The Murder of a Queen Bee Read Online Free PDF

wanted a child with Tom before her biological clock made it impossible. They also knew that even when she’d dated others during their separation, Tom remained her one true love.
    Fiona’s most recent boyfriend, Laurent Duplessis, could drum, sing, and attract more girlfriends than a Haitian masked booby could find fish in the sea. But his relationship with Fiona hadn’t endured. She had liked that he seemed to know more about herbs than most people in town, particularly how to use them in Haitian food. His voodoo religion was, according to Fiona, mind-blowing, and they’d shared an interest in learning about various spiritual paths and practices. She had allowed herself to be comforted by him as her relationship with the commune people became increasingly strained. She’d let him work in her store for a while. But in a reversal of roles, she’d ended up as the caretaker of Laurent, who became increasingly irresponsible. When their relationship grew toxic, she had moved on. He hadn’t. Abby recalled that Fiona had confided in her that she believed Laurent had been following her around. He had seemed to be stalking her. Just three days before the luncheon, she’d asked Abby for a meeting. Now Abby wondered if the purpose of the meeting was to find out about how to get a restraining order. Or was it something else?
    She owed Fiona a debt of gratitude for all the help with the farmette herb garden. Abby vowed to repay the debt by finding out how Fiona had ended up alone and dead in a burning car, instead of dining on egg salad sandwiches in Abby’s lovely garden, in the company of friends.

    Egg Salad Tea Sandwiches
    Ingredients:
    6 hard-boiled eggs (chilled or at room temperature)
½ cup mayonnaise
¼ cup finely minced red onion
2 tablespoons minced sweet gherkin pickles
2 tablespoons coarse-ground mustard
1 teaspoon organic honey
½ teaspoon finely minced fresh dill
Kosher salt, to taste
Freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
12 slices white or whole-wheat bread
6 chilled, crisp lettuce leaves or 24 thin slices Armenian
cucumber
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    Directions:

    Peel and chop the hard-boiled eggs and place the chopped eggs in a medium bowl. Add the mayonnaise, onion, pickles, mustard, honey, dill, salt, and pepper to the eggs and mix thoroughly. Set the egg salad aside.
    Stack 2 slices of bread on a cutting board so that they are completely aligned and cut off the crusts with a sharp knife. Repeat this process until all the slices of bread have been trimmed.
    Spread a thin layer of the reserved egg salad on 6 bread slices. Top each with a lettuce leaf or 4 cucumber slices and then a plain bread slice to make 6 sandwiches.
    Cut each sandwich into 4 squares or, if you prefer, 4 triangles with a sharp knife. Arrange the tea sandwiches on a large plate and serve at once.

    Serves 4 to 6 (4 to 6 tea sandwiches per person)

Chapter 3
    Don’t get sidetracked by the hens’ antics if the
rooster is in a foul mood.
    â€”Henny Penny Farmette Almanac
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    H oudini, the rust-colored bantam rooster with weapon-like spurs, eyed Abby, as if ready for attack. She saw him.
    â€œDid somebody get up on the wrong side of the roost?” she asked.
    She stepped up the tempo of her chores in the poultry area, collecting eggs and hosing down the water dispenser before refilling it. Keeping Houdini in her line of sight, she plucked the aluminum feeder from its suspension hook and added crumbles. Sooner or later, he was going to make his move. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Houdini begin to pace. Hurriedly, she rehung the feeder. Sidestepping the hens, Abby fetched the bag of wilted spinach and lettuce leaves from the wheelbarrow next to the gate and dumped the entire mound into the large cracked platter on the ground. “Here you go, my darlings.”
    So Houdini had gotten his hackles up. Abby wondered what had triggered his agitation this time. She was almost finished with the chores