Page 111 of The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year
“I’m afraid I don’t know who that is.”
“Really? Because the lip you always bite when you lie says otherwise.” Maggie immediately stoppedbiting her lip, but it was too late. He knew. And,oh, was he smug. “I told you I’d find the fourth pen name.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Monster books, Maggie! Monster f—”
“We’re not talking about this.”
“Oh, we areabsolutelytalking about this.” He pulled her closer and whispered in her ear, “Later. Later we are going to talk about this in very”—he kissed her—“specific”—he kissed her again—“detail.”
“How did you even... How?”
“It’s an anagram of Eleanor Ashley.” He gave her a look that saidgive me some credit. But then, just as quickly, he stopped smiling, and Ethan Freaking Wyatt seemed almost embarrassed to admit, “Besides, I’d know your voice anywhere. You’re my Eleanor.”
“Oh.” She straightened the collar of his shirt even though it didn’t need it. “You keep saying things like that and I’m going to get a little crush on you.”
“Promise?”?’
They were midkiss when her phone beeped.
“Deborah?” Ethan guessed. “You didn’t tell her where we are, did you?”
“Of course not!” Maggie was still digging in her bag. “She probably just wants to know if I’m going to blurb Sir Jasper’s new book.”
“Are you?”
“Uh. It’s about a detective who is poisoned at a country house party, dies, and then comes back as a ghost to solve his own murder! It’s calledThe Specter Inspector! Of course, I’m going to blurb it!”
Ethan laughed and said, “Good,” just as she found her phone.
“Not Deborah.” She held it up so he could see.
Duchess:Please let me know how it goes. If you find her, please tell her... I’m still here. And I’m ready to play.
Suddenly, Maggie’s heart began to race because they were doing this. This was happening. This was—
“Hey.” The hand holding hers tightened. “She’s going to love you.”
They were the samewords he’d used a year before while zipping up her dress and looking into her eyes and reading on her soul what she needed to hear. He’d been right then.
“But what if we’re wrong?” Maggie almost couldn’t get the words out. “What if she’s not here? What if—”
Ethan cut her off with a kiss.
“Then we keep looking. But we’re not wrong,” he said as his gaze drifted over her shoulder.
“But how can you possibly know that? The whole world has spent the last year looking for Eleanor Ashley! The best detectives on the planet and the craziest people on the internet. How can you stand there, utterly certain thatwefound her?”
But Ethan didn’t say a thing. He just smiled as a bright, clear voice came flying on the wind. “Because she’s right behind you.”
It was a year to the day since Maggie turned to find Eleanor Ashley waiting on the steps of Mistletoe Manor, but she no longer looked like the Duchess of Death. This time, her home was small and white with stucco walls and wide-open windows. Gauzy curtains blew in the breeze as Eleanor led them inside, past the cane that was hanging on the wall because Eleanor didn’t need her daggers anymore.
“Look who finally found us!”
Maggie and Ethan looked at each other and mouthedUs?just as James came in from the courtyard.
“I told you they’d be here soon.” James gave Eleanor a swift kiss. “I suppose we should get started on dinner. Ellie?”
