Murder Follows Money Read Online Free

be the guest chef at the gala premiere of the new FanciFoods Marketplace in Pacific Heights at seven-thirty.”
    “What is that, a grocery store?” Naomi again, her dander up. “They’re going to drag us out to a grocery store? Who do they think we are?”
    “FanciFoods is like this temple to food. They have a cooking school and cookbook section and it’s all very upscale. And only Hannah is mentioned, so maybe you don’t have to go, Naomi.”
    Hannah snorted, and when I looked at her, she was smiling, though it wasn’t the kind of smile you want directed at you. “Right, Naomi. You can tuck up and get some rest. I remember that I did say I would do a demonstration for them.”
    It was starting to make me feel queasy to read in the car, especially sitting backward. I wondered if it would be against the rules to just hand the papers to Hannah and let her read them for herself.
    Luckily Kim created a diversion. “What are we demonstrating?”
    “We’re cooking, Kim,” Naomi said, her voice heavily sarcastic. “It’s why we’re here. We’ve written a cookbook.”
    Hannah ignored Naomi’s dig and Kim’s stricken face. “I want to do two different things. For the market thing, we’ll make the huevos rancheros casserole. I’ll need handmade tortillas. Free-range eggs. Fresh tomatoes for the salsa. Good chorizo. Make sure you get decent tomatoes.”
    I had to look out the window of the limo to see if it was still January. From the assurance in Hannah’s voice, it might well have been July, or we might have been transported to Oaxaca, where excellent tomatoes would be piled right beside the door to her hotel room. “I’ll do my best, but good tomatoes in January are hard to find.”
    Hannah and Naomi both looked at me as if I’d suddenly started doing a bump-and-grind routine. Kim dug her elbow into my side. “But I’m sure I can find some,” I added hastily.
    “See that you do. And avocados, not overripe or too hard, just right. Limes. Sour cream. I brought my own epazote, but I’ll need fresh cilantro. Garlic, onions—I prefer the white ones, and make sure they’re more flat than pointed.”
    I was scribbling all this down on the schedule. And cursing Judi Kershay. Where would I find all this perfect produce in the City in January? I didn’t know where to shop there. And when was I going to get out to do it? I was supposed to be on hand during the newspaper interview to act as doorkeeper, according to Judi. Fetch everyone drinks when they needed them. Keep uninvited people out. Between the interview and leaving for Channel 6 was about twenty minutes. I wouldn’t even be able to find a produce market in that length of time, let alone make careful choices.
    Naomi had to put in her two cents’ worth. “What about the fruit? Weren’t you going to build that two-tier fruit compote?”
    “Oh, yes.” Hannah twinkled her fingers, dismissing any effort it might take on my part to fulfill her requests. “I’ll need at least two ripe pineapples, several mangoes, a dozen kiwis, a couple of bunches of red grapes. The grapes should be frosted.”
    I gulped. Kim dug her elbow into my side again. When I looked at her, she winked and nodded. I took this to mean that she could frost grapes.
    “What about the TV show? They want a demonstration too, don’t they?” Naomi had her own notebook out, though she jotted one thing for every ten items I wrote down.
    “I think I’ll do crêpes suzette . It will be an excellent opportunity to demonstrate my new crepe maker. And a TV audience is a better place to push a new product, don’t you think, Naomi?” Hannah’s voice was sweet, but with a kind of triumph in it.
    Naomi gasped. “Don’t you mean my new crepe maker? I didn’t know that was out of production yet. I haven’t gotten my milestone payment.”
    “It’s my new crepe maker.” A note of steel entered Hannah’s voice. “You used my idea for your prototype. And anyway, I’ve refined it further