Murder at the Bonfire, page 14
part #8 of Pet Portraits Cozy Mystery Series
ASHLEY WALKED DOWN to Rue Daguerre to pick up a pint of ice cream from a nearby market, hoping against hope that she could find some peanut butter, Parisians seemed to think she was crazy whenever she asked if they had any, then went back upstairs to put on her sweats and relax in front of her laptop screen.
About halfway through the pint, Serge came back to the apartment. He looked tired, with dark circles under his eyes, and he hadn’t showered for a couple of days.
Ashley covered him in kisses and got him in the shower. “Are you hungry?”
“No, I ate.” He was morose.
“How’s the project going?”
“I’m stuck on something.”
“Oh, no! Tell me about it.” Ashley was refreshed after her break from programming and she yearned to help him. He described the problem, sounding down and depressed about it. No solution immediately presented itself, but she promised herself that she would take a look at it later and see if she could surprise Serge with a solution.
Later came when Serge was asleep and snoring loudly. Restless, Ashley got out of bed and booted up her laptop to start going over the data that he’d sent her. It was another white-hat hacking job, this time for an online company named Cubiste Internationale that sold cheap imported manufactured goods from China and Indonesia.
The problem in this situation wasn’t that she couldn’t hack into the site and start messing up online transactions but that the company had been subjected to a very particular hack in the last month, and Serge couldn’t work out how it was done. Obviously, it was possible, it had already happened! But Serge just couldn’t seem to get a handle on how it was done.
Ashley sank into the deep, almost hypnotic mindset of working on a programming problem. Not that she didn’t like programming, she did, she just liked baking better. The keys flew under her fingers as she tried one solution after another, narrowing down the field of possible approaches until the number of solutions was exactly one – bypass the website itself and go through the credit card provider. Which, ouch Ashley winced mentally, would go way beyond the scope of a white-hat hacking project. Getting into a second site to get at the first one was a technique that a uneithical hacker would use, and she didn’t have the authority from the credit card company to do it.
The next morning when she told Serge and showed him the details from her report, he laughed hysterically and mimed ripping his hair out. “I thought I was going crazy! I just couldn’t find a way, I thought I was losing it. Completely losing my touch.” Once again, she was covered in kisses and praised up to the moon, and he insisted on getting her paid through his company again for her freelancing hours, along with a huge bonus.
Then Serge was out the door, anxious to get back to work – completely ignoring her. His actions chilled Ashley, Patty’s observation was true. Serge only loved her when he needed her to do something for him. When he didn’t need her, she didn’t seem to exist.
KEEP READING Crêpe Murder—find it at your favorite retailer here:
www.SandiScottBooks.com/crepe
RECIPES
The Ultimate Holiday Cookie
Ingredients
1/2 pound unsalted butter (room temperature)
1 1/4 cups fine granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
3/4 cup cocoa powder
3 cups cake flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 dash cinnamon
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350
Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar. Add vanilla and eggs, beat until combined.
In another bowl, whisk together the cocoa, flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.
Add mixed dry ingredients to the butter mixture gradually, beating at a low speed.
Divide the dough into two sections and roll into logs. Slice into even rounds about 1/3 inch thick and bake on parchment paper for about 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.
Recipe from Foodista.com
Summer Mocktail: Mango Tango
Ingredients
120ml mango juice
3 tbsp vanilla ice cream
Mint leaves for garnish
45ml of mojito mint syrup
30ml of fresh cream
Preparation
Fill in your shaker with ice.
Pour in the mango juice, ice cream, mojito syrup and fresh cream.
Shake well untiil everything is well incorporated.
Strain, garnish and serve.
Recipe from Foodista.com
Summer Stone Fruit Carpaccio With Vanilla Syrup and Ginger Cream
Ingredients
4 red plums
4 black plums
4 pluots
4 apricots
Vanilla Bean Syrup
1 cup raw organic honey or raw agave
1 vanilla bean, cut down the middle lengthwise and scraped with a small paring knife
Ginger Cream
1 cup organic whipping cream
1 tablespoon ginger juice
Preparation
Combine ingredients for the syrup and set aside, covered.
Place ginger juice in a large bowl and add cream. Honey or agave may be added to sweeten, if desired. Beat until semi-stiff peaks form. Set aside
Slice thinly around the pit of each piece of fruit and arrange on a large platter in layers. Drizzle with desired amount of syrup and spoon a dollop of cream on top. Garnish with lavender buds and a sprig of fresh mint.
Recipe from Foodista.com
Vodka Blackberry Breeze Cocktail
Ingredients
4 blackberries
2 ounces vodka
1/2 ounce freshly squeezed lime juice
3-4 ounces ginger beer
sugar, for dusting the rim
lime wedge, for garnish
blackberries, for garnish
Preparation
Place some sugar on a small plate. Use a lime wedge to wet the rim of a lowball cocktail glass or (jam jar for a more casual feel). Dip the class into the sugar to coat. Fill with crushed ice and set aside.
Using a cocktail shaker, add the blackberries and using a muddler, muddle the berries until well smashed. Add the vodka and lime juice and shake vigorously. Add mixture to the prepared glass.
Top with ginger beer. Garnish with a lime wedge and a few blackberries.
Recipe from Foodista.com
MORE BOOKS BY SANDI SCOTT
SEAGRASS SWEETS COZY MYSTERY SERIES
Crêpe Murder —The Prequel
Cream Puff Murder
Tarte Tatin Murder
Madeleine Murder
Praline Murder
Souffle Murder
Crouquembouche Murder
Charlotte Murder (Coming soon!)
PET PORTRAITS COZY MYSTERY SERIES
Murder at the Art Gallery
Murder on the Great Lake
Murder on the Movie Set
Murder at the Cabaret
Murder at the Car Show
Murder at the Makeover
Murder at the Pool Party
Murder at the Bonfire
Murder at the Apple Orchard (Coming soon!)
Sandi Scott, Murder at the Bonfire
