Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine. Vol. 152, Nos. 5 & 6. Whole Nos. 926 & 927, November/December 2018

A half-hour later, after he and Kaycee had gotten busy, she began dressing.

“I’m going downstairs. Wait a few minutes, then come down. We shouldn’t walk down together. They all might think we were... you know.”

Oh, he knew. It had been glorious. Who would have suspected that this plump girl would know how to turn up the heat in the kitchen and the bedroom. In another life, he might have married her. If only she didn’t think his name was Garrett and that he was a med student. No way he could explain those lies away.

Kaycee leaned down and kissed him again, and he stirred. Too bad there wasn’t time for another round.

“I’m going to tell everyone you’ve been sick again,” she said. “That’s why we’ve been up here so long. Actually, you do look pale. You might want to splash water on your face.”

He wiggled his eyebrows at her. “I need to splash cold water all over me.”

She laughed, then left. He jumped out of bed, and his stomach cramped. Unbelievable. Hadn’t he puked all the bugs up?

Once he got dressed, Garner hurried to Kaycee’s jewelry box. He’d spotted it sitting on her dresser when they first walked in the room. He flipped it open. Hubba-hubba. This was what he’d been waiting for.

The diamond bracelet Kaycee had worn the prior night was lying there. So was a sapphire bracelet, a thick gold necklace, another necklace with a deep red — read pricey — ruby pendant, several pairs of earrings, and a lot of rings, including some emerald ones. Hot damn. He could make a lot off of them.

Garner was reaching for the ruby necklace when his stomach cramped again, and he began to feel lightheaded. Those insects were still doing a number on him.

He started stuffing the jewelry in his pants pockets. Suddenly he pictured Kaycee realizing he’d stolen her jewelry. That he’d used her. He imagined her plump lips quivering. Tears filling her eyes. Wow, he’d never been a sap for any mark before. For some reason, this girl was different.

He couldn’t do it, Garner realized. He couldn’t break her heart. It would be hard enough to not see her again. He couldn’t bear to think how betrayed she’d feel if he stole from her too. As his stomach churned, he returned the jewelry to the case and headed downstairs.

He’d nearly reached the kitchen when his throat started itching and his lips began swelling, and he put things together. Cramping. Itching. Swelling. Paleness. Crap, he was in anaphylactic shock. How was that possible? He’d heard that delayed onset could happen up to an hour after eating shellfish, but he hadn’t had any shellfish. The only thing he’d eaten in the last hour was pumpkin pie. What the heck? He doubled over, kicking himself for not carrying an EpiPen today.

“Give it a rest, Mom,” Kaycee said in the kitchen. “So I lied to him. It was just a little lie.”

“All lying is wrong,” Shirley said. “You know that.”

“Worse than having him leave Thanksgiving dinner without any food in his stomach? You know he wouldn’t have touched the pumpkin pie if I’d told him it had crickets in it. He clearly isn’t into eating insects.”

Garner stumbled into the kitchen. “Help,” he whispered, feeling faint. “Ambulance. Allergy. I’m in...” — he tried and failed to take a deep breath — “anaphylactic shock.”

“Oh my God,” Kaycee screamed.

While Shirley dialed 9-1-1, Garner fell to the floor. “Need EpiPen,” he said, wheezing.

“We don’t have one.” Kaycee dropped to her knees beside him. “No one in the family has allergies. Do you have one?”

“No.” As Garner struggled for air, he stared at Kaycee. God, she was pretty. And she never would have hurt him like he’d planned to hurt her.

Brian ran into the kitchen. “What the heck happened?”

“Garrett’s having an allergic reaction,” Shirley said. “Get some cushions from the couch to put under his legs. The operator says to keep them elevated.”

“I want more pie,” Helen yelled, hobbling into the kitchen as Brian ran out. “Holy moly, what happened to Kaycee’s boyfriend?”

“Shh, Mom. He’s not her boyfriend. They just met.” Shirley stepped closer to Garner. “What are you allergic to? The paramedics will need to know.”

“Shellfish.”

“Shellfish?” Kaycee said. “But we didn’t serve shellfish.”

“Oh no. The crickets,” Shirley said. “In your pumpkin pie. They’re arthropods, just like shrimp and crab.”

The irony, Garner thought, as he grew increasingly lightheaded, finding it nearly impossible to breathe. If only he and Kaycee had both been honest, they really could have had something.

“The pie was supposed to be an aphrodisiac,” Kaycee said, crying. “It wasn’t supposed to kill you.”

“Boy oh boy,” Helen yelled as Garner took his final breaths. “I said the kid would be in for a rude awakening, but this is ridiculous. Well, I guess this means there’s more pie for me. Bug appétit!”