The Cereal Murders
Page 30
Marla came back to the phone and said Ellie had arrived, and she had to go. Before the event, she, Ellie, and Page, who was driving down separately with husband Shane, would be getting the mud soak, the coconut-milk bath, and the vegetable-and-fruit wrap at Westside Spa.
“I’ll watch for a moving luau.”
“I’ll catch you at the party,” Marla retorted, undaunted, and signed off.
I rolled the fifty-eighth truffle. Then, lowering the scoop of ganache into the melted chocolate and setting it aside to dry, I made another espresso. To the far west, just visible out our back windows, a bright mist cloaked the mountains of the Aspen Meadow Wildlife Preserve. On the nearer hills, white-barked aspens nestled between dark expanses of fir, spruce, and pine. I peered at our thermometer. The red line was stubbornly stuck at twenty-nine degrees. So this is Springtime in the Rockies? newcomers always asked. This is it, I invariably replied. In June, you can take off your snow tires.
I slugged down what I vowed would be my last coffee. Once again, worry surfaced. Where had Arch been yesterday?
I disciplined myself to roll the next-to-last truffle. It broke into two pieces when I dunked it in the dark chocolate. Oh, darn! Guess I’ll have to eat it, maybe with a fifth espresso! I pulled out the chocolate chunks swimming in the dark coating, placed them on the rack, then refilled the espresso doser. I rinsed the old porcelain demitasse cup and closed my eyes. Worry for Arch nagged at me. I balanced on one foot. I was so tired…. And then my much-loved cup slipped from my fingers. It shattered on the floor with a heartbreaking crash. Shards raced across the wood; bits of china smashed into the molding and sent reverberating tinkles throughout the kitchen.
My best shopping treasure was gone. Later, I tried not to think of it as an omen.
This edition contains the complete text of the original hardcover edition.
NOT ONE WORD HAS BEEN OMITTED.
THE CEREAL MURDERS
A Bantam Book
Bantam hardcover edition / December 1993
Bantam paperback edition / September 1994
Bantam reissue edition / June 2002
Although set in part in the Tattered Cover Bookstore in Denver, Colorado, this is a work of fiction. Any references to real people, events, and establishments are intended only to give the novel a sense of reality and authenticity. The characters, events, and establishments depicted are wholly fictional or are used fictitiously. Any apparent resemblance to any person alive or dead, to any actual events, or to any other actual establishment is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved.
Copyright © 1993 by Diane Mott Davidson.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 93-17746
Interior illustrations by Jackie Aher.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. For information address: Bantam Books.
eISBN: 978-0-307-42698-7
Published simultaneously in the United States and Canada
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