Agent Keefe retrieved a small notebook. âTell me what happened yesterday.â
âI finished in the kitchen about three oâclock,â Sharon answered. âWe were ready for guests a few minutes before four.â
âJust in time to meet Andrew Ballantine.â
Sharon hoped that her face didnât reveal her confused emotionsâfeelings that went counter to her long-held belief that she was much too sensible to fall in love at first sight.
âSo, once you began talking with Mr. Ballantine, you lost track of time and the Strathbogie Mist desserts.â
âI suppose so.â
âConsequently, anyone in the gazebo that afternoon could have tampered with them.â
Sheâd been so engrossed in their conversation that she wouldnât have noticed if a flying saucer had beamed up the ceramic ramekins. But Andrew had declared it âone of the most incredible dishes of Strathbogie Mist Iâve ever eaten. A dessert to die for.â
He doesnât know yet how close he came.
Ron and Janet Benrey began writing romantic cozy mysteries together more than ten years agoâchiefly because they both loved to read them. Their successful collaboration surprised them both, because they have remarkably different backgrounds.
Ron holds degrees in engineering, management and law. He built a successful career as a nonfiction writer specializing in speechwriting and other aspects of business writing. Janet was an entrepreneur before she earned a degree in communications, working in such fields as professional photography, executive recruiting and sporting-goods marketing.
How do they write together and still stay married? Thatâs the question that readers ask most. The answer is that theyâve developed a process for writing novels that makes optimum use of their individual talents. Perhaps even more important, their love for cozy mysteries transcends the inevitable squabbles when they write one.
The eighteen guests who attended the Sunday-afternoon tea at The Scottish Captain ate every morsel of food offered to them inside the Captainâs back-garden gazebo.
Who could blame them? An authentic Scottish cream tea is not an everyday event in Glory, North Carolina, and the side tables in the gazebo were heaped with handmade sweet scones, clotted cream, twelve kinds of preserves, tea cakes, fruit tartlets, smoked salmon canapés, savory finger sandwiches and dark-chocolate muffinsâmost prepared by Calvin Constable, the bed-and-breakfastâs superb breakfast chef.
The only dish that wasnât Calvinâs handiwork was the Strathbogie Mist, a traditional Scottish concoction of pears, cream, sugar and ginger. Sharon Pickard, the cohostess of the tea party, had made twenty-four helpings, which vanished within seconds of being served.
Sharon had brought the desserts to the gazebo a few minutes before the tea began. âBetter leave the ramekins covered for now,â Calvin had said to her. âChurch elders and committee people can be a ravenous lot.â
Sharon laughed, but she felt a twinge of guilt when she saw Emma Neilson scurrying hither and yon in the gazeboâarranging food on tables and putting the final touches on the Christmas decorations. Sharon realized that asking Emma to host a tea party just eleven days before Christmas had added to the chaos of her friendâs busy life.
Sharonâs own job as head nurse in the emergency room at Glory Regional Hospital could be chock-full of hassles, but Emma, the owner and manager of The Scottish Captain, seemed to work around the clock.
Sharon would have to find a way to repay Emma for her generosity. The hours sheâd spent at the Captain hanging Christmas trimmings and helping Calvin in the kitchen were scarcely a down payment.
Thank goodness I never wanted to run a bed-and-breakfast.
âHas the guest of honor arrived yet?â Sharon asked Emma.
âHe checked in twenty minutes ago. Youâll be surprised when you meet Andrew Ballantine. He seems too young to be an art historian and an expert on stained glass.â Emma winked at her. âHeâs a hunk.â
Sharon heard a car door slam in the Captainâs parking lot.
âShowtime! The guests are arriving.â Emma flipped a switch, turning on the five strings of Christmas lights that ringed the gazebo.
âItâll be beautiful in here when the sun goes down in a few minutes,â Sharon said.
âChristmas should be the prettiest time of the year at a B and B.â
The partygoers came, welcomed Andrew Ballantine to Glory, ate heartily, drank eight large pots of tea then went homeâall without realizing that a serious crime had been committed in their midst.