The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year

Two hours before Christmas, Maggie awakens in Ethan’s arms. It is cold, so he builds a fire in the fireplace, and they cuddle together. Maggie finds a newspaper dated two days ago and starts thinking about everything that has happened since then. She asks when Ethan started to care for her, but when he says that it has been since “the elevator,” she is confused. Suddenly, she remembers the incident and apologizes for not recognizing him from that encounter. She mentions that she had been so upset that the security desk printed the wrong name on her name tag. Ethan nods knowingly. “Marcie,” he says, and Maggie suddenly realizes that this is why he has been calling her Marcie; it wasn’t because he didn’t care enough to learn her name. For years, he thought that they shared this inside joke, but she had forgotten and was taking offense whenever he called her Marcie.

Now, they discuss what happened in the greenhouse and note that whoever tied Maggie up used the red ribbon that had been tied around a nightshade plant. That plant was dead, but it wasn’t burned like the others, so it must have been given to Eleanor after the fire. Maggie wonders why Eleanor would put the plant out in the ruined greenhouse to die, then suddenly has an epiphany. She realizes that the nightshade plant was another of Eleanor’s clues; in one of Eleanor’s books, the killer gave his intended victim a nightshade plant tied with a red ribbon. She insists that they return to the manor to look for the next clue.

They go to the library and locate Eleanor’s book, A Deadly Shade of Night. As Maggie pages through it, they see several circled numbers on the copyright page. Realizing that it is a combination, they decide to find the safe. Ethan hears voices and drags Maggie up the library staircase as Rupert and Kitty enter with gifts for the Christmas tree. As Maggie and Ethan peer over the railing at the couple, Ethan notices that the rug on the floor below sports a nightshade design. When Rupert and Kitty finally leave, Ethan and Maggie race down, flip the rug out of the way, and find the state-of-the-art safe hidden beneath.

The next morning, Maggie and Ethan enter the library amid the chaos of children opening presents. Thirty minutes later, the children are upstairs with their new toys, and everyone else is waiting for Maggie to explain. She reviews the various attempts on Eleanor’s life and reiterates the fact that Eleanor’s family and friends told her that her suspicions were all in her head and that her years of writing mysteries had addled her aging brain. Maggie declares that men’s greatest power is their ability to gaslight women.

Maggie explains that Eleanor summoned her suspects and her detectives, leaving clues that only those devoted to her work could follow. Ethan produces a large manila folder from the box they found in the safe. It contains bank statements proving that Rupert diverted $2.6 million from Eleanor’s accounts. Furthermore, Ethan and Maggie accuse him of bringing Dr. Charles to the Christmas party to declare Eleanor unfit to manage her own affairs. The doctor confirms this. Next, they accuse the duke and duchess of appealing to Eleanor for money and becoming desperate when she cut them off; they had opportunity to shoot at Maggie in the maze, but they couldn’t have mistaken Maggie for Eleanor because they knew that Eleanor was missing. Next, Ethan and Maggie say that Cece could have poisoned the tray, but she has an alibi for the time when the shots were fired; however, they name Freddy as her “accomplice.” They explain that Cece knew that Freddy was allergic to shellfish; this is why she prevented him from eating the shrimp puffs on their first night at the manor. (It was his firm that handled the DNA testing that linked Cece to Eleanor, so it was simple for him to manipulate the results before sending them to Eleanor.) Maggie and Ethan reveal that Eleanor secretly had another DNA test done, confirming that she and Cece are not related. Freddy and Cece committed fraud, but not murder, and they have an alibi for the night Maggie was attacked and left in the greenhouse.

Inspector Dobson grows indignant when Ethan accuses him of negligence, but Maggie explains that someone had to have access to Eleanor’s home and habits in order to gain access to her tea. Cece remembers that she found a box of Eleanor’s favorite tea—which no one else drinks—which they thought had gone missing. Maggie says the killer poisoned the tea and could therefore arrange to be far away whenever Eleanor drank it. She looks pointedly at Dobson and produces the final notebook containing the end of Eleanor’s new book. She explains that Eleanor’s new book isn’t about Eleanor at all; it is about a poor girl and the son of a powerful family, and it explains how the man beat her and left her to die. The girl knew that no one would ever believe her story about this “golden boy,” so she decided to pretend that she had died in order to guarantee her own safety.

Ethan looks at Dobson and says the book is about the young woman whom Dobson thought he had killed in the case he brought to Eleanor 40 years ago. At that time, Dobson had asked for Eleanor’s help in solving it and had thought he’d gotten away with his crime, but Eleanor outsmarted him and got his victim out of the country. Now, Dobson insists that the woman died, but Maggie points out that no body was found. Eleanor couldn’t prove that Dobson was the woman’s would-be killer, but she knew. Cece suddenly recalls that she told Dobson about the new book that Eleanor was writing. Maggie and Ethan accuse Dobson of accessing the cottage via the tunnels; they say that he really sprained his ankle the day before he arrived at the manor, when he trekked through the snow to get to the cottage. Then later, when he came to the manor, he claimed that he had twisted it just then; however, the joint was already swollen and bruised. Dobson didn’t know that Eleanor was missing, so he mistook Maggie for Eleanor in the maze and shot at her. Hearing this, Dobson leaps up and holds his gun to Maggie’s head. She grows still and calm, directing him through the garden and to the garage.

Maggie and Dobson exit through the French doors. Ethan watches Maggie wrap something around the outside handles at Dobson’s behest. When they disappear, he begins kicking at the doors to open them. James offers a suggestion.

“Maggie”

Dobson tells Maggie to hurry. Suddenly, Ethan appears, holding a rifle. Dobson tells him to drop it, then drags Maggie into the maze. He makes several turns, and when they come around a corner, Ethan is waiting.

Ethan commands Dobson to let Maggie go. Dobson claims that Ethan can’t make the shot with Maggie between them. He orders Ethan to drop the rifle. Maggie gives Ethan a tiny nod, and he tosses the gun over the hedge. Just then, she pulls a long metal knitting needle from the sleeve of her sweater and plunges it into Dobson’s thigh. When Dobson raises his gun to shoot Maggie, she tosses Ethan the cane that Dobson was using (though it belonged to Eleanor). Ethan shoots a dart from its end directly into Dobson’s neck. Just then, a helicopter arrives.

Maggie explains that this is how she got Dobson’s blood on her. Inspector Patel says that Dobson was taken to the hospital after being hit with the poisoned dart, but he is expected to recover and stand trial. Cece and Freddy are also in custody. Patel says that multiple law enforcement agencies got a call that morning that a major crime was happening at Eleanor’s home; they guess that Eleanor herself is the one who called.

Maggie and Ethan return to Eleanor’s study to look for the secret passage that they know must exist. Maggie also wants to distract herself from the fact that it she doesn’t know what will happen between her and Ethan now that this adventure is almost over. Maggie admits that she doesn’t want to be like Eleanor anymore; she just wants to be herself. She tells Ethan that she loves him.

The duchess brings the presents that Eleanor left under the tree for them. Ethan receives a copy of the Colorado newspaper that reported his accident five years ago, even though he was never named in the press because of his status in the Secret Service. Somehow, Eleanor knew. She has also left him a note saying that she knew Maggie would be in danger and she felt certain that Ethan would keep her safe. Maggie admits that she wants to find Eleanor, and Ethan assures her that they will. Maggie’s gift is a box containing an old thimble, a silk glove, and a 1930s-era romance novel: clues for their next adventure.

An article summarizes the events that took place at Mistletoe Manor. Furthermore, it questions where Eleanor is. There is speculation that she is dead, that she fled her home and died in the storm, or that she is simply holed up in her home writing her 101st novel. The article also posits that Eleanor never existed at all and is just a pen name used by dozens of authors. Killhaven has announced the publication of Eleanor’s 100th book, which is titled They Never Found the Body. Maggie has written the foreword; she is the author who headlines the publisher’s new Eleanor Ashley Presents imprint. The writer of the article surmises that Eleanor will never return to Mistletoe Manor; her niece, the duchess, says that if Eleanor doesn’t want to be found, she won’t be.

A year later, Ethan and Maggie travel to Greece together in search of Eleanor. Ethan confronts Maggie about her fourth pen name: Loralee Shayne. She denies knowledge of this person, but Ethan claims the name is an anagram of Eleanor Ashley. They kiss, and Maggie gets a text from the duchess. Eleanor’s niece asks for an update once they find her.

When Ethan and Maggie finally find Eleanor, James crows, gratified that the two have arrived just when he predicted they would. It has been one year since they came to Mistletoe Manor. Maggie cannot help asking Eleanor how she got out of the locked study, but Eleanor refuses to reveal the secret. Maggie knows that some mysteries are best left unsolved.