Halloween Hijinks (A Zoe Donovan Mystery Book 1) (16 page)

“But you said someone went back after the boys left and killed Griswold. Maybe Gage ended a night of breaking and entering with murder,” Zak suggested.

“I considered that, but then I realized that the one piece of the puzzle that didn’t really fit was the dog. Someone had to have come in the front door and left it open, allowing the dog to get in while the killer dragged the body to the basement. The dog must have wandered into the basement when the killer went into the bathroom to wash up.”

“How do you know the killer washed up?”

“I remembered seeing blood in the sink.”

“Okay, I’m with you so far. The dog wanders into the basement while the killer is in the bathroom.”

“Exactly. The killer leaves the bathroom and then remembers the basement door. The killer returns to the basement and closes the door, trapping the dog inside. The killer then leaves without realizing the dog has been trapped.”

“The dog starts howling and disturbs the neighbors,” Zak supplied. “You go to investigate and find the body.”

“Bingo.”

“Okay, that makes sense, but how does that help us identify the killer?”

“I checked around, and none of the neighbors claimed to know who the dog belonged to. I asked myself, if he hadn’t come from the neighborhood around the Henderson place, where
had
he come from?”

“You think the killer brought him?  Whoever murdered Griswold probably left the dog in the car, went in, and finished what the boys started, and then accidentally locked the dog in the basement. Wouldn’t the killer notice the dog was missing?”  Zak asked.

“Probably, if she knew she had the dog.”

“Come again?”

“What if the person who killed Griswold drives a truck, and the dog jumped into the back without the killer noticing?  Charlie used to do that to me before I had the camper shell. When he was a pup there were times he’d notice I was going somewhere and hop in when I wasn’t looking. Maybe the dog owner didn’t miss the dog until later.”

“So find out who owns the dog and you find the killer. How do we do that?” Zak asked.

“I already know. I decided I wasn’t going to come forward with my theory unless evidence supported the idea that Craig hadn’t killed Griswold. Salinger has already decided not to press charges against Craig for the murder, because he clearly hit him in self-defense. All the boys are looking at attempted blackmail charges, but given the circumstances, I think Salinger would have gone easy on them. In my mind the path of least resistance was to let sleeping dogs lie.”

Zak looked at me. “The killer is someone you want to protect. It isn’t Levi?”

“No. Not Levi. I know this individual should answer for Griswold’s murder, but to be honest, if he’d done to me what he did to this person, I’d have killed him, too.”

“Do I even want to know?”  Zak wondered.

“Salinger will figure it out. It’s only a matter of time, now that he realizes that Craig didn’t kill the man. It’ll be best if this person turns herself in.”

“Okay,” Zak said. “Who killed the bastard?”

“The person he hurt the most. For years Griswold abused the weaker kids on his team in order to get them to quit. Most of the kids grew up and got over it, but there’s one unwanted player from whom he took something that can’t be returned.”

Zak looked shocked as the pieces fell into place. “Samantha Collins.”

I nodded my head.

“He raped her?”

“He was outraged that she was allowed to join the team. His harassment of her began on day one and intensified as she became even more determined to stay on the team. To make matters worse, most of the guys didn’t want her on the team either, so they supported Griswold in his harassment. Cody Blunt was one of the few members of the team who stuck up for her. After the guys left Cody called Samantha and told her they’d killed him.”

“But she went to check for herself,” Zak guessed. “Only Griswold wasn’t dead, just unconscious. Oh, man. What are we going to do?”

“What we have to do. Samantha’s parents weren’t supportive when she complained of being bullied by Griswold, so she was afraid to talk to them when Griswold…well, you know. In fact until I spoke to her she’d never told anyone about the rape. I wanted her to talk to her parents, but she refused, so I set her up with counseling. I hoped that would be enough to get her through this, but with this new evidence I guess we’ll need to talk her into turning herself in and hope that Salinger has a soul beneath his gruff exterior.”

“I’ll talk to her parents once everything is out in the open,” Zak offered. “Make sure she has the best attorney money can buy.”

“That’s really nice of you, but let’s hope it doesn’t get that far. Samantha needs counseling, not jail time. Hopefully Salinger and the DA will see it that way.”

“I can’t see how they wouldn’t.”

I leaned my head against Zak’s shoulder. This whole thing had really put things in perspective. Before I found out about the hell Samantha had gone through in the past few months, I felt like losing my job was the worst thing that had ever happened. Now it is, simply,
something
that happened. I don’t know what the future holds for either of us, but my intuition tells me that everything is going to work out okay.

Recipes From Rosie’s Kitchen

Soup

Timberland Shrimp
Chowder

Mountain Man Beef Stew

Babbling Brook Chicken Chowder

Seasonal Sweets and Treats

Pumpkin Patch Muffins

Ellie’s Pumpkin Cheesecake

Apple Cranberry Crisp

Timberland Shrimp Chowder

Base
:

1 cube butter

½ chopped onion (or more if you like onion)

3-4 cloves garlic chopped

6 cups of peeled and diced potato (frozen hash browns work as well)

2
pounds cooked shrimp (any size, Rosie uses medium but she has used salad shrimp in a pinch.)

32
oz chicken broth (can use part chicken broth and part water if preferred)

Spices
: amounts can be adjusted to accommodate taste. 

¼
tsp chili powder

¼
tsp cayenne pepper

¼
tsp ground cumin

¼
tsp coriander

½
tsp nutmeg

½
tsp paprika

1
tsp salt

1
tsp white pepper

Melt butter in heavy pan

Sauté onion and garlic

Add potatoes and shrimp

Cover with chicken broth (just enough to boil potatoes)

Add spices

Boil until potatoes are tender – this time will vary depending on the size of potato cubes

Cheese Sauce
: While potatoes are boiling use a separate pan to make cheese sauce

1 cube butter

4 oz cream cheese (1 small or ½ large package)

1 cup heavy cream

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (do not use non or low fat)

2 cups grated parmesan cheese (or 1 cup parmesan and 1 cup
romano)

Melt butter in pan over med heat.  Add cream cheese. Stir until melted. Add cream. Add cheese a little at a time.

After potatoes are tender slowly fold cheese sauce into base. Stir constantly until well blended.

Cheesy Chicken Chowder

3 cups chicken broth

2 cups diced potatoes

1 cup diced carrots

1 cup diced celery

½ cup diced onion

Salt

Pepper

¼ cup butter

1/3 cup flour

2 cups heavy cream

2 cups shredded cheddar

2 cups cooked and cubed chicken

Bring chicken broth to a boil.  Reduce heat.  Add potatoes, carrots, celery, salt and pepper.  Cover and simmer until vegetables are tender. 

Meanwhile melt butter in saucepan.  Add flour and mix well.  Gradually stir in cream.  Cook over low heat until slightly thickened.  Stir in cheese
.  Heat until melted.  Add broth along with chicken.  Cook over low heat until warmed through.

Mountain Man Bee
f Stew

2 pounds boneless chuck cut into cubes (or precut stew meat)

2 Tbs veg oil

3 large baking potatoes cut into cubes

1 large onion peeled and chopped

4 large carrots cut into bite size pieces

1 cup sliced mushrooms

1
can artichoke hearts – quartered

3
Tbs flour

1 cup beef broth

1 cup burgundy wine (Or other red)

3 bay leaves

1 tsp basil

Seasoned salt, garlic powder, and pepper

Season meat with salt, garlic powder, and pepper and then brown beef in hot vegetable oil.
  Add all the vegetables except mushrooms and artichoke hearts.  Sauté over medium heat for about 5 minutes.  Sprinkle flour over meat and vegetables and stir to coat.  Add broth, wine, bay leaves and basil.  Bring to a boil and then cover and lower heat.  Simmer for about 1 ½ hours until vegetables are tender.  Add mushrooms and artichokes during last half hour.

Pumpkin Patch Muffins

3 cups sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

4 eggs

1 16
oz can pumpkin (2 cups)

½ cup water

3 ½ cups flour

2
tsp baking soda

1
tsp baking powder

½
tsp salt

1
Tbs cinnamon

1
tsp ginger

1
tsp ground nutmeg

½
tsp ground nutmeg

½
tsp ground cloves

½
tsp all spice

4 cups
walnuts “Chopped)

Combine: sugar, oil, and eggs.  Add pumpkin and water and mix well.

Combine dry ingredients and add to pumpkin mixture.

Add nuts.

Spoon into greased cupcake pans (or use papers)  Bake at 350 degrees for 28 – 30 minutes

Cream Cheese Frosting (optional)

¾ cup of butter softened

6 oz cream cheese softened

1
tsp vanilla

3 cups powdered sugar

Whip all ingredients together – spread onto cooled muffins

Ellie’s Pumpkin Cheesecake

1 box of graham cracker crust – follow directions on box to make 9x13 pan

4 packages cream cheese – softened

1 ½ cups sugar

16 oz pumpkin

¾ cup whipping cream

3 Tbs flour

½
tsp nutmeg

½
tsp ginger

½
tsp cinnamon

½
tsp ground cloves

¼
tsp salt

¼
tsp vanilla

6 eggs

Beat together cream cheese and sugar.  Add pumpkin, whipping crea
m, flour, spices, and vanilla. Mix. Add 4 whole eggs plus 2 egg yolks.

Pour over prepared graham cracker crust. 

Bake at 325 until toothpick comes out clean – about an hour

Refrigerate

Topping
:

½ cup sugar

2 cups whipping cream

½ cup powdered sugar

¼ tsp vanilla

Whip until fluffy.  Spread over chilled cheesecake.