Mistletoe’s Kiss

16. Chapter 16

16

Chapter 16

“Men and Women never understand each other. At heart they are antagonistic beings.”

Hercule Poirot’s Christmas by Agatha Christie

M addy and Moore left the grumbling couple to fix their clothing and make their way downstairs. They continued down the dimly lit hallway, the air thick with tension. Maddy was lost in thought, replaying the chaotic events of the evening in her mind. Finally, she turned to the detective, breaking the silence.

“So, um, Moore… Detective?” she began, a bit uncertain. “What should I call you?”

He glanced at her with a faint smile. “Well, since we’re working together and you’re kindly keeping me company, why don’t we skip the formalities? Call me Nolan.”

“Nolan,” she echoed, testing the name on her tongue. It felt more personal, less like a wall between them. “Alright then, Nolan.” She paused, gathering her thoughts. “I’ve been thinking about what you asked earlier, about noticing anything strange or unusual. I didn’t really connect the dots at first, but after going through everything that’s happened tonight, I realized something. In Blood Under the Mistletoe, my novel, the story kicks off at a Christmas party where guests gather to celebrate the launch of a new book. Then, one of the guests is murdered, and my characters, Hettie and Felix, have to piece together the clues to solve the crime.

So as you know, Cupid’s marketing and publicity team modelled tonight on my book. All the character roles, they’re my creations. And the setting is almost identical. It’s eerie like I’ve been pulled into my own story, only this time, the clues are real, and I’m the one trying to solve the mystery.”

Nolan’s smile was a bit unsettling as his gaze drifted over her face. “So, how do you feel about all this? Is it exhilarating? Fun? As a writer, haven’t you always wanted to step into the world you create?”

Maddy bit her lip, a mix of emotions swirling inside her. She wouldn’t deny that the rush of piecing together the clues gave her a thrill, but she wasn’t enjoying the evening in the way he suggested. “It’s definitely… intense,” she replied cautiously. “But it’s not all fun and games. This is real, and it’s kind of terrifying.”

Nolan raised an eyebrow, a teasing glint in his eyes. “Terrifying can be exciting, too, you know. You’re in the middle of a real-life mystery. Maybe you could be Hettie and you just need to find your Felix…”

Her heart raced at the implication. Was he saying he could be her Felix? Maddy’s cheeks flushed as she tried to regain her composure.

“No! It would be so wrong to get a kick out of tonight when a poor man is lying dead downstairs!” Maddy whisper shouted.

Nolan tugged on a strand of her pink hair. “Poor man? I don’t think so. Go on, tell me what you were going to say…”

Maddy composed herself, “If the party this evening was copied from my book then perhaps the murder was too. Not the victim, because as Moira pointed out, it should have been the Wealthy Widow who was bumped off and the victim and murderer were random for tonight anyway, but the methodology. Remember I said that Dan seemed more drunk than usual? His face was flushed and he was sweating, he was also openly rude to the guests as the evening wore on and aggressive towards me. Not the norm for him, he was usually more subtle, hiding his darkness behind harmless smiles and cheesy pick-up lines. I put it down to the alcohol in the cocktails and I think I was right but not in the way I originally thought.

“We were all drinking a cocktail that Dan was preparing at the drinks cabinet. It’s called a ‘Mistletoe’s Kiss’, it was really popular tonight because it’s central to the plot of my book, so a bit of a novelty. The literary guests drink the same cocktails which are garnished with mistletoe and holly. The victim’s drink however is laced with poison, the berries from the garnish are squeezed into it beforehand by the killer.

“The leaves and berries of the European Mistletoe are very toxic, they wouldn’t necessarily kill you but can cause nausea, shortness of breath, heart palpitations and even hallucinations. The victim in the novel drinks the cocktail before dinner and throughout the evening becomes incapacitated, confused, sick and unable to fight back when finally attacked.”

Nolan’s eyes widened as he processed her words. “So you think Dan’s erratic behaviour tonight was caused by the cocktails? But not because of the alcohol?”

Maddy nodded, “I’m almost sure it was viscotoxins from Mistletoe poisoning.”

She glanced at Nolan to gauge his reaction, only to find him staring at her with a huge grin on his face. He was undeniably handsome, but that smile, coupled with the laughter in his eyes, elevated him to beautiful. And having all that beauty focused on her took the air from Maddy’s lungs.

“Good girl! Go on, what else did you see?” he urged, leaning closer.

Maddy took a deep breath, trying to regain her composure, but hearing “good girl” from him made her heart stutter. A wave of warmth spread through her, and she instinctively squeezed her thighs together. Hmm, that was interesting…

Trying to ignore Nolan’s obvious delight at her hypothesis she pressed on.

“After the confrontation with Dan, I was shaken, so Sara and I decided to grab a coffee in the kitchen before we started looking for clues. When we got there, I noticed a footprint in front of the pantry. Here, look,” she said, flipping her notebook open, “I drew it, thought it might be useful for the game but I’m thinking that it was most likely put there by one of the staff, they were supposed to leave clues dotted around and that’s a really obvious one. Too obvious.”

Nolan’s eyes sharpened with interest. “Okay. What happened next?”

“We went to investigate inside the pantry, and we found lots of mistletoe leaves,” she continued, her excitement growing. “But the berries were missing. The leaves themselves are poisonous, but the berries have a stronger effect. You only need to ingest up to three berries to start experiencing those symptoms I described.”

“Couldn’t the berries have been used to decorate the cocktail glasses you mentioned?” Nolan asked, raising an eyebrow.

Maddy shook her head, a smile tugging at her lips. “The cocktails were decorated with fake mistletoe. One of the assistants organizing the event emailed me to ask if it was safe for the guests to put their mouths so close to a toxic plant,” she laughed. “There really shouldn’t have been any real mistletoe in the kitchen at all, let alone on a chopping board next to a knife and hidden away in a pantry. That’s suspicious as hell and I don’t think it was a fake clue, too risky for the staff to leave a poisonous plant lying about in a kitchen,”

Nolan nodded, looking thoughtful, his intense gaze fixed on Maddy.

“All of the guests here tonight knew that mistletoe is poisonous, I wrote about it in detail, right down to how much poison is added to the cocktail. Sara sent advance copies out in promo boxes a few weeks ago so plenty of time to plan a murder or rather copy a fictional killer’s plan.”

She finished her explanation on a rush of air and was startled when Nolan clapped his hands and pulled her into a side hug. “Oh Maddy, I just love the way your mind works.”

She blinked rapidly and let herself be held, the warmth of his arm around her and the sharp scent of his cologne sent rational thoughts about his slightly strange behaviour right to the back of her mind. Flirting, he was definitely flirting…at a crime scene and she couldn’t even lie to herself, she liked it, she liked him.