Truffled to Death (A Chocolate Covered Mystery) (23 page)

May had belatedly figured out that Coco didn’t like the smell of the flowers, so she had moved the whole family to her home, with a high-tech cat door that only worked with the GPS on Coco’s collar to let her in and out. This time, she seemed to be staying put. Maybe she’d even set down roots in May’s house, instead of wandering the shops of Main Street.

S
antiago dropped in during the half hour I’d been allowed to be alone in days, popping his head into the living room where Bean had put me with my laptop and a Netflix subscription. “You are one popular woman.” He took a seat across from me, his hair hanging freely around his face, looking more gorgeous and relaxed than he had any right to be.

“How did you get in here?” I demanded. “I’m going to fire that security company.”

He shook his head. “Don’t bother. I get through them all.”

“What do you want?” There was no heat in my voice now that I knew he was one of the good guys. In his own way. And was he even more tanned than before? How did he find the time?

“Thought you might want to know that the right thing will be done with Bertrand’s treasures,” he said.

I gave him a pretend scowl. “What did you do?”

He laughed. “So suspicious. I just made sure that the right people connected to the Rivers pointed out that Bertrand’s diary is rather like a will, and he wished that he’d never taken the Maya people’s property. Once I suggested that it all be returned, the Rivers readily agreed.”

“All of it is going back?” I asked, not sure I totally trusted him.

“Almost,” he admitted. “And I must confess a more personal agenda I had concerning Bertrand’s diary.”

“Personal?” I asked.

“What would you think if I told you that my middle name was Rio?”

My mouth dropped open. “Even I know that’s Spanish for ‘River.’ Are you a descendant of Bertrand’s?”

“Yes,” he said. “And I have a lot of cousins, all with the same middle name.”

I was stunned. The infamous Santiago, El Gato Blanco, was a River?

“Are you guys, like, all moving here?” Could they all be as complicated as Santiago?

“Of course not,” he scoffed. “We have our lives in Belize. But some of the River estate would go a long way to improving our little town.”

“What did Vivian say?” I couldn’t resist asking. “Are you a cozy member of the family now?”

He smiled. “That may take a little longer, but I’m sure we’ll come to some agreement.” He made an elaborate hand flourish and suddenly a bowl,
my
bowl, was sitting in the palm of his hand. “This is for you.”

I gasped.

“A present,” he said. “A thank-you. For your contribution to the Maya.”

“I . . . couldn’t,” I choked out.

“Michelle,” he said. “You must know by now, that I won’t leave you a choice.” He placed the bowl on the coffee table and stood, ignoring my thanks and disappearing as silently as he’d arrived.

•  •  •  •  •  •  •  •  •  •  •  •  •

A
couple of nights later, we were all heading over to the high school auditorium to see the showing of the flash mob video. It was the first time I’d left the house since coming home from the hospital, and Bean insisted on keeping his arm around my waist. I didn’t complain.

We drove into the high school parking lot. At least twenty students came up to us to share their excitement.

“Who’d believe you used to hate kids,” Erica said.

The anticipation in the crowd reached tsunami levels as the first scene appeared on the huge screen in the auditorium. Everyone cheered each time they recognized themselves and their friends on the screen, especially at the bloody battle scenes.

The short movie was wonderful. The film company had done an amazing job, somehow making it seem professional while still retaining a charming amateur quality.

The crowd erupted in applause at the climactic scene in front of the community center, as the music came to a crescendo and the museum’s banner unfolded.

Jolene took to the stage and raised her cell phone over her head. “You’ve all just received the link. Now post it to
Facebook, email it to your grandmas, tweet it, Instagram the sucker. Get the message out.”

The students’ thumbs went crazy, sending their video out into the world with exclamations of “Mine was RT’d.” “Mine was favorited.” “Mine was shared.” The noise grew crazy loud. A tech person brought up the YouTube page and kept refreshing it until the number of views reached one hundred. Two hundred.

Then the director from the film company came on stage and cheerfully yelled, “Quiet down! We have something else to share. We hope you like it.”

He gestured toward the tech gal in the back, and the behind-the-scenes video began. I was happy to see lots of shots at Chocolates and Chapters. And then the students started talking to the camera, gushing about Erica and Wink’s vision, and Jolene, Steve and Janice’s hard work pulling it all together. All of the adults, and quite a few students, had tears in their eyes when it was done.

That time, the applause was deafening.

Bean and I ducked out the back to avoid the news crew from a DC television station, attracted by the connection to the murder of Professor Moody and arrest of Gary River. That would surely help the video to go viral.

Detective Lockett was leaning against Bean’s car. He straightened and they shook hands. “Came to give you an update,” he said. “Gary’s info paid off. We got Carlo and he’s cooperating. We’re going to bring down a lot of traffickers.”

Already, Vivian was spreading the word that Gary had been under the control of Carlo and was just a young kid searching for meaning in his life.

But I was there and saw his eyes.

Gary was desperate, yes, but some part of him was enjoying it. Who knows what would have happened if we’d arrived at Bluebird Park?

Something of what I was thinking must have shown on my face because Lockett cleared his throat and nodded. He understood. He shook Bean’s hand and when he tried to shake mine, I reached up and gave him a hug.

“Ms. Serrano,” he said. “I hope I never see you again.”

We watched him drive away, and focused on the first of the teens to leave the school, flush with victory.

Bean was smiling at me. “You know what?”

I smiled back. “What?”

“Both of our ‘this’s’ are finally over.” He grabbed my hand. “So, how about that date?”

• BY ISABELLA KNACK •

Bourbon & Apple Wood Smoked Salt Truffles

(YIELDS ABOUT 15 PIECES)

4 ounces heavy whipping cream

7 ounces dark chocolate, chopped

½ ounce butter, softened

1 ounce bourbon whiskey

Pinch of salt

Cocoa powder for dusting

Bring the cream to a boil. Pour one-third of the cream over the chopped chocolate. With a spatula, mix rapidly to obtain a smooth and glossy texture. Gradually add the remaining cream, making sure to keep the emulsion smooth and glossy. Mix until the dark chocolate is completely emulsified.

Stir in softened butter and mix thoroughly. Then add the bourbon and stir. Add salt and mix into ganache. Place ganache
in refrigerator to chill until set, about 12 hours. With a melon baller, scoop ganache into individual balls and dust with cocoa powder.

Mocha Truffles

(YIELDS ABOUT 60 PIECES)

2 ¼ pounds bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

4 ounces milk chocolate, finely chopped

1 ¼ cups heavy whipping cream

1 ½ tablespoons instant espresso powder

2 tablespoons Kahlúa or other coffee-flavored liqueur

60 candy coffee beans or mocha beans, for decoration

Place 12 ounces of the bittersweet chocolate and the milk chocolate in a 2-quart mixing bowl.

In a 1-quart saucepan over medium heat, bring the cream to a boil.

Remove the pan from the heat, dissolve the espresso powder in 3 tablespoons of the cream, then blend this mixture back into the rest of the cream.

Pour the espresso cream into the bowl with the chocolate and let the mixture stand for 1 minute.

Stir together with a rubber spatula until thoroughly blended.

Stir in the Kahlúa and blend well.

Cover the truffle cream, let cool to room temperature and chill in the refrigerator overnight.

Chill the covered truffle cream for another 2 hours in the freezer.

Remove the truffle cream from the freezer and bring to cool-room temperature so that the outer coating won’t crack when they are dipped. Melt and temper the remaining 1 ½ pounds of bittersweet chocolate.

With a melon baller, scoop ganache in individual balls.

Place a truffle center into the tempered chocolate, coating it completely. With a dipper or fork, remove the center from the chocolate, carefully shake off the excess chocolate, and place the truffle on the wax paper.

After dipping 4 truffles, center a candy coffee bean on top of each truffle before the chocolate sets.

Bananas Foster

(YIELDS ABOUT 40 PIECES)

4 tablespoons butter

¼ cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon rum (optional, can substitute vanilla extract or rum flavoring)

½ teaspoon cinnamon

Dash nutmeg

1 ripe banana, sliced

¾ cup heavy cream

8 ounce semisweet chocolate, chopped

½ cup cocoa powder, for dusting

Place the chopped chocolate in a medium bowl and set aside for now. Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a 7-inch skillet over medium heat. Once melted, add the brown sugar and stir it until the brown sugar melts as well.

Add the rum, cinnamon and nutmeg, and stir until the mixture is bubbling and fragrant.

Place the banana slices in the middle of the sugar, and cook them for one minute on each side—no longer, or they will overcook and become mushy.

Once cooked on both sides, remove the banana slices from the saucepan. Add the heavy cream to the saucepan—the cream will first cause the sugar to seize and you might have bits of hardened sugar floating in your cream.

Whisk the cream and sugar together over the heat until the sugar dissolves, the mixture is smooth and the cream is almost boiling.

Pour the hot cream over the chopped chocolate in the bowl and let it sit and soften the chocolate for 1 minute. Once softened, whisk the cream and chocolate together until it is smooth and no bits of chocolate remain.

Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and whisk it into the chocolate.

Chop the cooked banana slices into small pieces and stir them into the melted chocolate as well.

Let firm up overnight.

Place the cocoa powder in a bowl and dust your palms
with cocoa. Use a candy scoop or a small teaspoon to form 1-inch balls of ganache. Roll them between your hands to get them round. If they start sticking, dust the balls with a little cocoa powder. Repeat until all of the truffles have been
formed.