Ladle to the Grave (A Soup Lover's Mystery Book 4) Read Online Free PDF Page B

covered.”
    Lucky agreed. She was still unnerved by their discovery. “Tell Elias I’ll catch up with him later?”
    Nate nodded and watched as they climbed into Sophie’s car and reversed onto the road. Sophie was silent on the drive back to town.
    Lucky glanced over. “You’re very quiet all of a sudden. You sure you’re okay?”
    Sophie’s jaw was clenched. “This feels like a bad omen, Lucky.”
    “Don’t even say that. It’s horrible, but it’s probably an accident. It has nothing to do with you—or with Sage.”
    Sophie shivered. “I only hope you’re right.”

Chapter 7

    S AGE STEPPED OUT to the corridor as soon as he heard the back door slam. “What happened?” He looked as if he had been worrying since he had received the phone call. “Isn’t Sophie with you?”
    “She’s fine, but she wanted to go straight home.”
    “Tell me everything.”
    “Sophie walked down to the creek to wash her hands and she found a man—dead, floating in the water.”
    “A dead man? Who?”
    “Nobody knows. And Nate said he couldn’t find any identification at all.”
    “Look, will you be okay if I take off a little early? I just want to make sure Sophie’s all right.”
    “Sure, you go ahead. Janie and Meg are here. I’ll man the kitchen and they can take care of the front. You go home.”
    “Thanks, Lucky. I just don’t want to leave you in the lurch.”
    “You’re not. Go ahead. Where’s Jack, by the way?”
    “Uh . . . he left about an hour ago. Didn’t say where he was going.”
    “Really? That’s odd. Was he okay?”
    “Just very quiet. Like something was on his mind.”
    “Ah. I’ll bet I know what it is.” She sighed. “I’ll catch up with him later. Too much stuff is happening all of a sudden. Uh, Sage, can you wait just a minute? I need to make a phone call before you go.”
    “Sure, I’ll wait.”
    Lucky hurried into the office and looked up Cordelia Rank’s home number. Norman Rank, Cordelia’s husband, was their landlord, the owner of the space the Spoonful occupied. Their number was on her Rolodex. It was Norman who answered.
    “I was hoping to talk to Cordelia. Is she available?”
    “No, I’m sorry, Lucky. She’s resting right now. She’s very upset about . . . well, I’m sure you know.”
    “Yes, Jack’s concerned too. I’ll talk to her later. Please let her know I called, though.”
    “I will.”
    Lucky sighed. Norman, for all his idiosyncrasies, was a breeze to deal with. Cordelia was another story altogether. Lucky returned to the kitchen and said good-bye to Sage. She looked around. Three large slow-cooking pots stood full. She lifted the lids and stirred each with a wooden spoon, making sure nothing was drying out. Each pot bubbled with Sage’s specials of the day: an Asian tofu soup with ginger and green onion, a beet and apricot soup, and a potato kale that was Lucky’s favorite. All the sandwich ingredients were in containers in the refrigerator, and the rolls and breads were already sliced and covered in preparation for the next rush at supper time.
    Janie had chosen one of Jack’s CDs to play. This one was an upbeat big band sound that kept a steady rhythm going.
Good choice
, Lucky thought. The restaurant was full. The music would keep everyone on their toes.
    *   *   *
    T HE NEXT HOURS passed quickly. Lucky filled thirty orders of soup and twenty of sandwiches, made five pots of coffee and ten cups of tea. She had a new respect for Sage’s organization. Her back was aching, and this wasn’t even a particularly busy day.
    As the last customers were leaving, she realized Jack had never returned. She wiped her hands on a dish towel and dialed his home number from the kitchen phone. It rang fifteen times—no answer. She shook her head in frustration. Jack refused to get an answering machine. He always said if anybody really wanted to talk to him, they could just ring his doorbell. After all, he would say, how did everyone manage before