The Rosemary Caper 5

Thumbscrews

Previously: The president of the Merryweather Herb Guild asks China Bayles (a former lawyer, now owner of Thyme & Seasons Herbs) and Ruby Wilcox (the Crystal Cave) to investigate the theft of a rare cookbook from the Guild House. China and Ruby begin with a visit to Cora Demming, who has a definite suspect in mind: Jane Clark and her brother, a dealer in rare books. Jane evades answers and suggests that China and Ruby interview Delia Murphy, a relative of the cookbook’s author, Mrs. Merryweather, and Jerry Weber, a hot-pepper lover.

Premium extras for supporting subscribers include an author’s note, suggestions for a fragrance garden, growing tips for rosemary, a couple of Mrs. Merryweather’s rosemary recipes, and some important therapeutic uses of rosemary.

If you’re late to the party or you’d like to review the story to remind yourself of where we are, you’ll find the previous episodes here, on the Short Reads tab.

“A reward?” Vickie asks dubiously. “You want the Herb Guild to offer a three-hundred-dollar reward?”

Ruby and I are sitting in the swing on Vickie’s front porch. She has planted a lovely fragrance garden beside the steps. The sharp, clean scent of lavender fills the soft evening air, with the spicy undertone of clove pinks. Bees are gorging themselves with happy abandon among the blue catmint flower spikes.

“For information leading to the identification of the thief or the return of the book,” Ruby explains. “No questions asked.”

“But the book is worth more than three hundred dollars,” Vickie objects. “If somebody intends to sell it, that’s not much of an incentive.”

“That’s true,” I reply, pushing the swing with my toe. “But by now, whoever took it has probably found out how hard it is to sell. Our thief may be happy to get a quick three hundred out of it, especially if that can be done without revealing his or her identity. It’s worth a shot, isn’t it?”

“I don’t disagree,” Vickie says slowly. “But we still can’t do it.”

 I frown. Why is this woman being so stubborn?  Doesn’t she want the book returned? Much more of this, and I’ll be putting her name on the top of the suspect list. “We have to try something, Vickie,” I say.

“China is right,” Ruby agrees urgently. “We’ve interviewed every single person on the Library Committee and we still don’t have a clue. We need publicity. That’s the reason for the reward.”

“But we can’t have publicity,” Vickie reminds us, “for the same reason that we can’t go to the police. We don’t want any of our potential donors to know that we have failed to safeguard a treasure somebody gave us. And we can’t offer a reward without letting on that there’s been a theft.”

“Well, boo,” Ruby said, and I echo her. Both of us had forgotten about the donor problem. I sit for a moment, swinging back and forth, feeling frustrated.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen Mrs. Merryweather’s cookbook,” I say after a while. “What kind of recipes are in it?”

 “Stay put.” Vickie gets up from her chair. “I’ll show you.”

She’s back in a few minutes, with a thick manila folder. She hands us each a few pages. “I copied it so I could study Myra’s revisions and notes. I’ve been thinking that the guild might publish a new edition.” She looks at me. “I was going to ask you if you’d be willing to write an introduction. Maybe something about using old cookbooks to help us understand how cooking has evolved, especially in the modern use of herbs?”

“A new edition is a great idea,” Ruby says approvingly. She turned a few pages. "These are interesting recipes, China. Here's one for steak butter, with rosemary. She says it’s good on hamburgers, too. Or seafood or grilled corn-on-the-cob.”

 “For her day, Mrs. Merryweather was an inventive cook,” Vickie says. “She especially loved rosemary. She grew lots of it in the herb garden behind the Guild House and was always giving it away to friends. Lots of her recipes include rosemary.” She holds up a page. “Like this one for a white bean dip with rosemary. For the nineteen-thirties, that was new.”

I pick up a few pages and studied the handwritten notes in the margins. Many are changes in existing recipes—an ingredient added here, another corrected or subtracted there. Others are entirely new recipes, written in a tiny but legible script. A couple of unusual ones catch my eye, and I blink. If the stolen book wasn’t valuable because of the author’s handwritten notes, it might be valuable because of these new recipes. Some seem quite unique.

I look up. “Do you know if anybody else has copied these notes?”

 “Nobody’s had an opportunity,” Vickie replies. “The book has been locked up in the bank vault for a couple of decades. Why are you asking?”

“Because,” I say, “I have an idea.”

“An idea for publishing a second edition from Mrs. Merryweather’s notes?” Vickie asks.

“An idea about how to offer a reward without letting anybody know?” Ruby hazards.

“Nope,” I reply. “I have an idea about how to trap a thief. We’ll bait the trap with rosemary.”

Vickie looks confused. Ruby looks doubtful. “What are you thinking?” she asks.

“I’m thinking that it’s time for a cooking contest,” I say. “The prize goes to the person who comes up with the most creative use of rosemary.”  When they still look puzzled, I add, a little impatiently, “Don’t you see?  The person who took the book won’t be able to resist submitting one of Mrs. Merryweather’s unique rosemary recipes. Whoever it is will give herself—or himself—away! And let’s make the prize high enough to tempt everyone. Three hundred dollars, say.”

 “Well, maybe,” Vickie says slowly. “But you’re assuming that the thief hasn’t sold the book already.”

Ruby is doubtful. “What if she’s too smart to fall for the trick?”

I shrug. “Then we’ve gone to a lot of trouble for nothing. But let’s face it. We’ve come to a dead end. We have no eyewitnesses, no clues, and lots of accusations. And the Guild hasn’t held a contest for a while. We’re due.” I pause. “Do you guys have any other suggestions?

There wis a silence. Finally Vickie says, “I don’t think it’ll work, but I’ll get the word out tomorrow.” She sounds resigned. “People can bring their entries to the next meeting.”

“They need to bring their recipes too,” I say. “If we find one that matches one of Myra’s handwritten entries, we’ll know we’ve got our thief.”

“And then what?” Ruby wants to know.

“We demand the book,” I say.

“What if she won’t return it?” Vickie says.

“We’ll try something else,” I say.

 Ruby frowns. “What’s left to try?”

 “Thumbscrews,” I say.

Everybody, that’s it for Episode Five. China and Ruby will be back next week with the sixth and final episode, “Old Resentments Die Hard.” A reminder: our previous short story, “Fannie and the Back Fence Gang,” is free on the Short Reads tab.

Supporting subscribers: your premium extras for this episode include a note from me about the evolution of this story, suggestions for a fragrance garden like the one beside Vickie’s porch, some growing tips for rosemary (a remarkably versatile herb), and a couple of Mrs. Merryweather’s rosemary recipes, and some important therapeutic uses of rosemary