Murder at the Wizard-Hero Con
Page 12
“I don’t know, Georgie. Do you see any difference between here and Chicago?” Aleta whispered, careful not to be overheard by any locals.
“I was just thinking the same thing.” Georgie said. “Everything seems bigger here.”
“Except our room.” Aleta laughed.
“But I’d say the two cities are pretty much the same.” Georgie finished her hot chocolate and yawned. “But I’m still going to keep up my glamorous persona. No one knows us here. It will be fun. Are you with me?”
“Of course. Shall we head back to the presidential suite?”
“By all means.” They laughed.
Chapter 2
Everyone in New York City seemed to wake up at the same time. Early. And everyone who had to be somewhere had to be there fast. By the time Georgie and Aleta made their way to the hotel restaurant the tables were crowded with hungry breakfast seekers. The hotel lobby was no different.
“What do you say we grab breakfast on the go?” Georgie suggested.
“That’ll work. There is bound to be a Dunkin Donuts or something nearby.” Aleta said as they pushed their way through the revolving door onto the street.
For a moment the ladies just stood still.
Cars wove, stopped, started, and honked in an endless game. People walked quickly past in waves like schools of fish changing directions all at once and then scattering as the walk/don’t walk signs indicated.
“I was wrong, Aleta.” Georgie stood wide-eyed. “Chicago isn’t like this. This is Chicago on steroids.”
“Steroids and meth.” Aleta added, chuckling. “Well, when in Rome.”
Georgie linked arms with her sister as if they were trying to dart into an active round of double-dutch and they merged into the foot traffic.
“So, where are we headed?”
“I don’t know.” Georgie laughed. “Let’s just walk until we see a place to eat.”
It didn’t take long before they found a small cafe called Earl’s Eatery. Although Earl’s breakfast menu didn’t jump out with anything special, the display of pastries in the window was enough to get them to stop in their tracks causing a few people to bump into them.
“I’m terribly sorry.” Georgie said to a short fellow in a suit and tie.
“No worries.” He smiled and winked at Georgie. “Have a good morning.”
“You, too.” Georgie flirted back.
“What has gotten into you?” Aleta teased.
“What are you talking about?”
“You were flirting with that guy.”
“Oh, you’re crazy. I was just being polite.” Georgie insisted as they walked into Earl’s Eatery. “I always heard New Yorkers were a little rough around the edges. So far, that hasn’t been the case.” She adjusted her blouse that had a rather daring neckline.
“Whatever you say, ‘Boom-Boom’.” Aleta smirked as she flipped Georgie’s collar then pointed to two empty seats at the counter. Quickly, they swooped in on the two seats at the counter. The red leather stools were cracked, and torn but comfortable enough. Within just a few seconds a man in a stained white t-shirt and blue jeans slapped two menus down in front of them.
“Coffee?” He asked, his deep voice reminding Georgie of Darth Vader.
“Yes.” they both said in unison making him chuckle.
After they requested a slice of coconut crème pie and a slice of New York style cheesecake they began to make their plans.
“So, after the Statue of Liberty and Ground Zero, what do we have planned?” Aleta asked. “I hope it will be eating our way from one end of Manhattan to the other.”
“Well, I have one surprise for you. It didn’t turn out exactly the way I’d hoped but I think it will be fun.” Georgie scooted in her seat and leaned in closer to her sister. “One of my clients has a cousin who has a show playing off Broadway and put us on the VIP list for their matinee this afternoon.”
“Oh, Georgie, that sounds wonderful.” Aleta clapped.
“We will get a tour of the theater. And there will be cocktails prior to the show.”
“What is the play about?”
“Well, it’s rather vague.” Georgie pinched her lips together.
“Vague?”
“Yeah. From what Bruno, my client, told me he said it is sort of a combination of War of the Worlds and Gone With the Wind. I find that incredibly intriguing.” Georgie bounced her eyebrows.
Aleta stared at her, tilting her head.
“I know what you’re thinking, Aleta. But remember that we are in New York. People take chances with their art here and push the envelope. This could be a play that sticks with you the rest of your life and we will be able to say we saw it first, before it became a smash hit on Broadway.”
“What’s the name of it?”
“The Catastrophic Digit.” Georgie said spreading out her fingers and batting her eyes wide.
“Okay.” Aleta chuckled. “I’m game if you are. What time do we have to be there? Do I need to change?”
“Are you kidding? I wouldn’t let you even if you wanted to. That suit looks fantastic on you. You look very Wall Street.” Georgie said, smoothing her sister’s lapel. “You know, I have a rhinestone broach of a rooster in my suitcase. That would look smashing.”
“A rooster?”
Just then the guy behind the counter set down their piece of pie and cheesecake, refilled their coffee cups, added two glasses of water and slipped a check between them.
“Did I tell you the theater is supposed to be haunted?” Georgie said after wiping her lips with a paper napkin.
“No, you failed to mention that little detail.” Aleta said before she took a sip of coffee. “By who?”
“I don’t know.”
“Is that a gimmick to get people in the seats and then incorporate it into the play? The Catastrophic Digit?” Aleta started to laugh. “You do realize that name is comical, don’t you?”
“I’m trying not to judge the artist’s intentions before I see the play.” Georgie said seriously. “But yes, I realize it’s a humorous name. And I don’t know if it’s a gimmick or not. All I know is that now we’ll get to say we saw a play off Broadway.”
“This cheesecake is fantastic.” Aleta mumbled. “If the play is half as good as this cheesecake, I’ll be happy.”
“I think we are in for a real treat.” Georgie replied as she helped herself to a huge forkful of coconut cream pie.
“WHAT WAS I THINKING?” Georgie groaned as she stepped out of a Yellow Cab. “That was one of the worst decisions of my life.”
“Come on. It wasn’t that bad.” Amelia said as she followed her sister out of the cab and onto the sidewalk. “What did you think? If you want to look out of the crown of the Statue of Liberty you have to walk up steps.”
“They can put a man on the moon but they can’t figure out a way to put an elevator or even an escalator inside the Statue of Liberty.” Georgie griped.
“There isn’t enough room. Besides, that would take away from the experience. You of all people I thought would be especially interested in the architecture from the inside.” Aleta patted Georgie on the shoulder. “How are your feet holding up? I was afraid those shoes might land you in the emergency room.”
Aleta pointed down to her sister’s platform sneakers.
“Thank goodness I wore these and not my other lime green shoes with the wedge heel. It’s only an inch high but I would have slipped on those metal stairs for sure.”
“You are the only person in the world who can say ‘my other lime green shoes’.” Aleta shook her head. “So where is this theater?”
“It should be right around here.” Georgie looked down the street one way and then the other. There was no kiosk. There were no display windows with any posters featured in them. But there was a piece of cardboard box with the words Ring Bell for The Heirloom Theater written in black marker.
“Okay. Well, this is it.” Georgie shrugged and rang the bell. Within seconds a lovely you
ng girl in a vintage cocktail gown answered and welcomed the ladies, holding the door open wide for them.
“Just go on down the hall and up a short flight of stairs.” She instructed them with a deep voice heavy with a southern accent. She was obviously one of the actors.
“If we end up in someone’s living room I’m leaving.” Aleta whispered.
“You will not.”
“It smells like grandma’s basement.” Aleta said. “Like mothballs and jungle gardenia.”
It was a dreary hallway with poorly lit wall sconces that gave off an eerie glow. The air was cool since the building was so dark. There were tin tiles along the ceiling and the floor looked to be the original black and white tile from the 1920s at least. There was one heavy wooden door to their right that read Theater Office. On their left was another door that read Coat Room.
As they rounded a corner and ascended four stairs covered in an old, faded Persian carpet, the entire place opened up. Beautiful murals covered the walls. The carpet was maroon and relatively new. There was a slender bar at the very end of the corridor. A delightful chandelier the size of manhole cover was hanging from the ceiling.
“Good afternoon, ladies.” A bearded gentleman wearing a suit and tie was standing to their right at a small podium.
“Hello.” Georgie replied. I was told to ask for Brian. My name is Georgie Kaye and this is my sister Aleta. We are visiting from...”
“You’re visiting from Chicago. Of course. I’ve been expecting you. I’m Brian Narkle, Bruno’s cousin.” He extended his hand. “I’m so glad you both were able to make it. We’ve got another sold out show tonight and the matinee this afternoon going to be an exciting one. We’ve made a few changes to the play so it’s like I’ll be watching it for the first time with the audience.”
“Georgie mentioned that there would be a tour and that this theater is haunted.” Aleta said.
Brian straightened, looking down his nose with a sly grin. “The theater is haunted. But I’ll save the gory details for the tour.” He extended his arm toward the bar area. “Why don’t you ladies have a drink and enjoy some of our custom desserts while the rest of the guests who are taking the tour join us.”
Georgie and Aleta accepted Brian’s invitation to the desserts. As they walked around to the bar they caught a glimpse of the stage area behind a red curtain that had been pulled back for one of the stage hands to come through.
“Did you see that?” Georgie whispered to Aleta.
“I did.”
“It’s a regular theater in there. There’s got to be at least seventy-five seats. They look like small seats but that is to be expected in New York.” Georgie said.
“I have to admit; I was sure we’d be sharing some smelly couch with some college students who reeked of patchouli. This is a really pleasant surprise.” Aleta added.
Within minutes there were a dozen people milling around sipping cocktails and eating the tiny dessert samples waiting for the tour of the facility to start. Georgie and Aleta had staked out a small spot in front of the sweets table, turning every couple of sentences to grab another cube of brownie, cheesecake, petit four or mini éclair.
“Did you see the woodwork?” Aleta asked.
“And the tin ceiling. How beautiful. This is really a magnificent building. I can only imagine how it had looked before they transformed it like this.”
“I wonder how much it cost.” Aleta whispered.
“I don’t know but I think it would be worth it to say I had my own theater and was able to put on any show I wanted.”
Just as Georgie was about to stuff a sweet morsel in her purse, Brian appeared and clapped to get everyone’s attention.
“Ladies and gentlemen.” He cleared his throat. “I’d like to welcome you all to the Heirloom Theater. We are about to start out tour so grab your drinks and follow me.”
To keep reading Murder off Broadway, get it online.
RECIPES
Banana Brownies
Ingredients
1 banana
10 dates
2 eggs
1 tbsp coconut oil
1 tsp baking powder
15g cocoa
30g blended oats
40g chocolate (70%)
30g raspberries
Preparation
Preheat oven to 180°C
In a large bowl beat 2 eggs.
Blend 1 banana and 10 dates (remove pit) until very smooth creamy texture. This will make brownies sweet :)
Place the blended mix into the bowl with eggs. Add coconut oil, baking powder, cocoa and blended oats. Whisk it all together.
Place the baking paper inside a pan and pour the mixture inside it. Bake for 20min.
While baking, place 70% chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of heating water (be careful for the bowl not to touch the water). Stir with a spoon until melted. Leave it to cool.
Serve brownies with raspberries, melted chocolate and make it snow with coconut flour.
Pomegranate Sorbet
Ingredients
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1 1/2 cup pomegranate juice, 100% pure
Juice of 1 lemon
Juice of 1 tangerine
Preparation
In a saucepan over medium heat, heat the sugar with the water until the water boils and the sugar melts. Add the corn syrup, pomegranate juice, lemon juice and tangerine juice and simmer for 5 minutes.
Pour the mixture into a heatproof bowl, cool completely, cover and chill until completely cold.
Churn the pomegranate mixture in an ice cream maker according the manufacturer’s instructions.
Chill the sorbet in the freezer in the airtight container for at least 12 hours.
Stores well up to several weeks.
Strawberry Apple Pie
Ingreditents
1 Pastry crust
4 large eggs
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 large apples, peeled, cored and sliced
1 12 ounces basket of fresh strawberries, stem and white removed, sliced
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
Preparation
Preheat the oven to 400°.
Roll out the pie crust in a 9-inch pie dish. Make sure the crust is all the way up to the rim. Poke lightly the dough and place in the hot oven for 5 to 7 minutes.
Remove and let it cool off.
In a large bowl whisk together the eggs, heavy cream, vanilla extract and the brown sugar.
Add the sliced apples and strawberries to the pie dish. Cover with the egg mixture.
Place a pie shell shield to cover the border of the dough or make one with aluminum foil.
Lower the heat to 375°. Bake the cake for 40 to 50 minutes. The top should be nice a golden brown, and the middle should not be runny.
Bitter Salty Perrotini
Ingredients
1/4 Cup Blanco Tequila
1/2 Cup Pink Grapefruit juice
1/2 Cup Tonic Water, Chilled
Kosher Salt
Angostura Bitters
Limes for garnish
Preparation
Fill each glass with crushed ice. Meanwhile, pour tequila, grapefruit juice and tonic water into a pitcher with ice and stir.
Do NOT put into martini shaker and shake or you will be wearing it – tonic doesn’t take kindly to being shoved around.
Dump ice out of martini glasses. Strain beverage into the chilled martini glasses, add a couple dashes of Bitters and garnish with lime wedges.
MORE BOOKS BY SANDI SCOTT
SEAGRASS SWEETS COZY MYSTERY SERIES
Crêpe Murder —The Prequel
Cream Puff Murder
Tarte Tatin Murder
Madeleine Murder
Praline Murder
Souffle Murder
Crouquembouche Murder (Coming soon)
Charlott
e Murder
Bouche de Noel Murder (Coming soon!)
PET PORTRAITS COZY MYSTERY SERIES
Murder at the Art Gallery
Murder on the Great Lake
Murder on the Movie Set
Murder at the Cabaret
Murder at the Car Show
Murder at the Makeover
Murder at the Pool Party
Murder at the Bonfire
Murder at the Apple Orchard
Murder at the Luau
Murder at Wizard-Hero Con
Murder off Broadway (Coming soon!)