The Case of the Ill-Gotten Goat (20 page)

“Austin!” she said. “What in the world do you think you're doing?”

 

“
Y
OU'RE
darn lucky you weren't killed,” Victor said. “Good God, Austin. You should think seriously about giving up the detective business.”

I passed the plate of beer-battered onion rings over to Joe. “Yes, indeed. Tied up for hours in a darkened room with Marietta Capretti. Very dangerous.”

We exchanged a long, wordless look.

“I'm shocked to my bones,” Thelma said. “Just imagine. Organized crime right here in Summersville!”

“It's a heck of a story,” Rita said proudly.

We had persuaded Rudy Schwartz to push together three tables in the center of the Monrovian Embassy, to celebrate the successful conclusion of the Case of the Ill-Gotten Goat. Madeline had lifted the ban on cholesterol, and I had a huge Monrovian Special in front of me. Allegra, Joe, Nigel Fish (whose besotted expression when he looked at Allegra reminded me of a flounder), and Rita sat on one side of the long table. Madeline, Thelma, Victor, and I sat on the other. My happiness would have been complete had Lincoln been allowed to join us, but Rudy was unfeelingly obdurate.

“Anyone figure out where Caterina and her sons got to?” Joe asked.

“Last the Feds heard, they were on a plane out of La Guardia headed to South America,” Nigel said. “They must have had an exit plan in place. They sure made it out of town in a hurry.”

“What do you suppose is going to happen to that five million dollars Doucetta's going to get from the cheese people?” Allegra asked. “Do you think she'll use the money to open a boutique dairy?”

“She'll have quite a competitor in me,” Thelma said immodestly. “I signed the lease on my new store today.”

“Really?” Joe said. “You decide what to call it?”

“Madeline suggested the name. I think it's perfect. I'm calling it Le Grand Fromage.”

There was a moment of silence.

“Because,” Thelma said with immense satisfaction, “I am.”

Cheese is easy to make! Austin talked Madeline into trying this recipe for cottage cheese. It makes a wonderful cheese cake.

1. Use a kitchen thermometer to warm the milk to 86°F.
   
2. Dissolve the rennet in the water.
   
3. Add water/rennet mixture to the milk. Stir it up a little. Let it stand in a warm place (75°F or above) until a curd forms on the surface. This should take an hour or so.
   
4. Leave the mixture in the pot. Cut the curd into one-inch squares.
   
5. Stir gently.
   
6. Warm very slowly to 110°F.
   
7. Strain mixture into a sieve lined with cheesecloth.
   
8. Rinse mixture by running cold water over it. (Don't remove it from the colander.)
   
9. Store in the refrigerator in a covered bowl.
   

This cottage cheese can be mixed with all kinds of delicious things: chopped chives, your favorite seasonings, chopped parsley, and salt. You can make it a sweet cottage cheese by adding honey or jam.

Goats are delightful pets—smart, sweet-natured, and kind. An excellent primer on goat care is Storey's Guide to Raising Dairy Goats by goat-keeper extraordinaire Jerry Belanger.

And for more cheese recipes, contact the New York State Farmstead and Artisan Cheese Makers Guild via their website.

For those readers interested in raising goats, there is an industry newspaper called the Goat Rancher that can be found online at www.goatrancher.com. It is there you will find outstanding editorials by our industry's guru, Frank Pinkerton, PhD, whom we call “The Goat Man.”