Behind Chocolate Bars (23 page)

Quinn looked pleased that she might have helped.

“Where are you supposed to be working tonight?” I asked her as I dialed Honor.

“Kids' grape-eyeball room,” she said. “To keep the little monsters from eating them.”

“Good luck,” I said as she headed off to her assignment. I shuddered to think of the germs on those things regardless of how many times we rinsed them during the afternoon. “And thanks for that info,” I called after her.

Honor answered the phone. “Hi, it's Michelle, Benjamin's assistant.”

“Oh, you,” she said.

“I have a very important question,” I said. “Can you tell me who submitted the ‘bright light' comment for Faith's memorial slide?”

“Sure,” she said. “Hold on.”

I waited impatiently until she picked up the phone again. “It was Wade Overton.”

W
ade Overton?

The only person from Buckey Central High School who actually liked Faith.

I called Lockett but he didn't answer.

Shoot. I left a message. “When Dylan wakes up, show him a photo of Wade Overton,” I said. “I think he did it!”

I saw that I had a voice mail and hit the button to listen, sticking my finger in my other ear to hear better. It was Wade's friend, returning my call. He left a stumbling message that yes, he's shared a seafood platter with Wade, and they were both incredibly sick. He said he'd spare me the details, but very, very sick. Almost as an afterthought he added, “I didn't see Wade eat none of them clams, but he got the bug anyways.”

I blinked and listened to the message again. Had Wade faked being sick to create an alibi?

A group of elementary school kids swarmed the free samples, and the moms picked up a few boxes to make up for it. I checked them out, not sure what else to do with this information.

I looked at my phone again, willing Lockett to call me back.

Then I got a text from Quinn.
911. Meet me in hangout room.

What the heck was she doing in there? I dashed inside, funneling through the mass of zombies, mummies and for some reason, a zombie nun, and opened the door.

The clown stood there, holding Quinn's upper arm tightly with one hand and a hunk of two-by-four wood left over from the guillotine construction with the other.

Wade Overton.

“Close the door,” he demanded, his eyes angry and mean behind the clown makeup.

“There's no way to get out of this,” I said, trying to remain calm, but my heart raced at the scared look on Quinn's face. “Let her go and I'll tell the police to go easy on you.”

He scowled, the look made even scarier with the goofy clown getup.

“I heard her,” he said. “She's the only one who figured it out. And she told you. All I have to do is get rid of you two.”

“You can claim temporary insanity or whatever with Faith. But this is premeditated. This is life without parole.” I took a step closer and he wrenched Quinn's arm up, jamming it into her shoulder and causing her to cry out.

I backed up. “Don't hurt her! She has nothing to do with this. She's innocent.” I had to make him talk more. “The police know too much,” I said. “They know that Dylan's suicide
attempt was faked and when he wakes up, they're going to show him a photo of you.”

He flinched, as if I'd hit a nerve.

“She must have caused you so much pain for you to be so angry,” I said, trying to sound sympathetic when all I wanted to do was scream at him to let Quinn go.

“I loved her!” he yelled, unconsciously pulling on Quinn, making her whimper. “I would have done anything for her and she dumped me for a freaking old man!”

“She didn't love him,” I said. I looked around for any kind of weapon but the only thing was a plastic witch's broom in the corner. I took a sliding step closer to it.

“No!” he said. “She said she loved me but Mr. Rich Man put her in his will and she said she had to marry him to get the money.”

“She wouldn't let you take care of her?” I asked, trying to sound appalled.

“No, so I took care of
him
,” he said. “He dumped her like I knew he would and she still didn't come back to me.” He took a deep breath that caught like a sob halfway through.

Oh man. Why hadn't we seen it? Wade was a mechanic. Of course he was responsible for Newell's “accidents.”

“Did she say why?”

“No,” he said. “But that bitch was right back on her dating sites in a second.”

“Did you try to get back together with her?”

“I did everything. Sent flowers, candy. I even gave her my mother's ring, and she sold it!” He narrowed his eyes. “And then I figured out that I was going about it all wrong. She needed to be shown who was boss.”

“You followed her?” I asked, remembering that Chuck had said Faith thought someone was stalking her.

“Yes,” he admitted, his eyes narrowing.

“She told her friend that she used self-defense to take care of the person following her,” I said.

He pulled back on Quinn's arm, causing her to cry out, and I yelled, “I'm sorry! I'm just trying to figure out why you had to hurt her.”

“Because she deserved it,” he growled.

“Okay,” I said, my throat so tight I didn't know how words were getting out. “So you saw her on her way to meet someone that night.”

“Yes,” he said, sounding defiant.

“And she talked to you, or hit you even. And you had to hit her with a bat.”

“Yes,” he said. “She said she was going to meet that guy at Green Meadows and he was going to buy a house for her.”

I took a chance. “Her high school friends said she could be incredibly mean when people didn't do exactly what she wanted them to do. Was she mean to you?”

“Yes!” he yelled. “She said she was going to marry him, because he could afford to give her what she needed. Well, I showed him. And her.”

“She taunted you, and you snapped,” I said, trying to make it sound reasonable. “The police will understand that and go easy on you.”

He narrowed his eyes.

“But only if you let Quinn go.”

“That's not going to happen,” he said. “She knows too much.”

“The police know all this, Wade,” I said. “They know
about you dating Faith. They know about the horse. They know you tried to kill Newell Woodfellow.”

I saw the door handle turn and panicked that one of the kids would barge in, unknowingly putting themselves in danger too. I screamed, “No!”

The door exploded inward and what seemed like the entire cast of every superhero, zombie and mummy movie came through that door, swarming over Wade in a flood of angry teens out for blood.

Wade was forced to let go of Quinn and his weapon, and was subdued by the horde of punching and kicking teens until he was flat on his face, with Tommy leaning hard in the middle of his back, Wade's arm twisted up between his shoulder blades.

Tommy looked up at Quinn, who had simply stepped back against the wall and watched the whole thing in awe, like me. “You okay?” he asked her. When she nodded, he added with satisfaction, “Guess I'll have to tell my mom that those tae kwon do classes came in handy.”

*   *   *

I
t didn't take long for Detective Lockett and Bobby to arrive on the scene and arrest Wade. He looked utterly defeated, hunched over in the police car wearing a dirty white T-shirt and underwear, with some of the clown makeup sliding off to show where punches had landed. The police had stripped him of his costume while looking for weapons.

It took hours to sort out those who had actually seen something and get their statements. Tommy and a few others were invited down to the police station for a more intense interview. Trent had seen Clown Wade grab Quinn and drag
her into the quiet room, and he'd texted everyone he knew, gathering the costumed cavalry. Word had spread fast and the gang of teens had come to the rescue.

Erica stayed behind to close up the festival, and then joined us at the police station, which hadn't had such a boisterous crowd since the ill-fated St. Patrick's Day parade of 2012. The hall was a chaos of excited and proud teens in colorful costumes.

Lockett and the chief had already taken my statement, but invited me back into the interrogation-slash-lunch-and-dining room to let me know that Dylan was conscious and had positively identified Wade as the one who had hit him over the head. He didn't remember anything after that, not even almost drowning in the lake.

Oscar was out of jail, and had gone directly to the hospital.

Wade had confessed to everything, blaming Faith for driving him to kill her, and dumping her body at the Green Meadows Estates to implicate Oscar. Lockett said he'd be in prison a long time.

*   *   *

E
rica and I opened up Chocolates and Chapters a little early the next day, offering a day-after-Halloween discount. It seemed like the whole town had decided our shop was the place to be, to discuss the excitement of the night before and celebrate the comic book kids being the superheroes they'd always wanted to be.

The teens took over the stairs in the bookstore side, laughing and pushing one another as they retold their parts of the story.

Dylan had been released from the hospital, and he sat in the middle with a bandage on his head. In between acknowledging his friends' comments, he stole glances at his parents, who sat together at one of the tables in the back. They barely spoke, content to see their son safe.

Gilly was sticking around West Riverdale for a while. She told Erica that she realized her embarrassment over her affair was something she could handle after almost losing her son. She was hoping that she and her new husband could move back close enough to be in her son's life.

Bean was sitting at the counter, as if he didn't want to be far from me. He'd driven home from Baltimore in the middle of the night to make sure I was really okay, and stayed with me for the first time. Of course, Bobby had stayed right upstairs, not wanting to be far from Erica either. It made for an awkward breakfast.

Leo opened the door to Chocolates and Chapters, and I was delighted to see him holding the door for Star. Then he announced, “We're engaged!” to the whole room.

Star laughed, looking up at him with a dazzling smile and so much love, she shined. She held up her hand with a sparkling diamond for everyone to see.

I burst into tears and made my way around the counter to hug Star first. “Oh my God! I'm so happy!”

I grabbed Leo and hugged him tight. “Good job, big bro,” I whispered in his ear at the same time he said, “Thanks, sis.” I clung to him, so grateful that my big brother was back.

Over his shoulder, I saw Bobby exchange a shocked look with Bean. Bobby's hand seemed to unconsciously pat his front pocket as if making sure something was still there.

In the din of many congratulations, I could've sworn Bean said, “That sonofagun stole your thunder.”

Leo pulled back a bit and I looked into his beaming face.

“Best day?” I asked him while Erica and the customers gathered around Star to see the ring.

He grinned at me, his eyes full of happiness. And hope. “So far.”

• BY ISABELLA KNACK •

Passion Fruit Vanilla Ganache

(YIELDS 120 PIECES)

Vanilla Milk Chocolate Ganache

¾ cup heavy cream

¼ cup glucose syrup

1 vanilla bean pod

2 cups milk chocolate, chopped

4 teaspoons butter

Passion Fruit Ganache

6½ tablespoons heavy cream

⅓ cup passion fruit

6½ tablespoons glucose syrup

2¼ cups white chocolate, chopped

2 tablespoons butter

1½ cups dark chocolate, chopped

Preparing the Vanilla Milk Chocolate Ganache:

Combine the heavy cream and glucose in a saucepan. Scrape the vanilla bean into the mixture, and then drop in the scraped pod. Bring to a boil. Remove it from heat and pluck out the pod.

Pour the cream mixture over the milk chocolate. Using a spatula, stir in small circles to emulsify. Add the butter and stir until it is incorporated into the ganache.

Spread the ganache onto a baking sheet lined with plastic wrap. Place it in the freezer for about 10–15 minutes.

Preparing the Passion Fruit Ganache:

Combine the heavy cream, passion fruit and glucose in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and pour the mixture over the white chocolate. Using a spatula, stir in small circles to emulsify. Add the butter and stir until the butter is incorporated into the ganache. Pour the mixture immediately on top of the Vanilla Milk Ganache and spread. Allow to crystallize overnight.

Remove the ganache from the sheet pan and plastic wrap. Cut it into rectangles. Melt the dark chocolate in the microwave at 30-second intervals. Dip the rectangles into the dark chocolate and place them on wax paper. Chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours.

Irish Cream Ganache

(YIELDS 100 PIECES)

¾ cup heavy cream

¼ cup glucose syrup

1¾ cups dark chocolate, chopped

4 teaspoons softened butter

2 tablespoons Irish Cream liqueur

premade chocolate molds (available at candy/baking shops or online)

Combine the heavy cream and glucose syrup in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Pour the hot cream mixture on the chopped dark chocolate and let sit for 2 minutes in a bowl. Using a spatula, stir the mixture in small circles until it emulsifies. Stir the softened butter into the ganache until it's incorporated. Add the Irish Cream liqueur, stirring until the mixture is homogeneous. Pipe into premade chocolate molds. Chill for two hours.

Peppermint Patties

(YIELDS 24 PATTIES)

2¼ cups powdered sugar

2 tablespoons softened butter

2 teaspoons peppermint extract

2 tablespoons cream

12 ounces melting chocolate wafers

In a mixing bowl, combine the powdered sugar, butter, peppermint extract and cream. Beat them with a paddle attachment until the mixture comes together. Turn the mixer speed higher and beat until the candy comes together and is light and creamy. When you touch it, it should be soft but not at all sticky. If it seems sticky, add a little more powdered sugar, a few tablespoons at a time, until it's no longer sticky.

Scrape the candy paste out onto a long piece of plastic wrap, and form into a thin tube, about 1½ inches in diameter. Wrap it well in the plastic wrap and twist the ends so that they stay in place. Chill the candy until it is very firm, about 45 minutes.

Once firm, use a large sharp knife to slice off rounds about ¼ inch thick. Melt the chocolate wafers in the microwave at 30-second intervals, and stir between each 30 seconds until melted. Dip the candy slices into the melted chocolate, covering completely, and place them onto wax paper. Chill in the refrigerator for one hour.