EXCERPTS FROM the SILVER SISTERS MYSTERY "A CORPSE IN THE SOUP" A CORPSE IN THE SOUP - BOOK 1 | Page 15

He’s even better looking than Juan Carlo. Chili tugged at her aunt’s sleeve and Godiva snapped back to the present. Chili whispered in her ear, “Candy’s not here. The rumors must be true.” “Who’s Candy?” “His assistant.” Then Godiva remembered seeing something in last week’s gossip columns saying that Candy Vanderloop, the air-headed blonde who normally handed him spoons and ladles, had walked out on him without notice. Word was out that she had signed on with Romano’s rival, Biff Wellington. On cue, the room filled with applause as Chef Romano rolled up his sleeves. He romanced every woman in the audience as he simmered his sauce and sautéed his shrimp, constantly looking to his right or left as if expecting an assistant to hand him something. “He needs a sous chef,” said Chili. “See how he keeps looking for Candy?” After presenting his savory Scampi àl Fungi de Bosco, Romano picked out a lanky, bald fellow sporting an African tunic to join him in the kitchen and sample the succulent shrimp with forest mushrooms. Next he brought up a chubby woman in a Hawaiian muumuu. Godiva leaned toward her niece and whispered, “Oh my God, look at the outlandish red and green parrots on that woman’s dress.” “I don’t know, Auntie. I kind of like them. Grandma Belle, back in Juneau, has a dress just like that.” Before Godiva could answer, she heard Romano say, “And the lovely lady in the emerald green dress, won’t you join us in the kitchen?” She turned from Chili, and saw that he was pointing at her. As Godiva stood and smoothed her skirt, she heard whispers behind her. “Look, Hazel. That lady in the green dress is G.O.D. You know, Ask G.O.D., the new column in the Times.” The camera zoomed in on the man in the African tunic smacking his lips with delight. The lady in the colorful muumuu