Murder at the Alamo

by Dianne Harman

  In a few moments, the officer who had taken Celine and Linc to the observation room brought them in. Celine was crying once again.

  “He’s right, it’s all my fault,” she sobbed.

  “No, it’s not,” Linc said consolingly. “If he’d been a good husband, you would have felt taken care of and loved. You wouldn’t have felt as though you had nothing to lose by having an affair with Mark.” Linc turned to Brigid. “We spoke in the other room for a bit.”

  Brigid nodded. “There’s never an excuse for murder, Celine. You were human, nothing more.”

  “But he’s right. I should have remained faithful. Then none of this would have happened, and Mark would still be alive.” Her grief was painful to watch. Not only had she lost her lover, now she’d also lost her husband, both of the same day.

  “All you can do now is move forward,” Detective Brewer offered. “I know it sounds harsh, but it’s true. No amount of ‘what ifs’ or ‘should haves’ can change what has happened. Your husband made a choice. Now he’s going to have to pay for that choice.”

  Celine nodded. “I know you’re right, but....”

  Brigid stood up and moved toward Linc with Charlie. “Detective, it’s been a long day. Do you think Linc and I could get a ride back to our car now?”

  “Of course,” he said. “I’ll find someone to give you a ride back to it.”

  EPILOGUE

  Brigid and Linc were sitting in the Japanese Tea Garden, enjoying their surroundings. “I can’t believe we managed to get involved in a murder investigation, helped solve it, and still have time for the rest of our honeymoon,” Linc marveled.

  “Thanks to your quick thinking after we ran out of suspects,” Brigid said as she bumped him.

  “Aww, shucks,” he said pretending to be bashful. “It was nothing.”

  “Now the killer is behind bars, and we’re on our last day here in San Antonio,” Brigid said. “Are you ready to head back home after everything that’s happened?”

  “Honestly? Yes,” Linc admitted. “It’s been so much fun, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I’ve had so many firsts while we were here. First time surfing, first time riding in a police car…”

  “First time doing a police ride-along,” Brigid said.

  Linc broke out into a huge grin. “Exactly. I couldn’t believe it when they agreed to let me go on one. When the chief of police called to personally thank us and asked if there was anything he could do in return, I saw my opening.”

  “As soon as you said the word ‘actually’ I knew what you were going to ask,” Brigid laughed.

  “Was it that obvious?” he asked.

  “Uh, yeah, to me. I know you too well, Linc Olsen.” She leaned over and kissed him.

  “This place is much nicer than I thought it would be,” Linc admitted. “When you said you wanted to visit some tea garden while we were on our honeymoon, I seriously questioned how interesting it could be.”

  “I think it’s beautiful,” Brigid sighed. The large Japanese archways and narrow winding paths made her feel as if she was in some sort of a Japanese fairytale. As she looked around, she began thinking that maybe she could do something similar in her backyard at home. When she told Linc what she was thinking, he laughed loudly.

  “Have you forgotten about your horse of a dog?” he asked. “You know all he’d have to do is get the urge to start digging, and it would all be gone.”

  “Ugh, you’re right,” Brigid sighed. “Well, maybe someday.”

  They stood up and began to stroll down one of the garden paths, enjoying their last day in San Antonio.

  *****

  When they returned to their home in Cottonwood Springs, Brigid and Linc began to sort through the mail that had been delivered while they were away.

  “Look at this,” Linc said as he uncovered a box. “A package from the San Antonio Police Department.” He took out his pocket knife and sliced the tape. Folding back the flaps, he started pulling out multiple items. All of the things in the box were local to San Antonio. A bottle of wine, chocolates, and more food, as well as a beautiful piece of art glass.

  “Wow, all this stuff is amazing,” Brigid said as she marveled at the glass.

  “Look at this!” Linc cried out. He was holding a framed photo of him dressed as an officer standing with Officer Shelby. “Man, that guy was so much fun. I even friended him online.”

  “Linc! You did not!” Brigid cried out, laughing.

  “Sure did. He told me if we ever visit San Antonio again to look him up,” he said with a grin.

  “I swear, you make friends everywhere you go, don’t you?” Brigid said.

  Linc shrugged. “I try.” He continued to look in the box. “Hey, here’s a letter.” He pulled it out and handed it to Brigid. In tight, small handwriting an envelope was addressed to both of them. She sliced it open and pulled out the letter.

  Dear Brigid and Linc,

  I hope the rest of your honeymoon went much better than the day we met. Please don’t think that this is what San Antonio is always like. Granted, bad things happen here, but plenty of good happens here, too.

  The department put together a nice little ‘thank you’ package for all your hard work. Each item is made locally in San Antonio. We thought we would send you some of the best things our fine city has to offer, just in case you missed them.

  You asked me to let you know how things were going with everyone else from the case. I personally paid them each a visit to find out for you. Celine sends her love, and she even pitched in on the gift box. The swirled glass vase is from her. She says it’s art. I don’t know about that, but I have to admit, I’m no expert.

  She asked that you keep in touch, and I will be adding her email address at the end. She’s extremely grateful to you for everything you did and is glad you decided to pick San Antonio for your honeymoon. Otherwise, she’s not sure whether or not she’d still be sitting in a jail cell. I reassured her we would have figured it out by now, but she didn’t sound very certain that we were capable of it.

  Zoey’s still working at the gift shop, but she’s made plans to start college this fall. She decided life is just too short to put things off, and she’s going to study criminal psychology. Hopefully she’ll do well and then she can eventually join our department. She has a new fire in her, and she says she wants to make sure the bad guys get caught. She felt badly that she’d accused Celine of murdering Mark, and she was pretty upset that the real killer almost got away.

  Jerry got the position as Lead Tour Guide at the Alamo. Now he enjoys his time in his office, and he’s off his feet. He’s requiring the tour guides to know even more about the history of the Alamo and routinely informs them of anything else he’s managed to learn along the way. That guy is seriously dedicated to history.

  Larry’s been helping us as an informant. We’re a few steps closer to taking down the illegal gambling ring his employer ‘Bob’ runs. We’ve managed to get a few of the other bigger players, but Bob is still eluding us. We’re not worried though. We’ll catch him.

  Thank you for all of your amazing help. I have to say, you definitely expedited the process for us.

  Wishing you all the best,

  Detective Brewer

  “Does the guy not have a first name or is it ‘detective’?” Linc asked.

  “I don’t know, but this was really nice of them. I can’t wait until Holly gets back, so we can tell her everything,” Brigid said as she picked up each item and inspected them one by one.

  “And what about the whole adoption thing?” Linc asked.

  “I want to ask her, but I want to do it in a special way,” Brigid said.

  “That sounds like a good idea,” Linc said as he pulled her into his arms. “You’re always full of those.”

  “Thanks,” Brigid said as she kissed him. “I couldn't have done it without you.”

  RECIPES

  RED WINE MUSHROOM SAUCE FOR MEAT

  Ingredients:

/>   ½ tbsp. cooking oil

  ½ cup shallots, roughly chopped (White onion will also work.)

  1 cup red wine

  1 bunch green onions, finely chopped, green part only

  ¼ cup fresh rosemary, chopped with stems removed

  2 tbsp. butter

  8 oz. brown mushrooms, stems removed, quartered

  1 tbsp. herbs de Provence

  1 tbsp. corn starch mixed w/2 tbsp. water to form a slurry

  Directions:

  Add oil to 12-inch cast iron skillet and heat on med-high until hot. Add shallots and mushrooms and cook 3-4 minutes. Add green onion and cook for 1 minute. Add wine, increase heat to high and bring to a boil. Reduce volume by ½ (about 3-4 minutes). Add butter, rosemary, and herbs de Provence. Cook 2-3 minutes. Slowly pour slurry into pan until desired thickness of sauce is obtained. Spoon mushroom wine sauce over cooked meat. Enjoy!

  GOURMET BEEF STEW

  Ingredients:

  2 garlic cloves, minced

  4 anchovy fillets, rinsed and minced (Available in small tins.)

  1 tbsp. tomato paste

  4 lb. boneless beef chuck roast, cut into 1 ½-inch chunks

  2 tbsp. vegetable oil

  1 large onion, halved and sliced

  4 carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch bite size pieces

  ¼ cup all-purpose flour

  2 cups red wine

  2 bay leaves

  4 sprigs fresh thyme

  1 ½ cups frozen pearl onions, thawed

  1 cup frozen peas, thawed

  Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

  Directions:

  Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 300 degrees. Combine garlic, anchovies, and tomato paste in a small bowl, making a paste. Set aside.

  Pat meat dry with paper towels. Heat 1 tbsp. oil in Dutch oven over high heat until it starts to smoke. Add half of beef and cook until well-browned on all sides, about 8 minutes. Transfer beef to a large plate. Repeat with remaining 1 tbsp. oil, leaving second batch of beef in pot after browning.

  Reduce heat to medium and return first batch of beef to pot. Stir in onions and carrots and cook until onions are soft, scraping bottom while cooking. Add garlic mixture and cook about 30 seconds. Add flour and cook, stirring constantly until no dry flour remains, about 30 seconds. Slowly add wine, increase heat to high, and cook until wine is slightly reduced, about 2 minutes. Stir in broth, bay leaves, and thyme. Bring to simmer, cover, transfer to oven and cook for 1 1/2 hours.

  Stir in pearl onions and peas. Continue to cook for ½ hour more. Remove bay leaves and discard. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve and enjoy!

  SHORTBREAD COOKIES WITH DULCE DE LECHE

  Ingredients:

  8 oz. unsalted butter, room temperature

  ½ cup sugar + 2 tbsp.

  2 cups plain flour

  1 can sweetened condensed milk to make dulce de leche

  Directions:

  Remove paper wrapper from condensed milk can. Place can in a large saucepan on its side. Cover with water and bring to a simmer. Cook for 2 – 3 hours, depending on how dark you want the caramel filling to be (dulce de leche). Remove from pan with tongs and let cool completely before opening can.

  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper. Combine butter and sugar in a bowl and mix until well combined. Add flour and mix until it looks like dough. Form it into a ball with your hands.

  Scatter 2 tbsp. sugar over a work surface and place dough on it. Flatten with your hand until a thickness of about ½ inch. Place a sheet of parchment paper over it and use a rolling pin to lightly roll it to a thickness of about ¼ inch. Cut into rounds with a cookie cutter and place them on cookie sheets. Ball up the excess dough, roll out, and cut more rounds. Makes approximately 16 cookies.

  Bake for 15 – 18 minutes until slightly brown on the edges. May appear undercooked, but will continue to cook on the cookie sheets when removed from oven. Cool cookies.

  When cookies are cool, spread half of the cookies with a dollop of the dulce de leche. Place the remaining cookies on top, sandwiching them. Enjoy!

  PANNA COTTA WITH FRESH BERRIES

  Ingredients:

  1 cup whole milk

  1 tbsp. unflavored powdered gelatin

  3 cups whipping cream

  1/3 cup honey

  1 tbsp. sugar

  Pinch salt

  2 cups assorted fresh berries

  Directions:

  Place the milk in a small bowl. Sprinkle the gelatin over it. Let stand 3 – 5 minutes to soften gelatin. Pour mixture into a heavy saucepan and stir over medium heat just to the point the gelatin dissolves but the milk doesn’t boil, about 5 minutes. Add the cream, honey, sugar, and salt. Stir until the sugar dissolves, 5 – 7 minutes. Remove from the heat. Pour into wine glasses until about ½ full. Cool slightly, then refrigerate until set, about 6 hours.

  When ready to serve, spoon the berries over the panna cotta and enjoy!

  JOHN’S CHILI CHEESE OMELET

  Ingredients:

  Can of chili, with or without beans (I like to use leftover homemade chili.)

  3 jumbo eggs, beaten well

  1/6 onion, diced

  1 tbsp. butter

  ¼ cup shredded cheese (Your choice.)

  Salt and pepper to taste

  Optional: 1 jalapeno pepper, first cut in half. Remove seeds and dice

  Directions:

  In a small saucepan, heat the chili and keep warm. Season the eggs with salt and pepper. Melt butter in a small skillet. Add a little of the onion and jalapeno and cook for about 1 minute. Add eggs all at once and swirl around pan, scraping and tilting edges to cook evenly.

  When just slightly moist on top, place about ½ cup warm chili on half of the eggs. Top with shredded cheese and additional onions and jalapeno, if desired. Gently fold the other half of the omelet over to form semicircle.

  Slide onto serving plate and top with a spoonful of chili and cheese for presentation. Enjoy!

  NOTE: Above ingredients are for each omelet you intend to make. If making more than one omelet, increase the amount of the ingredients proportionally.

  *****

  I'm giving away FREE paperbacks. Find out more at www.dianneharman.com/freepaperback.html

  ABOUT DIANNE

  I live in Huntington Beach, California, with my husband, Tom, a former California State Senator, and my boxer dog, Kelly. My passions are cooking, reading, and dogs, so whenever I have a little free time, I am either in the kitchen, playing with Kelly in the back yard, or curled up with the latest book I'm reading.

  Her other books are available below:

  Amazon: Blue Coyote Motel

  Amazon: Coyote in Provence

  Amazon: Cornered Coyote

  Amazon: Coyote Series

  Amazon: Kelly’s Koffee Shop

  Amazon: Murder at Jade Cove

  Amazon: White Cloud Retreat

  Amazon: Marriage and Murder

  Amazon: Murder in Cottage #6

  Amazon: Murder in the Pearl District

  Amazon: Murder and Brandy Boy

  Amazon: Murder in Calico Gold

  Amazon: The Death Card

  Amazon: Murder at The Cooking School

  Amazon: Murder & The Monkey Band

  Amazon: Murder at The Bed & Breakfast

  Amazon: Murder at The Secret Cave

  Amazon: Murder in Cuba

  Amazon: The Blue Butterfly

  Amazon: Trouble at the Kennel

  Amazon: Murdered by Words

  Amazon: Murdered by Country Music

  Amazon: Murder at the Big T Lodge

  Amazon: Murdered in Argentina

  Amazon: Murder on the East Coast

  Amazon: Murder at the Clinic

  Amazon: Murder at the Polo Club

  Amazon: Alexis

  Amazon: Trouble at the Animal Shelter

  Amazon: Murder in Calistoga

  Amazon: Murder
on Bainbridge Island

  Amazon: Murder & The Movie Star

  Amazon: Murder in Whistler

  Amazon: Murdered by Plastic Surgery

  Amazon: Murder in Seattle

  Amazon: Murder after Midnight

  Amazon: Murder in San Francisco

  Amazon: Murder at Le Bijou Bistro

  Amazon: Murder at the Courthouse

  Amazon: Murder at the Gallery

  Amazon: Murder at the Waterfront

  Amazon: Murder at the Gearhart

  Amazon: Murdered by Superstition

  Amazon: Red Zero 1

  Amazon: Red Zero 2

  Amazon: Red Zero 3

  Amazon: The Professor’s Predicament

  Amazon: Murder at the Church

  Amazon: Murdered by Prejudice

  Amazon: Missing in Cottonwood Springs

  Please feel free to follow me on these social media sites:

  Website: http://www.DianneHarman.com

  Blog: http://www.DianneHarman.com/blog

  Email: dianne@dianneharman.com

  Twitter: @DianneDHarman

  Google+

  Facebook Author Page (Thriller)

  Facebook Author Page Cozy Mystery

  Amazon Author Page

  COMING SOON!

  PUBLISHING 4/30/19

  MURDER IN PALM SPRINGS

  BOOK EIGHT OF

  THE HIGH DESERT COZY MYSTERY SERIES

  http://getBook.at/Palm

  An aging American idol. A murder. A dog with paranormal abilities. Walking to the mailbox can be deadly, but sometimes things aren’t what they seem.

  Join Marty and her dog, Patron, as they eliminate suspects in the murder of a beloved rock star in Palm Springs, California.

  This is book number eight in the bestselling High Desert Cozy Mystery Series by two-time USA Today Bestselling Author Dianne Harman. Enjoy!