Carol and Sue, however, couldn't seem to understand Joann's fixation on Sherman and Allison. It just seemed strange, after all, Joann wasn't crazy about most people, so why Sherm and his wife? ... and all of a sudden? Carol and Sue were beginning to think this was part of the strange feeling they got from Joann, upon their arrival to the party. Something was going on between the three of them, but what? The plot seemed to thicken...
Carol and Sue began mingling on their own and wandered into the kitchen, where Joann was preparing her homemade cocktail sauce, which was famous within the subdivision. Joann, seemed especially friendly toward Carol and Sue, which was very odd, because Carol and Sue were Joann's forever tennis rivals at the club. The rivalry was fierce, to say the least.
Carol began asking Joann about her sauce, what was in it?, did she come up with the recipe, herself?, and so on. Joann was actually pleasant and willing to share her sauce secrets with the girls. She put a small amount in a bowl and asked Carol and Sue to be taste testers before she brought it out to the buffet table. They gladly obliged. "Oh, Joann, it's delicious!" The two were genuinely in love with Joann's culinary abilities. So, as Carol and Sue made their way out of the kitchen, Joann began to put the rest of her plan into place. She retrieved a box of Reinhardt's Rodent Killer out from under her sink, and began to sprinkle just the tiniest bit into the same bowl of cocktail sauce that Carol and Sue had just tasted from. As she made her way back to the party, she was looking for Allison, she needed her to be the third tester of this very special sauce."Allison, darling, would you be a dear and come with me to the kitchen? I need a taste tester for the cocktail sauce that will go along with the Shrimp cocktail" Allison was happy to help. Joann figured having Carol and Sue taste from the same bowl would be a good cover, as well. So as the two entered the kitchen, Allison began thanking Joann for being so kind to her. You see, Allison had felt like some what of an outsider within the development and Joann's "kindness" this Christmas Eve, made a real impact on her. With this genuine display of gratitude, Joann suddenly began to develop a conscience. She had never had anyone tell her anything like this before. No one had ever thanked Joann for her kindness, not even Betty... but that could be because she never showed any. The stone casing around Joann's heart began to melt just the slightest bit. She thought to herself, "how can I knock off this lovely lady? How can I steal the husband that she so deeply loves?" So, as Allison was about to dip a shrimp into the bowl, Joann grabbed the bowl and said, "wait , Allison! Umm, I forgot to add my secret ingredient. Joann moved that small bowl out of the way and toward the back of the counter. She then had Allison taste from the larger, non-poisoned bowl. Allison loved the sauce and Joann was in a state of tremendous relief, that her plan was foiled by her own, new found ability to see the good in someone other than herself. So, the two made their way, with the Shrimp cocktail, out to the buffet table and that was that. All was good in the Sunview Subdivision this Christmas Eve.
However, as Sherman mingled, he found himself in the kitchen talking tee times with some golfing buddies, and noticed that a small bowl of cocktail sauce sat alone on the counter. As much as he loved Shrimp cocktail, he knew Allison loved it even more. So he decided to be a real gem and bring her, her own personal sized shrimp cocktail bowl. Allison was thrilled and as she and Joann talked, Joann didn't realize that this was the poisoned bowl until Allison was putting a lovely, plump, shrimp into her mouth. Suddenly Joann went white and fainted, everyone rushing to her aid. However, while all the focus was on Joann, Allison quietly passed away, right there on Joann's green shag rug. No one noticing until Joann had come to and everyone knew she was fine. Then the real horror began. Sherman lost the love of his life, Joann lost a potential true friend, and the subdivision was in shock. How would the development deal with this awful tragedy? Nothing like this had ever happened in Sunview, before.
As days passed, and the subsequent investigation showed no foul play, Allison Goldberg's death was deemed, "due to natural causes." However, within the subdivision, all suspicion began to fall on Joann, right away, even though everyone enjoyed the Shrimp cocktail...
