Murder Under the Covered Bridge by Elizabeth Perona Page B

on scones, there were six other women in Mary Ruth Catering pink aprons at work. Two of them were tackling a mountain of dishes to be washed, and the other four were either manning the wall ovens or mixing up what looked to be batches of corn fritter donut dough.
    Francine guessed the new recruits to be in their fifties. Young , Francine thought. “You hired them?”
    â€œTechnically, no. They’re volunteers. The Covered Bridge Festival Committee sent them over after lunch. The Committee was apparently really impressed by the crowds we drew.”
    Francine walked over to the wall ovens. She didn’t know what was in them, but she smelled cinnamon. She found a switch that turned on a light inside the top oven. “Those scones look divine,” she said.
    â€œThanks,” said Alice, who was using a spatula to transfer from a baking sheet to a cooling rack the biggest apple-cinnamon scones Francine had ever seen. “I’ve been begging Mary Ruth to let me make them. I feel like I’ve been a good apprentice and ready to try my hand at some of her recipes.” She was dressed in the standard Mary Ruth Catering outfit of black pants, white shirt, black shoes, and a pink apron. Of course, the pants were Michael Kors and her shoes were Kate Spade, but that was Alice.
    Charlotte nudged Francine aside so she could look. “Those things are cresting perfectly, and that fall-ish smell of cinnamon has been calling to me all afternoon. I can hardly wait to slather one in icing and take a bite.”
    â€œIt’s a glaze ,” Alice said. “And we don’t slather them. We drizzle them.”
    â€œIf I get hold of the icing, they’ll be bathed in the stuff.”
    â€œThat’s why you will not get near them,” Mary Ruth said. “They are Alice’s to drizzle. She did exceptionally well making them. And all the help enabled me to get several batches of cookies ready for tomorrow.” She uncovered a space on a countertop to reveal mounds of five types of giant cookies, easily seven inches in diameter. As Charlotte headed toward the cookies, Mary Ruth recovered them with a flour sack towel. “I made some smaller ones for us to have later.”
    â€œWe’ll need them sooner rather than later,” Charlotte said.
    Mary Ruth squinted at her. “Why will we need them sooner?”
    â€œFor the séance. We’re having a séance this afternoon.” Charlotte said it as though she wouldn’t tolerate dissention.
    â€œA séance?” Mary Ruth clearly thought Charlotte was making a joke. “You don’t have a séance in the middle of the afternoon. Don’t you have them at night?”
    â€œShe’s giving us the early-bird special.”
    Francine chuckled to herself. Charlotte was a true senior when it came to knowing about every early-bird special available.
    Alice blew on a stray piece of hair that hung down by her eyes. “Why on earth are we having a séance?”
    Charlotte dug both fists into her hips. “For someone who had Attend a Séance on her Sixty List, you don’t sound very enthused. I arranged this for you.”
    Mary Ruth’s expression was one of realization. “That explains why Marcy disappeared. She’s gone to get Merlina.”
    Alice’s mouth went taut. “Don’t think that I don’t appreciate your help, Charlotte. It’s just that when I got around to being part of a séance, I thought it’d be with someone I trusted a little more than the Great Merlina.”
    â€œYou haven’t even met the Great Merlina yet.”
    â€œThe fact that she’s related to Marcy does not inspire confidence.”
    â€œThis is where I get out,” Jonathan said. He gave Francine a kiss. “Have fun. I’ll call you later when I get home.” He snatched one of the big cookies Mary Ruth had hidden under the flour towel and went upstairs.
    Francine sighed