Murder on the Orient Espresso by Sandra Balzo Read Free Book Online Page A

he and his hygienist had attended so the office could ‘stay current.’ Undoubtedly there’d been ‘rumors’ in the dental community back then. I only wish somebody had bothered to share them with me. ‘What happens in Fort Lauderdale, stays in Fort Lauderdale, right?’ I said, echoing my earlier words to Pavlik in the hotel lobby.
    Missy’s eyes went wide. ‘What do you mean?’
    My turn to blush. I had no business inflicting my hard-earned cynicism on the next generation. Besides, if Laurence Potter – or anybody else – was playing musical beds, it was none of my business. I changed the subject. ‘Are you a writer yourself, Missy?’
    â€˜No, not really. More a researcher.’
    â€˜That must be interesting. For authors?’
    Missy moved the scissors aside with her toe and bent down to pick up the roll of duct tape while still holding up her end of the banner. ‘Almost exclusively now. At first, I didn’t get paid or anything, I just helped authors whose work I enjoyed.’
    â€˜That was certainly nice of you.’
    â€˜I was having a tough time getting a job in library science, what with all the budget cuts, and this gave me something to do – something I loved.’
    â€˜Library science,’ I repeated. ‘So how did you end up in event management?’
    â€˜You mean helping with the conference?’ Missy looked surprised. ‘Oh, that’s just a volunteer post. It’s not what I do for a living.’
    â€˜You don’t get paid?’
    â€˜I get my hotel room comped, and I don’t pay for the conference, of course. Plus, I meet such interesting people.’
    An increase in the chatter coming from the ‘interesting people’ milling about on the platform drew my attention. The natives were getting restless. And Zoe Scarlett, of course, was nowhere to be seen to settle them down. ‘You couldn’t pay me enough to take orders from that woman.’
    â€˜Zoe?’ Missy shot me a smile. ‘She’s not so bad, truly, though I think her divorce has left her a bit off balance.’
    Not surprising, given the size of the woman’s new breasts. I refocused my attention on Missy. ‘… has contacts everywhere, which is crucial,’ she was saying. ‘She really put this conference together.’
    â€˜If you say so.’ I’d had experience with ‘idea’ people who were only too happy to hand off their ideas to other people – like Missy – to implement. And guess who’d take all the credit? ‘But you seem to be the one who gets things done.’
    â€˜It’s mainly logistics. Which is why, between you and me, I’m so excited about tonight.’ She lowered her voice. ‘I want to show everyone, including our guests of honor, that I’m capable of more creative things. Who knows where that might lead?’
    Probably to Zoe dumping even more work onto her unpaid assistant. ‘But how do you pay the bills? You said you didn’t get paid for the research either.’
    â€˜That’s changed, happily. A girl has to earn a living.’ Missy tried a longer piece of tape, this time attempting to wrap it around a rope attached to the top of the banner.
    Well, that was good, at least. ‘Can you say who your clients are, or is that kept confidential?’
    â€˜I always ask about the confidentiality issues, because it varies from writer to writer. Everyone here, though, knows I’ve worked for Rosemary Darlington.’ Missy took her hands away from the precariously hung banner. ‘That’s why she agreed to come to Mystery 101.’
    â€˜Wow, that’s impressive. Zoe apparently isn’t the only one with contacts.’
    The girl looked pleased and not only because the banner seemed to be holding. ‘Oh, it was nothing, really.’
    â€˜Not true. As you said regarding Zoe, contacts are crucial in event