“It’s not like we’re eating chicharrones. In fact, the salsa is probably good for you since it has tomatoes and a green vegetable.”
“But aren’t you supposed to have more variety in your diet?”
“Actually, I think it’s better to eat the same thing every day. Your body gets used to it and makes the necessary adjustments to digest it and use it to make whatever nutrients you need.”
“I don’t get it.”
“Digestion is just chemistry. Say your body needs a certain protein to make fingernails. That protein is in corn, so when you eat chips, the body shoots some chemicals into the stomach along with the chewed up corn and the needed protein is synthesized and put to use. Now that same protein may be in lots of foods. But if your body is getting it from corn chips and suddenly you start eating spinach instead, then even if the protein is in the spinach, you might not have the right chemicals to extract it because it’s different from the corn.”
“That’s an interesting theory. Did you ever major in biology?”
“No, but I was pre-vet at one time, and I actually passed organic chemistry.”
“Pre-vet must have lots of guys in it. Why didn’t you just stay in that major?”
“I didn’t like the idea of cutting up animals in labs.”
“But you were raised on a ranch.”
“Right, and I castrated calves and killed chickens, but that’s part of ranching. We didn’t kill cats and dogs so we could cut them up to study.”
“But didn’t you realize when you chose pre-vet that you’d be—”
“Are you going to give me a hard time about this, Hubert? Because I don’t need that. I need someone to send me flowers, not tell me I wasn’t thinking clearly when I chose pre-vet as a major.”
“Sorry, Suze.”
“Sometimes you get so wrapped up in logic you forget about feelings. You’re like Spock, you know that?”
“You’re right. But at least I don’t have those weird ears.”
She laughed and took a big swallow of her drink. She orders her margaritas without salt. If she has any other faults, I’m unaware of them.
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Acknowledgments
I owe much to my agents, Barbara Bitela and Ed Silver of the Silver Bitela Agency and Philip Turner of Philip Turner Book Productions. Ed, Babz and Philip have improved my books, found me publishers and encouraged me along the way.
Thanks to Roger Paulding for his editing.
I also want to thank my daughter, Claire, who—although a scholar—willingly serves as alpha reader for my pulp fiction.
About the Author
J. Michael Orenduff grew up in a house so close to the Rio Grande that he could Frisbee a tortilla into Mexico from his backyard. While studying for an MA at the University of New Mexico, he worked during the summer as a volunteer teacher at one of the nearby pueblos. After receiving a PhD from Tulane University, he became a professor. He went on to serve as president of New Mexico State University.
Orenduff took early retirement from higher education to write his award-winning Pot Thief murder mysteries, which combine archaeology and philosophy with humor and mystery. Among the author’s many accolades are the Lefty Award for best humorous mystery, the Epic Award for best mystery or suspense ebook, and the New Mexico Book Award for best mystery or suspense fiction. His books have been described by the Baltimore Sun as “funny at a very high intellectual level” and “deliciously delightful,” and by the El Paso Times as “the perfect fusion of murder, mayhem and margaritas.”
All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this book or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2009 by J. Michael Orenduff
Cover design by Kathleen Lynch
ISBN 978-1-4804-5852-9
This edition published in 2014 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.
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Pot Thief Who Studied Pythagoras Page 24
