Killer Crust Read Online Free PDF

eclectic, but our favorite parts of it certainly are.”
    “The mosaic mural you have on the back wall is perfect,” I said. “I take it you are both Lewis Carroll fans, given the name and the prominence of cat memorabilia. Why not just call it the Cheshire Cat outright?”
    “Honestly, we both love the Alice books,” Sandy said, “but our inspiration was actually our own cat. He had the oddest habit of holding his mouth so that it looked like he was grinning all of the time.”
    “He sounds delightful,” I said.
    “He was indeed,” Sandy answered, a little subdued.
    “I’m so sorry,” I said.
    “How could you know? He’s been gone awhile, but we still miss him,” Jeff said. After patting his wife’s shoulder lovingly, almost as though he was reassuring her that he was right there beside her, he waved a hand around the room. “What is this all about, anyway? Is George waiting for everyone to get here so that he can make a big entrance?”
    “I’m sorry. Who is George, exactly? Is he another contestant?” I asked.
    “Luigi, I should have said,” Jeff said quickly, trying to brush the question off.
    “Hang on,” Maddy said. “You’re not getting off the hook that easily. Why did you call him George?”
    Sandy looked uncomfortable about the direction the conversation was taking, but Jeff clearly wasn’t a fan of our host, so he didn’t mind sharing a little dirt about him. “I’m not surprised you didn’t know. He makes a big deal out of keeping it a secret, but his real name is George Vincent. He thought Luigi sounded more authentic for a pizza maker before he moved to North Carolina, so he started calling himself that, and it stuck. I didn’t think you could successfully give yourself a new nickname, but he somehow managed to do it. What I still don’t get is how he has the nerve to call himself Laughing Luigi. What a joke.” He gestured with his champagne glass toward us and asked, “Have you two ever seen him laugh, or even smile, unless he had something on the person he was talking to, or most likely, about? I know I haven’t.”
    “He can be a bit abrupt at times, can’t he?” I asked.
    Maddy shook her head. “Sis, that’s the nicest way I can imagine anyone describing the man. He’s a boil on the nose of the world, as far as I’m concerned.”
    Jeff laughed at the description, and then he told Maddy, “You I like.”
    “You’ll have to excuse my sister,” I said. “She has a habit of saying whatever’s on her mind, regardless of the circumstances.”
    “That’s just one of my charms. You can’t deny that I speak the truth, though,” Maddy answered.
    “Most likely more than you know,” Jeff said softly. I wasn’t entirely sure that particular comment had been meant for us at all.
    “Isn’t this resort lovely?” Sandy asked quickly, clearly trying to change the subject. I had to guess that her spouse had started drinking before this little soiree, since he hadn’t been there long enough to ingest enough to get drunk already.
    Jeff, suddenly realizing that he was distressing his wife, immediately obliged. “I don’t mean to be rude to your hometown, ladies, but this place is just a little too grand for the likes of Timber Ridge, isn’t it?”
    “Jeff,” Sandy said reprovingly. “You should apologize to Eleanor and Maddy. That’s not a polite thing to say.”
    “But it’s true enough,” Maddy agreed. “We have a reclusive millionaire in town who built it for his niece.”
    “We don’t know that’s the full motivation behind it,” I said. “I’m sure Nathan had other reasons to do it as well.”
    “Eleanor, you have to admit that it didn’t hurt that Gina wanted to run a place like this, though,” Maddy answered.
    “Whatever the reason he had,” Sandy said, “it’s truly magnificent.”
    The other two duos must have noticed that we were chatting, because they drifted over to where we stood, and soon enough, introductions were made all