year later, when her parents died: Not that that tells us anything, it's just a strange link."
"They knew each other," I said. "I already asked Vonette. Laura babysat for them during a vacation. But that was twenty years ago."
"Still," he said, "it's a link. I'm going to call out there to Carolton and see if I can do a little background checking on Laura Smiley, maybe on the Kormans, too. Ask if there was anybody else from that town who moved here. See if we get any more strange links."
"Like if anyone had a rodent problem twenty years ago."
He chuckled. "One of these days I'm going to tell you why you're so tough."
I chewed the inside of my cheek and didn't answer. "Anyway," he went on, "I thought you were itching to help out. You could do just that in your little chat with your ex-in-laws today."
"Will do," I said. "And there's something I want to find out. I was wondering if you could talk to the deputy coroner or whoever it was that said Laura was a suicide. I'd like to know why he said it was suicide."
"We'll see." He harrumphed. "I am letting you in on all this," he went on, "because I want to help you. And of course because I care about you. As a taxpayer, of course."
"You care about me because you're a taxpayer or because I'm one?"
“As a taxpayer, you help pay my salary, Goldy," he said with a grin I could hear. "With no income, your taxes will be lower and there goes my salary. Tell you what. How about if we talk more about this over Chinese food tonight? We could compare notes, my treat. Six o'clock at Aspen Meadow's finest Oriental restaurant."
"You mean Aspen Meadow's only Oriental restaurant."
"Aw," he said, "you take all the fun out of everything."
I thought. It would probably be a long time before I had another chance to be taken out to dinner. Still, I wasn't used to it. I might flunk social adeptness.
"It's just dinner," he said. "Come on."
I could make spaghetti for Patty Sue and Arch. I could even walk to the Dragon's Breath, since it was just off Main Street.
I said, "Six o'clock," and hung up.
Nothing equals mixing and baking to clear the head, I thought after I had showered and downed a quart of coffee. Patty Sue had decided to go for a long run, she told me with an unusual amount
of explanation, to get in shape for skiing. Fine. The next few hours of cooking in a quiet house stretched out like a dry road after a storm.
The components of Goldilocks' Cheer- Up Basket usually were the following: three different kinds of baked goods, fresh fruit in season, at least two kinds of fancy cheese, a soup or dinner that could be frozen, and a bouquet of flowers.
For the soup I was in luck. I had already made up a quantity of Goldilocks' Gourmet Spinach Soup and frozen it. This recipe had actually derived from a miscalculation in making Julia Child's entree crepes stuffed with spinach and mushrooms. Trying to help Arch with some fourth-grade math homework while making the crepe filling, I had ended up with quadruple the amount I needed for the crepes. After the initial distress, I had thinned out the cheese and vegetable mixture with chicken broth, and the result had been brilliant. The success pleased customers no end. Periodically I made great quantities of the stuff, without crepes, just to keep on hand. So Fritz and Vonette could have some.
The senior Kormans were also partial to coffee cakes. I sometimes saw Fritz in the Aspen Meadow pastry shop indulging in an iced cinnamon roll. Unless I phoned her, Vonette never got up early enough to have a normal breakfast, but she loved my cakes anytime. So I hunted up the buttermilk, took some cream cheese out to soften, and made a New England crumb coffee cake flavored with ginger and nutmeg.
The pièce de résistance was Goldy's Dream Cake. This, too, was a cookbook recipe that I had messed up in the most fortuitous manner. I pulled out the ingredients, made a fingerprint in the cream cheese to make sure it had softened, and then peered at the
"They knew each other," I said. "I already asked Vonette. Laura babysat for them during a vacation. But that was twenty years ago."
"Still," he said, "it's a link. I'm going to call out there to Carolton and see if I can do a little background checking on Laura Smiley, maybe on the Kormans, too. Ask if there was anybody else from that town who moved here. See if we get any more strange links."
"Like if anyone had a rodent problem twenty years ago."
He chuckled. "One of these days I'm going to tell you why you're so tough."
I chewed the inside of my cheek and didn't answer. "Anyway," he went on, "I thought you were itching to help out. You could do just that in your little chat with your ex-in-laws today."
"Will do," I said. "And there's something I want to find out. I was wondering if you could talk to the deputy coroner or whoever it was that said Laura was a suicide. I'd like to know why he said it was suicide."
"We'll see." He harrumphed. "I am letting you in on all this," he went on, "because I want to help you. And of course because I care about you. As a taxpayer, of course."
"You care about me because you're a taxpayer or because I'm one?"
“As a taxpayer, you help pay my salary, Goldy," he said with a grin I could hear. "With no income, your taxes will be lower and there goes my salary. Tell you what. How about if we talk more about this over Chinese food tonight? We could compare notes, my treat. Six o'clock at Aspen Meadow's finest Oriental restaurant."
"You mean Aspen Meadow's only Oriental restaurant."
"Aw," he said, "you take all the fun out of everything."
I thought. It would probably be a long time before I had another chance to be taken out to dinner. Still, I wasn't used to it. I might flunk social adeptness.
"It's just dinner," he said. "Come on."
I could make spaghetti for Patty Sue and Arch. I could even walk to the Dragon's Breath, since it was just off Main Street.
I said, "Six o'clock," and hung up.
Nothing equals mixing and baking to clear the head, I thought after I had showered and downed a quart of coffee. Patty Sue had decided to go for a long run, she told me with an unusual amount
of explanation, to get in shape for skiing. Fine. The next few hours of cooking in a quiet house stretched out like a dry road after a storm.
The components of Goldilocks' Cheer- Up Basket usually were the following: three different kinds of baked goods, fresh fruit in season, at least two kinds of fancy cheese, a soup or dinner that could be frozen, and a bouquet of flowers.
For the soup I was in luck. I had already made up a quantity of Goldilocks' Gourmet Spinach Soup and frozen it. This recipe had actually derived from a miscalculation in making Julia Child's entree crepes stuffed with spinach and mushrooms. Trying to help Arch with some fourth-grade math homework while making the crepe filling, I had ended up with quadruple the amount I needed for the crepes. After the initial distress, I had thinned out the cheese and vegetable mixture with chicken broth, and the result had been brilliant. The success pleased customers no end. Periodically I made great quantities of the stuff, without crepes, just to keep on hand. So Fritz and Vonette could have some.
The senior Kormans were also partial to coffee cakes. I sometimes saw Fritz in the Aspen Meadow pastry shop indulging in an iced cinnamon roll. Unless I phoned her, Vonette never got up early enough to have a normal breakfast, but she loved my cakes anytime. So I hunted up the buttermilk, took some cream cheese out to soften, and made a New England crumb coffee cake flavored with ginger and nutmeg.
The pièce de résistance was Goldy's Dream Cake. This, too, was a cookbook recipe that I had messed up in the most fortuitous manner. I pulled out the ingredients, made a fingerprint in the cream cheese to make sure it had softened, and then peered at the
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