to be the first to know.”

  I invited him to breakfast but he had to get to work. Apparently there were fairy rings in the grass at a golf course in Maryland.

  “It’s a grass emergency,” he explained.

  I thanked him for stopping by, but was planning to call my mom, who would surely phone Norman’s mother, who would put a prompt stop to this police academy nonsense.

  Professor Maxwell greeted Norman as he left. He stepped inside. “Wait until Jacquie sees the van Gogh. I can’t believe that it’s back home. I thought I would never see it again.”

  “When is she coming back?”

  “Tomorrow. I’m glad she was away. It’s wrenching every time someone thinks they might have a lead on what happened to Caroline.”

  “They didn’t find anything?” I asked.

  He shook his head. “Not a thing. Bonnie’s father says that’s meaningless. Morrissey could have buried the girls in the woods somewhere.” His lips bunched together as though he was trying to stay tough. “It never ends.”

  There was nothing I could do but give him a big hug and steer him to the garden for breakfast.

  * * *

  It took some wrangling to determine who was entitled to open the safe-deposit box. Maisie, Dolly’s heir, was in jail awaiting trial for her role in murdering Dolly. The FBI was hoping it might contain the missing items Randy had stolen.

  In the end, a court order was issued allowing
me to open the safe-deposit box, in the presence of Jack Miller and Sergeant Eric Jonquille.

  The bank knew all about the legal wrangling and was waiting for us when we arrived.

  They took us into a small room, handed me the box, and closed the door. I slid the key into the lock and turned it.

  A letter was attached to the top of a small, flattish bag.

  Dear Maisie,

  If you are opening this box and looking at the contents, it will mean that I am gone from this world. It’s a long story, honey, but all you need to know is that these items were stolen by one of my tenants. I had nothing to do with the theft. For reasons I can’t go in to, I can’t turn them over while I’m alive. I’m not sure to whom they belong, but if you’ll take them to a museum and tell them you discovered them in your old mom’s estate, I’m sure they’ll be able to sort it all out. They are extremely valuable treasures and should be preserved. I know you don’t think much of my “scavenging” but please do not turn these over to some dealer. Especially not Percy McAllister. They need to be returned to their rightful owners, the people from whom they were stolen. I’m only sorry that I couldn’t turn them in myself.

  Love,

  Mom

  I opened the bag and a pair of diamond earrings tumbled out. About three-fourths of an inch in diameter, the outer edges of the earrings were lined with diamonds. More diamonds filled the centers. There was no question in my mind that the diamonds were real, and there were plenty of them.

  Jack was elated. “Those are the earrings of Mary Todd Lincoln. I thought for sure they had been melted down and the diamonds were sold individually. They’re amazing.”

  The bag also contained a five-thousand-dollar bill. “I didn’t know such a thing existed,” I said. “How much money does a person have to have to carry around one bill worth that much money? There aren’t many people who could give you change for it.”

  “They’re quite rare,” Jack assured me. “And the value is much higher than the face value.”

  The last item was a brief letter from Martha Washington to her husband. It was sweet and affectionate. She missed him and was waiting for him to return to Mount Vernon.

  “I’m glad Dolly saved these. If she hadn’t put them in the safe-deposit box, they probably would have disappeared forever.” I handed them over to Jack.

  “Thanks, Florrie. They’re taking DNA samples from prisoners these days. I thought you might want to know about Percy’s sample. It surprised a lot of us. In a weird irony, it turns out that Randy, the skeleton in the wall, was Percy’s dad.”

  Eric blinked and shook his head. “So Dolly and friends killed Randy, and Randy’s son, Percy, murdered Dolly . . .”

  * * *

  On the day Edgar and Orso were heading home to see Lucy and Edgar’s mom, Orso picked up Edgar at the carriage house. I was sorry to see them go.

  Orso planted a big kiss on my cheek.

  “Any news on the DNA match?”

  Orso smiled like the happiest man in the world. “The official DNA results aren’t back yet, but it looks like I’m a match for Lucy’s kidney. They’ll have to do a few more tests when I get to Ohio, but I’m pretty sure her daddy will be her donor.”

  Orso handed me a little package wrapped in soft tissue and tied with a pink string.

  “You didn’t have to do this.”

  “Yes, I did.”

  I pulled the end of the string and unwrapped a small painting of a hummingbird. It was signed Tom Jones. “It’s beautiful!”

  “To guide you and give you hope when there doesn’t seem to be any way forward. You gave me a new life, and I will always be appreciative of that.”

  “No, I didn’t. It was always there, you just didn’t know where to find it.”

  RECIPES

  Salted Chocolate Brownies

  (makes 20 brownies)

  1 8-by-8-inch baking pan

  ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing pan

  ½ cup semisweet chocolate chips

  2 eggs

  1 cup sugar

  ½ cup flour, plus extra for greasing pan

  ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt

  ¼ teaspoon baking powder

  1½ teaspoon vanilla

  Flaked sea salt like Maldon

  Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease and flour the baking pan.

  Melt the butter. (Krista does this in a glass Pyrex measuring cup in the microwave.) When melted, add the chocolate chips and stir until they melt. Set aside.

  Beat the eggs with the sugar until thick and cream-colored. Beat at least 2 to 3 minutes.

  While they are beating, mix together in a separate bowl the flour, the ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt, and the baking powder. Set aside.

  Alternate adding the flour mixture and the butter mixture to the eggs. (Hint: After adding flour, beat at a low speed.) When they are incorporated, add the vanilla. Beat well.

  Pour into the prepared pan. Sprinkle with two pinches of flaked sea salt. Holding a knife tilted at an angle, gently swirl the salt into the batter. Bake 25 minutes. The edges should look firm. The middle should be firm enough not to quiver when gently shaken. Place on baking rack to cool. (Hint: It’s easier to cut them while they are still slightly warm.)

  Serve warm or cold. These freeze well. Those with midnight cravings might even find them quite delicious frozen.

  Coconut Cupcakes

  (makes 15 cupcakes)

  Cupcakes

  1½ cups flour

  1½ teaspoons baking powder

  ¼ teaspoon sea salt

  ½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened

  ¾ cup sugar

  2 eggs, room temperature

  ½ cup coconut milk

  1 teaspoon vanilla

  ⅓ cup shredded sweetened coconut

  Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Place cupcake liners into wells of a cupcake baking tray.

  In a bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, and sea salt. Set aside. Cream the butter with the sugar well. Beat in the eggs. Beat for at least 2 minutes. Add the flour mixture ½ cup at a time. Beat on low after adding, then increase speed. Add the coconut milk, the vanilla, and the shredded coconut. Beat 4 to 5 minutes.

  Spoon into cupcake liners about ¾ full. Bake 20 minutes or until they are barely golden and a cake tester comes out clean. Cool on a baking rack.

  Frosting

  6 ounces butter, softened

  4 ounces cream cheese, softened

  2–3 tablespoons coconut milk

  1 teaspoon vanilla

  1½–1⅓ cups powdered sugar

  Shredded sweetened coconut

  Beat butter, cream cheese, coconut milk, and vanilla until thoroughly mixed. Beat in the powdered sugar ⅓ cup at a time, beating on low speed after each addition. When all of the powdered sugar has been added, beat on high for 4 to 5 minutes.

  Spread on cooled cupcakes with a knife. (Don’t worry too much about how they look because the shredded coconut will hide flaws.) Place a kitchen towel or parchment paper under the cupcakes. Sprinkle the coconut on them, patting very lightly. Refrigerate. Take out of refrigerator one hour before serving to bring to room temperature.

  Blueberry Cake with Pecan Streusel

  Cake

  2 cups flour

  2 teaspoons baking powder

  ½ teaspoon salt

  ½ teaspoon vinegar

  ¾ cup 2% milk

  5 tablespoons butter

  ¾ cup sugar

  1 egg

  1 teaspoon vanilla

  2 cups fresh blueberries

  Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a 9-by-9-inch baking pan.

  Place flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl and stir with a fork to combine. Set aside. Pour the vinegar into the milk and set aside.

  Cream the butter with the sugar. Beat in the egg. Alternate adding flour mixture with the milk mixture until completely combined. Add vanilla and beat. Stir in the blueberries.

 
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread to corners.

  Pecan Streusel

  ½ cup pecans

  ¼ cup flour

  ¼ cup white sugar

  ¼ cup dark brown sugar

  ½ teaspoon cinnamon

  ¼ cup cold butter

  Place pecans and flour in a food processor. Pulse until the pecans are tiny. Add the sugars and cinnamon and pulse to combine. Cut the butter into eight small pieces, add to food processor, and pulse until combined.

  Sprinkle over top of batter. Bake 50 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.

  Allow to rest on a baking rack about 5 to 10 minutes. When cool, top with drizzle.

  Drizzle

  ¼ cup powdered sugar

  1–2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

  Whisk ingredients together. Drizzle over cooled cake. If too thin, add powdered sugar. If too thick, add a drop of lemon juice.

  Mini-Cheesecakes

  (makes 40 mini-cheesecakes)