Murdered in Argentina: A Jack Trout Cozy Mystery by Dianne Harman Read Free Book Online

food.”
     

CHAPTER 9
                                                                           
    The members of Ray’s fishing group, along with Jack and Carola, seated themselves at the large oak table which comfortably sat ten, the maximum number of guests the lodge could accommodate. Each person had their own room with the exception of Lisa and Ray and Carola and Jack. The guides and the rest of the staff slept in small houses set apart a short distance from the lodge.
    The chef, Pilar, and two of her staff walked out of the kitchen with the first course which appeared to be some type of stuffed tomatoes. Carola spoke rapidly in Spanish to Pilar and then translated, “Our first course tonight is a tomato relleno. It’s stuffed with a little chopped tomato, tuna, black olives, mayonnaise, and some herbs.”
    “My future husband is a gourmet cook,” Janelle said. “He would love this. It’s quite different from other stuffed tomatoes I’ve had.”
    Ray was seated next to her and said, “I didn’t know Andy was a gourmet cook. Being in wealth management, I wouldn’t think he’d have time for that.”
    “Trust me, Ray, he forces himself to make time for cooking gourmet meals, but a word to the wise, he goes by Andrew, not Andy, as he doesn’t like people to use that nickname. In the circles he travels in, people don’t use their nicknames, but what he doesn’t have time for is fly fishing,” she said laughing.
    “In this part of South America there are certain staples we have in our diets,” Carola said. “One of them is the tomato, and there are also over four thousand varieties of potatoes native to South America, so you’ll see a lot of those served here. I’m sure you’re all familiar with the Argentine style barbecues. What you’ve heard about the barbecue meat from Argentina is true. They eat a lot of beef and meat here in Argentina and preparing it barbecue style is the most popular way to cook it. In Chile, where I grew up, seafood is abundant, but there isn’t as much in Argentina. Please excuse me for a moment, and I’ll go into the kitchen and see what else Pilar will be serving us tonight.”
    She returned shortly and said, “In honor of this being your first night here at the lodge, Pilar and her staff have prepared an asado. That’s where all the meats are grilled on a barbecue. Tonight you will be served pork loin, flank steak, ribeye steak, chorizo sausage, and blood sausage. I know it sounds weird, but if you’ve never tried the blood sausage, you must. It’s very popular here, and personally, I think it’s delicious. Pilar has also prepared chimichurri bread and individual gratins of potato gnocchi. For dessert there is dulce de leche, which is a sweet made of milk. There are many variations of it made around the world, but I believe the Argentine version is the best. One thing I do know for sure is that tonight you will not go to bed hungry.”
    *****
    Ray was sitting next to Janelle, and Carola was next to her. Midway through the dinner, and after several glasses of wine, the noise level in the dining room had risen dramatically. Carola became aware that Ray and Janelle were speaking very quietly to each other, but she detected tension in their voices when either of them spoke. She strained to hear what they were saying, a talent she’d learned as a child growing up in a large family. When there are six children in a small house, one has to learn ways to make oneself heard and also how to tune out extraneous noises and tune into only what one wants to hear. She had become a master at the technique.
    “Ray, I don’t like what you’re implying,” Janelle said. “I run the Finance Department with an iron fist, and I’d be the first to know if there was some problem with numbers not matching up. I don’t know where you got your information, but I guarantee you that you’re wrong, dead wrong. I’m