Pie A La Murder (41 page)

I shook my head. “That’s ridiculous. She was as eager to get rid of me as he was. I know because I was in that car with them, and on that path with them.”

“I love it when the bad guys turn on each other,” Nicholas said. “
His
story is that Roxanne killed Gretchen and that all he did was transport the body, and he only did that because he’d seen Roxanne kill her husband in a rage and he was afraid of her.”

“That man is no gentleman,” Harmon Dubois said.

All three of us turned to look at him. We’d forgotten he was there.

Nicholas stood and took out his reporter’s notebook. “Mr. Dubois, why don’t we find a quieter corner. I’d like to interview you for the
Chronicle
.”

The
Chronicle
’s banner headline Friday morning read: “Hero Poet Saves TV Star.” The story was accompanied by pictures of Harmon and me taken at the hospital. Fortunately, they were snapped after I’d washed the lotion off my face and borrowed a comb from one of the nurses. I didn’t look too terrible.

The phone started ringing early. First, not surprisingly, was Liddy, and she had Shannon on the line, too. Liddy had arranged a conference call.

I gave them all the details that weren’t in the paper and then said, “You two were wonderful. Your search of the Redding house was vital to uncovering evidence that led to the arrests of Light and Roxanne.”

“We have to celebrate,” Liddy said. “I’ll organize a party for Saturday next. How’s that?”

“Sounds wonderful.” In my ear I heard the Call Waiting sounds. I hated Call Waiting, but hadn’t been able to disable it, and the phone company told me it was “bundled.” Whatever that meant.

Simultaneously with the Call Waiting bleeps, my cell phone rang. I was sure it wasn’t a coincidence, and only one person I knew called on both phones simultaneously.

I said good-bye to Liddy and Shannon, pressed “Answer” on my cell phone, and said, “Hello, Phil.”

“Great news, Della!” Phil’s voice conveyed such excitement that I pictured him jumping up and down with glee. “Your story’s on the wire services, and all over the Internet. This’ll be fantastic for our ratings! And I’ve got a fabulous second story that I’m issuing tomorrow.”

“What other story?”

“The Better Living Channel is receiving an award from the Associated Charities of America. It seems our national bake sales have been producing so many donations from the teams of contestants that the ACA is amazed. And grateful. The money’s going to help a lot of people now, when it’s so badly needed.”

“That’s wonderful,” I said.

“And because of that,
World Today
magazine is going to feature our beloved boss, Mickey Jordan, in a special holiday issue. The story’s going to be titled ‘One Person
Can
Make a Difference.’”

“I’ll bet that was your idea, wasn’t it, Phil?”

I heard him chuckle. “Well, yeah, I talked to the editor, but that’s just between us. Okay? I want Mickey to think the magazine came to me.”

“I won’t say a word.”

When Nicholas arrived at my house in the late morning, I waved the paper at him cheerily and said, “Take that,
Los Angeles Observer
.”

He grinned. “Yeah. We can be just as sensational as they can, once in a while.”

We were in the kitchen, having coffee, when Nicholas said, “Harmon Dubois.”

“What about him?”

“Am I going to have to fight him for you?”

I laughed. “No. And after this story of yours, I have a feeling he’s not going to be a lonely widower too much longer.”

“That poem he wrote for you—are you going to let me read it?”

“No. It’s private.” To change the subject, I asked, “Do Celeste and her mother and her prince know about Galen Light and Roxanne Redding? Oh, I guess they must if they’ve read the paper.”

“I told all three of them last night, after I filed the story.”

“Are Celeste’s mother and Prince Freddie going back to Vienna soon?”

“Tanis called this morning to say that Freddie’s leaving this afternoon.”

“
He
is?” I hoped Nicholas wasn’t going to tell me that Tanis was staying in Los Angeles.

“Tanis said they need a few weeks for his mother to calm down. Freddie’s going back to the grand duchess. Celeste is staying here with me. Tanis left for New York an hour ago.”

“What’s she going to do in New York?”

“Shop. Look around the social scene. She said that if Freddie really loves her he’ll come to New York and persuade her to go back to Europe with him.”

“And if he doesn’t? Or if his mother won’t let him?”

The corner of Nicholas’s mouth turned up about a millimeter, but if he was trying to smile he failed. “She says she’ll go to the south of France. She’s heard that a woman she knows is about to be jilted by a Greek shipping tycoon who lives there.”

I asked, “Do you want her back?”

“No,” he said. “I want
you
.”

He leaned across the table and we kissed. A gentle kiss. When we separated he said, “I almost forgot. I have an invitation for you.”

I smiled with pleasure. “To what are you inviting me?” “Dinner. Tomorrow night. With Celeste and me. It was her idea. She wants to apologize for the way she’s behaved toward you.”

“That’s nice. I’d like to get to know her.”

He got up from the table, came around to my side, carefully stepped over Tuffy, and took me in his arms. We kissed again.

He said, “In a few days, when your scratches have healed and you’re not aching all over, I’d like to show you how much I’ve missed you.”

My answer was a kiss that left no doubt as to how much I had missed
him
.

“How soon do you have to get back to the office?” I whispered.

COOKIE CRUST:

Position an oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees F for glass or 350 degrees F for metal pie pan.

 

Pour off any oil accumulated on top of nut butter in jar and use a bit to oil pie pan.

 

Put chocolate chips into the top part of a double boiler over a pot of boiling water, and stir constantly until chips are melted. Turn off burner. Remove top part from stove and stir in nut butter.

 

While this mixture is cooling, in a small mixing bowl, beat the egg with a fork. Add the sugar, vanilla, and baking soda to the beaten egg and mix well. Add this mixture to the cooled chocolate and nut butter, then add the ½ cup whole chocolate chips and mix well. The mixture will become a stiff dough, Put about ⅔ of the dough on the bottom of a 9-inch glass or metal pie pan and flatten dough with back of spoon or rubber spatula. Bake crust until puffed and glossy sheen is gone, about 10 to 12 minutes, depending on your oven. Remove container from oven and cool on a rack.

 

Drop the remainder of the dough by spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper and flatten with back of spoon or rubber spatula. Bake cookies at 350 degrees F until puffed and glossy sheen is gone, about 10 to 12 minutes. Slide parchment from cookie sheet onto another rack to cool. When cool, enjoy cookies now or later.

 

FUDGE LAYER:

Put chips, butter, and honey into the top part of a double boiler over boiling water and stir constantly until ingredients are melted and thoroughly mixed together. Turn off burner. Remove top pot from stove and stir in butter and vanilla.

 

Pour fudge mixture onto the cookie crust and spread to cover. Chill in refrigerator until set, about 1 hour. No need to wash pot before next step.

 

PUDDING LAYER:

Put all ingredients except starch and about ½ cup of the milk into the top pot of a double boiler. Add the starch to the saved milk, stir until dissolved, and then add that mixture to the pot. Place pot over, not in, boiling water and constantly stir the lumpy mixture until ingredients are melted, thoroughly combined, and thickened into a pudding with a glossy sheen. Turn off burner.

 

Remove top pot from stove. Cool for 10 minutes. Pour pudding over the (cooled and set) fudge layer and spread to cover.

 

Chill in refrigerator about 1 hour.

 

Serve each slice of pie with a scoop of dark chocolate ice cream. Optional: top with whipped cream. Enjoy!

Mira Waters is an actress. Among her roles, she’s played Muhammad Ali’s wife in
The Greatest
. She’s also a fabulous cook. Her sweet potato pie is my favorite version of this dish.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

 

When the sweet potatoes are cooked, and after they’ve cooled for a few minutes so you don’t burn your hands, strip off the skins. Mash the sweet potatoes in a mixing bowl.

 

Add the eggs, sugar, rum, butter, milk, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Whip all the ingredients together and put into an unbaked pie shell. Mira says you can use a prepared pie shell, but she and I both prefer to make our own crust. My personal favorite crust is the Standard Pastry Crust recipe found in the
Betty Crocker Cookbook
—but be sure to use several tablespoons of ice water, not just “water.”