Olive and Let Die (27 page)

“And then Doreen re-hid the document inside the gnome. But why would she leave the Bingo card, a makeshift map? Was she afraid she'd forget?”

Caitlyn frowned and her tiny nose wrinkled up. She looked me square in the eye. “Georgie, there's something else. Something Melanie wanted to tell you when we'd put all the pieces together.”

Caitlyn and Melanie had been hiding plenty from me all along. Why couldn't I have a sweet, banana-bread-baking mother like Gladys? Gladys. Something Gladys had said in passing niggled at me.

Suddenly, the pieces shifted into a new pattern. Big Dom
diTomasso, the restaurant owner whose murder I'd solved, sort of, a few months ago, was a distant relative of Gladys's husband, Monty. What if Dom hadn't been killed for the reasons we all thought? What if Dom had been killed because he was an heir to the Bloodworth fortune?

Doreen must have known her life was in danger, which was why she hid the documents and left a clue for Melanie in the form of the Bingo card. In case something happened to her. Which it had.

I reached for the second piece of paper, unfolded it, and uncreased it gently with my hand.

Certificate of Marriage
.

The groom's name, as expected, was Elihu Bloodworth. The bride?

Mary Elizabeth Grant.

Caitlyn's thumbs moved furiously over the surface of her phone. After a moment, she stared at the screen, then up at me. “I just plugged that name and birthdate into the biggest online genealogy site.”

She didn't have to tell me. Mary Elizabeth Grant. My friend Liza, at the Valentine Island Spa, was also named Elizabeth. Elizabeth Grant. Unless this was the biggest coincidence on earth, my friend was also my distant cousin.

“According to the notes attached to the family files, Mary Elizabeth and Elihu had a son. He apparently changed his name legally to his mother's maiden name. We can only guess that he found out about the bigamous second marriage and wanted to distance himself from it.”

I sat back in my chair, gobsmacked. But thrilled at the same time. I'd longed for family all these years, and a cousin had been right under my nose, being my friend, the whole time. Tears welled up in my eyes.

Caitlyn snapped pictures of both documents with her phone. “Of course, Liza's name isn't on these charts. And we'll have to have the attorneys verify the line of descent, but that should be easy now that we have a name to go on.”

The attorneys. “Let's reschedule with Hank. We should get this stuff to the MacNamaras and let them get to work. And then we'll go see Liza.”

TWENTY-SIX

We dropped off the papers at the lawyers' office, then took the water taxi to Valentine Island.

Liza looked from me to Caitlyn and back again, her eyes questioning, but she was too phlegmatic to come out and ask anything. I was bubbling with excitement.

We made ourselves comfortable in her private sitting room.

“Mineral water? Glass of wine? It may be well before noon, but we don't stand on ceremony here.”

“Maybe later. This can't wait.”

We explained what we'd found out and showed her the marriage certificate. If the news had hit me like a ton of bricks, Liza looked as though she'd been hit by the whole brickyard. And the kiln. I'd never seen her calm, competent demeanor ruffled. Ever. I was grinning ear to ear. Caitlyn? Well, there was no telling what she was thinking.

Liza rose. “I think I'll have that wine.” She sent off a text
and a few minutes later an employee came to the door bearing a bottle of Chardonnay in an ice bucket and a tray of cheese, crackers, and sliced green apples.

When we had drinks poured all around and had each taken a few restorative sips, Liza spoke.

“This explains so much.” She nibbled on a cracker, thoughtful. “My father always said the family had changed their name a hundred years ago, but he never said why. He may or may not have known. Or maybe not enough time had gone by and he was still embarrassed by the bigamy.”

“Or the fact that Elihu was such a jerk,” I added helpfully. Artisan cheese on homemade crackers, and fresh local apples. Heavenly.

“A rich jerk,” Caitlyn said.

We nodded in unison.

There was a question that needed to be answered, and I struggled with how to bring it up. Liza saved me by broaching the subject herself.

“Channing.” She inclined her head toward one of the windows, but she didn't seem to be seeing anything. I wondered what thoughts were going through her head.

“He must have known about my relationship to this Elihu Bloodworth and he romanced me—or tried to anyway—to try to get his hands on my share. He asked me to marry him, you know.”

“I take it you didn't accept?” I was the teeniest, tiniest bit hurt she hadn't told me.

“Of course not. He was beautiful, of course, and the sex was quite lovely. But that was all the relationship was based on. For me anyway.”

“How could he have known when you didn't yourself?” I asked. “Channing wasn't stupid by any means, but he was no Rhodes scholar.”

“I might be able to explain that,” Caitlyn said. “When Melanie and I got here, I saw him coming out of your office, Liza, when you weren't there. It seemed odd, so I decided to follow him. When I found him at Gladys Montgomery's and he caught me, I suspected he might be trying to use his handyman business to gain access to people's homes for whatever reason. Theft or blackmail maybe. But I didn't have any real proof that I could take to the police, just a gut feeling. And when I found out he'd been at Spinky's, it was too late anyway.”

Liza nodded. “I have the estate paperwork for my parents and grandparents locked in a filing cabinet in my office, not that I've looked at that stuff in years. There might very well be something in there proving the connection to Elihu. Channing was . . . good with his hands. I'm sure he was capable of opening a locked filing cabinet without damaging it.”

“Remember Spinky's used to be the Sailor's Rest, Big Dom's restaurant. So Channing could have been looking for something there too. For what it's worth,” I said, “at the end he seemed genuinely sad. As though he'd failed you.”

Liza's lips twisted up into a half smile. “Or failed himself, once he figured out he was never going to get his hands on that fortune.”

I raised my glass to her. “Welcome to the family, my friend.”

She clinked her glass on mine. “I can't think of anyone else I'd rather be related to.”

“
Opa!
” I threw back my shot of ouzo in unison with the other people gathered around the table in the Bonaparte House. I smiled, warm with the glow of the anise-flavored drink and the company of the people I loved. Jack was seated next to me and he took my hand. Gladys was on the other side of him.

Small plates lined the table, filled with fat Kalamata olives, slices of the last ripe tomatoes of the season, chunks of briny feta, and grape leaves stuffed with rice and lamb. The Greeks call these nibbles
mezedes.
I called them delicious.

Inky had hitched up his smartphone to a speaker, which was currently broadcasting bouzouki music. It was impossible not to feel happy listening to the notes wafting through the air. Later, after dinner, even though there were only two native Greeks in the room, the tables would be pushed back for dancing.

A gold bracelet—eighteen carat—shone on my wrist. I glanced over at Melanie. She wore an identical one. Unbeknownst to me, she'd commissioned Roger at the jewelry shop to make three. One for herself, one for me, and one for Cal, the granddaughter she hoped to get to know soon. I thought about having one made for Liza.

Dolly sat a few seats away from me, talking intently to Paloma, who'd been hired as the new cook at Spinky's. With training from Dolly, I knew she would do well. And she could keep her job at the school, with benefits. As Melanie would say, win-win.

Sophie presided at the head of the table, our guest of honor, with Marina next to her. Their bags were packed and loaded into the cavernous trunk of the White Whale. In the morning Spiro would drive them both to the airport in Syracuse for the first leg of their journey back to Greece for the winter. She'd taken it surprisingly well when I told her I was staying here for the winter. But when I delivered the news that I was seeing Jack, she set her lips in a hard line and gave me a gentle swat with the gossip magazine she'd been holding. “You dum-dum,” she said, not unkindly. “You think I don't know? He's very good-looking. Does he have a father?” I'd answered that his parents were both still alive and married to each other. She took it in stride. “How about an uncle?”

My heart beat in time with the music and swelled as I heard the laughter of the people I loved best. Almost all of them anyway. I understood, in a way I never had before, that being part of a family doesn't necessarily mean being related by blood.

My phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out and looked
at the screen, then got up and went to the hallway to take the call.

“Callista? Is that you? We're just having a farewell party for Yia-Yia.”

“Mom, I miss you and Daddy. I'm coming home.”

Gratitude and joy bubbled up inside me. “My love, you can't get here soon enough for me.”

The Thousand Islands consist of 1,864 islands located from the juncture of Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence and stretching about fifty miles to the northeast. And yes, there is a very specific definition of what an island is! To make the count, a piece of land must be above water all year long, have a minimum area of one square foot, and support at least one tree.

For more than a century, people have vacationed in the islands and the small villages along both the Canadian and the American sides of the St. Lawrence.

But long before the area became a tourist destination, the Native Americans called this area the Garden of the Great Spirit. Artifacts such as arrowheads, spear points, and pottery shards are frequently found. Numerous mounds these ancient First Peoples constructed are still visible today—although their purpose remains a
mystery.

Gladys's Banana Bread

Makes 1 large loaf or 3 mini loaves

¼ lb. (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 c. sugar

2 eggs

1½ c. all purpose flour

1 t. salt

1 t. baking soda

1 individual-size container banana-flavored Greek yogurt, approximately 5.3 oz.

1 c. very ripe banana, mashed (about 2)*

1 t. vanilla extract

½ c. chopped walnuts, optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-by-5-by-3-inch loaf pan or three mini loaf pans.

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and combine well.

Add dry ingredients and mix.

Add yogurt, banana, and vanilla. Mix well. Stir in nuts if desired.

Pour batter into pan(s). Bake approximately 1 hour for large loaf, or 35 minutes for smaller loaves, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Cool completely before slicing. Banana bread is even better the next day (try it with softened cream cheese) and, if tightly wrapped, freezes extremely well.

*Note: If you have very ripe to slightly overripe bananas but don't want to make your bread right now, place the whole unpeeled bananas into a zip-top freezer bag and freeze. When you're ready to use them, just let them thaw on the counter or in the refrigerator.

Keftedes (Greek Meatballs)

Serves 4

2 slices bread

½ c. milk

1 lb. meatloaf mix (any combination of ground beef, veal, lamb, or pork)

1 small onion, chopped fine

1 clove garlic, pressed or chopped fine, more if you're a garlic fan

1 t. dried oregano

1 t. dried mint

splash of white wine or cider vinegar

1 egg, beaten

pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

olive oil for frying

about 1 c. of flour, mixed with salt and freshly ground pepper and placed in a shallow dish

Soak bread in milk for several minutes, then gently squeeze out milk. Place remaining ingredients in large bowl, add bread, and mix gently until all items are combined. Roll mixture into meatballs, roll in flour (shake off excess) and fry in olive oil until browned on all sides and cooked through. Drain on paper towels. Serve with warm pita bread or Greek Lemon Rice and Tzatziki Sauce.

Tzatziki Sauce

Serves 4

1 c. plain (unflavored) Greek yogurt

1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded, and grated, excess juice drained

2 T. finely grated onion, excess juice drained

squeeze of lemon juice

pinch of salt

Combine all ingredients in serving bowl. Keep refrigerated.

Greek Lemon Rice

Serves 4

½ c. finely chopped onion

2 T. butter

1 c. long grain white rice

2 c. chicken broth

¼ c. lemon juice

freshly chopped parsley

Sauté onion in butter until softened. Add uncooked rice and sauté for 2 minutes. Add chicken broth and lemon juice, bring to a boil, then reduce heat. Cover and simmer for approximately 20 minutes, or until rice is cooked. Sprinkle with chopped parsley if desired.

For more recipes, visit the author's website at
www.susannahhardy.com.