Death on a Silver Platter Read Free Page A

still great friends.”
    “Good. Maybe she’ll give us a deal. Never hurts to ask.”
    Sophie smiled. “I’ll see what I can do.”
    “It’s tomorrow here, you know. Where you are is yesterday.”
    “Excuse me?”
    “It’s Saturday. Where you are is Friday. And it’s seven A.M. What time is it in St. Paul?”
    “Four. In the afternoon.”
    “Your mom’s telling me to hang up. Since I always do what your mom says, I better get off the line. Talk to you soon, sweetheart. Over and out from sunny Bangkok.”
    The line clicked.
    To say her parents were a tad eccentric was an understatement, thought Sophie. Fifty years of marriage and they were still going strong, still having fun together. They were the happiest couple she knew. She wondered what their secret was. Sometimes they acted more like kids playing in the backyard than like an old married couple. She couldn’t help but think of her marriage to Bram, of what their future would hold.
    A maintenance man sailed by the office door with a dolly loaded with drenched boxes.
    Sophie called after him, “Did you get the water stopped?”
    “Yeah,” he hollered back. “But it’s a mess in there. The pipe’s got to be replaced.”
    She spent a few minutes surveying the damage, then headed up the narrow stairs to the basement, and from there took the elevator to the lobby. Her shoes squeaked on the marble floors as she made her way as quickly as possible to her office. Several people stared at her feet, but she ignored them, adopting a look of what she hoped was quiet dignity.
    Once behind closed doors, she dumped her shoes in the trash. They smelled like sewer gas. She doubted she could ever get the reek of decaying pipe out of them. It was a warm September afternoon, so she wasn’t going to catch pneumonia in bare feet. She took off her nylons and cleaned up in her office bathroom, then sat down behind her desk, not sure what to do next. She had dinner reservations at Chez Sophia at eight. It would be a working dinner, a review for the paper. Rudy was supposed to go with her, but he’d backed out at the last minute. If she didn’t come up with another dinner companion fast, she’d be eating alone.
    That’s when an idea struck her. She checked her Rolodex, then picked up the phone and tapped in Elaine’s number. She waited through a couple of rings until a woman’s voice answered, “Veelund Industries.”
    “I’d like to speak with Elaine Veelund,” said Sophie.
    “May I ask who’s calling?”
    “Sophie Greenway.”
    “Just a moment.”
    Sophie drummed her nails on the desktop for a few seconds. Finally, Elaine’s voice came on the line. “Hey, girlfriend. What’s up?”
    “Dinner. Tonight. It’s on me.”
    “Where?”
    “That new restaurant just outside of Stillwater. Chez Sophia.”
    “You doing a review?”
    “Yes, so technically, I guess, the dinner would be on the paper.”
    “Sounds great to me. Are you planning to bring along that handsome husband of yours? Flaunt your good luck while I drool?”
    After a nasty separation, Elaine had divorced her third husband last spring. “He’s playing racquetball with a buddy.”
    “Too bad, but I guess his loss is my gain. We need some time to catch up. Woman to woman. What’s it been? Two months?”
    “At least. Can I meet you at the restaurant?” Sophie told her the time and gave her the directions.
    “It’s a date. And Sophie . . . thanks. This hasn’t been the best week of my life. We’ll talk more tonight.”
    Sophie worked in her office for the next couple of hours. Now that her parents were on their way home, she felt a double impetus to make sure everything at the hotel was running smoothly. She was engrossed in the financial figures for August when there was a knock on the door. Glancing at her watch, she saw that it was going on six. She had to get a move on if she was going to make it to the restaurant on time.
    Sophie always wore disguises when she visited restaurants for