Death of a Bacon Heiress by Lee Hollis

who were trying to catch them. It was as if I was on a Fourth of July parade float in the middle of summer tossing candy to the kids!
    But in the end, it all worked out, and thankfully no one asked for their money back. And the bacon, by the way, was delicious!
    Here’s the good news! I was asked to help out at the 2011 benefit breakfast, but I was only allowed to serve the juice and coffee. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that eventually I may be able to work my way back up to actually serving a dish one day! Never stop dreaming!
    Before sharing my grandmother’s Bacon Strip Pancakes recipe, let’s enjoy a wonderful cocktail recipe I used to have all the time when I was a young single gal! Yes, the same one who got me into that whole mess!
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    Madras Cocktail
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    Ingredients
1½ ounces of your favorite vodka
3 ounces of cranberry juice
1 ounce orange juice
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    In a cocktail glass filled with ice, add the vodka and cranberry juice. Top off with the orange juice and stir. Then just sit back and remember the good old days!
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    My Grandmother’s Bacon Strip Pancakes
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    Ingredients
12 slices of your favorite bacon cooked crisp on a medium-high heat electric griddle.
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    Easy Homemade Pancake Batter
1 egg
1¼ cup buttermilk (I almost never have buttermilk, so just add one tablespoon of vinegar to the 1¼ cup milk, stir, and let stand five minutes before using in recipe.)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
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    In a mixing bowl add the egg and beat with a fork. Mix in the buttermilk and vegetable oil. Set aside.
    In a large mixing bowl add the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and mix together.
    Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and mix until just blended together.
    When you make your batter use a little less water or milk than you usually do to make a thicker batter; this will prevent the batter from running all over the place.
    After bacon is cooked, remove from griddle and wipe the grease from the griddle. Return half the bacon back to the griddle and place it about two inches apart, then carefully pour batter over each slice of bacon. Once browned, carefully flip the pancake over and brown the other side. Serve with butter and warmed maple syrup.
    You’re welcome.

Chapter 11
    â€œOlivia Redmond didn’t have a heart attack from eating greasy bacon all her life,” Sergio said as he walked through Hayley’s back door into the kitchen. She and Randy were sitting in her high back chairs next to the counter sipping Mexican Martinis. “She died from a broken neck.”
    Hayley slammed down her cocktail glass. “Somebody killed her?”
    â€œSnapped it like a tooth,” Sergio said, closing the door behind him as he eyed the scrumptious looking cocktails that were now half gone.
    â€œTwig, honey. Snapped her neck like a twig,” Randy said, jumping down off the chair and reaching for the bottle of vodka. “Here, let me make you a martini.”
    â€œThank you. It’s been a long day.”
    Poor Sergio had just spent the last six hours securing the crime scene and launching his investigation into Olivia’s untimely death.
    It was already half past midnight.
    After being questioned at the scene, Hayley had been allowed to drive back to Bar Harbor. She had called her brother on her cell to meet her at the house because she did not want to be alone at this time, and she knew with Sergio busy at the scene and his bar manager, Michelle, handling business at Drinks Like A Fish, Randy would otherwise be at his house all by himself.
    Randy rushed right over to find Hayley in a shell-shocked state. Her hands shook as she tried to make them a drink, so Randy gently directed her to a chair and took over. They had been downing Hayley’s Mexican Martinis since nine-thirty and had no intention of stopping.