A Broth of Betrayal (26 page)

Recipes

SAGE’S PEANUT BUTTER SOUP

(Serves 4)

1 small onion, finely chopped

2 tablespoons butter or margarine

3 cups chicken broth

1 cup cubed chicken (cooked or uncooked)

¼ teaspoon red pepper

½ cup chopped celery

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup peanut butter

Melt butter or margarine in soup pot, add chopped onion and sauté on low heat for
two minutes, until onion is softened, but not browned.

Add chicken stock, chicken pieces, celery, salt, red pepper and peanut butter.

Cover and cook on medium heat for 15 minutes until celery is softened and chicken
pieces are completely cooked.

In a separate small pan, on low heat, whisk the flour and water together until the
flour is dissolved, adding milk to the mixture.

Add the flour, water and milk mixture to the soup pot, and cook on high for 10 minutes
until the broth has slightly thickened.

Sprinkle chopped peanuts over each serving.

CHERRY SOUP (CHILLED)

(Serves 6)

2 lbs. fresh, frozen or canned sour cherries (pitted)

1 cup water

1 cup sugar

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

3 cups dry red wine

1 teaspoon almond extract

1 cup light cream

1 cup sour cream or crème fraiche

Add cherries, water, sugar, cinnamon and red wine to pot. Bring to a boil, reduce
heat and simmer for 20-30 minutes until cherries are tender. Remove from heat and
stir in almond extract.

In a mixing bowl, slowly stir light cream into the sour cream or crème fraiche until
the mixture is smooth. Add the cream mixture to the pot. Stir gently until evenly
mixed. Chill until ready to serve.

CUCUMBER YOGURT AND WALNUT SOUP (CHILLED)

(Serves 4)

1 cucumber

½ garlic clove

½ teaspoon salt

1 ½ cups coarsely chopped walnuts

1 cup cooked white rice

1 teaspoon walnut or sunflower oil

2 cups plain yogurt

1 cup cold water

2 teaspoons lemon juice

Fresh dill sprigs

Cut cucumber in half lengthwise, and remove peel from one half.

Dice both the peeled cucumber flesh and the unpeeled cucumber and set aside.

Blend garlic and salt together in a food processor.

Add cooked rice, peeled diced cucumber and 1 cup of chopped walnuts to food processor
and blend again.

Transfer the mixture to a large bowl. Slowly add the walnut or sunflower oil, stir,
then mix in yogurt and diced (unpeeled) one-half of cucumber. Add cold water and lemon
juice to the mixture.

Pour the soup into chilled soup bowls to serve.

Garnish with remainder of chopped walnuts and sprigs of dill. Serve immediately.

CHICKEN APRICOT ALMOND SALAD

(Serves 2)

1 ½ cups cooked, chopped, skinless chicken breast

½ cup chopped dried apricots

2 stalks of celery, chopped

3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

1 cup plain yogurt

2 tablespoons spicy mustard

2 teaspoons honey

2 teaspoons orange zest

10 large leaves romaine lettuce (washed and chopped)

½ cup sliced almonds

In a large bowl, mix chicken pieces, dried apricots, celery and cilantro together.

In a separate small bowl, mix yogurt, mustard, honey and orange zest, adding it to
the chicken mixture. Then add chopped romaine leaves. Mix all ingredients thoroughly
and garnish with sliced almonds.

WATERMELON BASIL FETA SALAD

(Serves 2)

2 cups chopped watermelon cubes

½ cup chopped red onions

½ cup crumbled feta cheese

½ cup chopped fresh basil leaves

8 leaves romaine lettuce (washed and chopped)

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl.

Serve with a sprinkle of balsamic vinegar.

Turn the page for a preview of Connie Archer's next Soup Lover's Mystery . . .

A Roux of Revenge

Coming soon from Berkley Prime Crime!

Chapter 1

N
ATE EDGERTON, SNOWFLAKE’S
Chief of Police, reached over and flipped off the siren and flashing light. He pulled
his cruiser to the side of the road, slowing and coming to a stop behind a bright
blue sports car. Two people, a young couple, sat on the rear bumper of the car. Nate
could tell from their expressions there was no need to hurry.

He turned to his deputy. “Cancel the ambulance.”

Nate heaved a sigh and climbed out. He already knew what he’d find in the ditch—a
mangled body or bodies trapped in an equally crushed vehicle. Not how he wanted his
day to go. His spirits had been high when he left home this morning. He had impulsively
hugged his wife and kissed her quickly on the cheek. It was a golden October day.
Summer had lingered over the countryside and a brilliant glow of crimson and orange
covered the trees, leaves unwilling to submit to the coming winter.

He turned back to the cruiser and leaned into the driver’s window. “And get ahold
of somebody in Lincoln Falls for a coroner’s van.”

Bradley nodded, and following Nate’s orders, began to make the calls. He really hoped
he wouldn’t have to see any blood today.

“And after you’ve done that, talk to those two.” Nate indicated the young couple by
the sports car. “Get their information and don’t let ’em leave just yet.” Nate straightened
up slowly, holding a hand against his stiff back and approached the pair. “You the
folks who called this in?”

The man nodded. His arm hung around the shoulder of the woman who sat next to him.
Her face was pale and pinched.

“My deputy will get your information and I’ll be with you in a few minutes.”

On the off chance the couple was mistaken and the victim still alive, Nate walked
to the edge of the road. He gauged the distance to a white van that was tilted forward
into the soft earth at a twenty-five degree angle. He grasped onto a sapling that
clung to the side of the ditch, and doing his best not to slip or tumble, stepped
sideways down the slope. As careful as he was, he barely stopped himself from sliding
the rest of the way down into the gully.

The windshield of the van had shattered from the impact. Probably from the driver’s
head, he guessed. Nate peered through the open window. The body of a man dressed in
casual work clothes was splayed over the steering wheel. His face, pressed into the
shattered windshield, was striped with rivulets of blood. Sightless eyes were open,
fixed at a place well beyond the ditch in which he lay.

Nate sighed and shook his head.
Why won’t they ever wear their seat belts?

He wrenched the door open and stood back to let gravity do the hard work. The man’s
sleeve and shirtfront were soaked in blood. Nate scanned the interior of the van searching
for broken glass or a sharp object to explain the blood loss on the man’s body but
found nothing. He pulled a pen from his pocket and very carefully lifted the sleeve
of the man’s shirt. Humming tunelessly to himself, he replaced his pen and climbed
around the van, carefully checking all sides. Then he returned to the back of the
vehicle and leaned closer to the bumper for a better look.

“Bradley,” he bellowed.

Nate looked to the top of the rise. Bradley’s face peeked over the edge.

“Bring the camera down here.” Nate knew the crime scene techs would take plenty of
pictures but whenever possible he preferred to document the scene himself—too easy
for a key piece of evidence to disappear or be overlooked.

Bradley appeared a few moments later, a camera bag slung over his shoulder. He slid
down a lot more gracefully than the older man had done. When he reached bottom, he
passed the camera to Nate, carefully keeping his gaze averted from the front seat
of the van.

“Come on over here.” Nate scrambled around to the driver’s door. “What do you see?”

Bradley followed his boss dutifully. He looked as if he was about to retch. “A lot
of blood.”

“What else do you see?”

“Well, he didn’t have a seat belt on. Went straight into the windshield.”

“Anything else?”

Bradley shrugged his shoulders. “He bled all over himself.”

“What do you think caused all this?” Nate asked.

Bradley, his face white, shrugged his shoulders.

“Look again.” Nate pointed to the dead man’s arm and shirtfront and waited patiently
for light to dawn in Bradley’s eyes. “This wasn’t caused by the accident.” He slid
the pen from his shirt pocket again and very carefully lifted the material of the
shirt away from the dead man’s arm. “Now what do you see?”

Bradley squinted. “A hole.” He turned to Nate, surprise on his face. “He was shot?”

“There’s more. Listen and learn.” Nate pointed to the rear of the van and led the
way. “See here?” He indicated a dent on the rear bumper. “And here?” He pointed to
a second spot of damage. “There’s a lot of dings and rust spots, but there’s no rust
on these. A little paint in there. Maybe they can match it.”

“You’re saying somebody made sure he went off the road?”

“Yup. Twice, it looks like. Here, I want you to get some good shots of our man inside,
his shirt and these dings on the bumper. But don’t touch anything, all right?”

Jerking his thumb to the top of the rise, he said, “I want to talk to those two up
there before they decide to take off.”

Nate straightened his back.
Getting stiffer every day
, he thought. Getting too damn old for this job. He heaved another sigh and made an
effort to climb back up to the road. Taking two steps up and sliding back one, he
clung to the thin plantings and branches to give himself purchase.

The man at the car stood as Nate approached. The woman’s hands were held against her
face as she leaned over her knees. “Can we go now?”

“About what time did you first pull over?”

“Maybe forty-five minutes ago, I think. We saw the top of the van down below. We stopped,
thinking somebody might need help, but . . .” he trailed off.

“It was too late.” Nate finished his sentence.

The man gulped and nodded.

“Where are you headed, by the way?”

“Over to Bournmouth to visit my wife’s parents. We live in Lincoln Falls.”

“Did you happen to see any other vehicles when you first noticed the van? Anybody
pass by?”

“No. Not a soul. There wasn’t any traffic. We came this way ’cause we wanted to take
the scenic route.” The man shook his head ruefully. “We sure as hell didn’t bargain
for this.”

Nate nodded. “Sorry you had to be the ones. If you’ve given your names and home address
to my deputy, you can be on your way.”

Without a word the young woman stood. The couple turned away, a look of relief on
their faces. They climbed into the sports car without a backward glance. The engine
revved and the car pulled on to the road heading east.

Nate turned as he heard the crunch of gravel behind him. He watched as another car
pulled up behind the cruiser. Elias Scott, Snowflake’s town doctor and the local coroner,
climbed out, a heavy black bag in his hand. Nate shook his head negatively to let
Elias know there was no hurry.

“You’re sure?” Elias asked as he approached.

“Sorry to drag you out here. Not much you can do now.”

“Well, since I’m here, why don’t I have a closer look.”

“Be my guest.”

Elias stepped carefully down the side of the ditch and slipped on a pair of latex
gloves. Nate followed him. He looked into the open driver’s door and whistled softly.

“What do you think?” Nate asked, following Elias.

“Well, the accident caused this.” Elias pointed to a gash on the man’s head and facial
cuts. “Might have caused a concussion too. But it doesn’t account for all this blood.
Looks like it flowed from his left arm. See here.” He pointed a gloved finger and
then carefully examined the material of the shirt.

“Yeah, I caught that. A gunshot wound.”

“He was alive when he went off the road. He could have been in shock from the wound,
maybe that’s what caused the crash. Could have died from the trauma of the wound,
the blood loss or even the head injury. Can’t be certain yet.”

“Have a look back here.” Elias followed the path that Nate had taken, careful not
to slip on the damp vegetation. Bradley was returning the camera to its bag.

“There are two areas of damage. Here and here.” Nate indicated the spots on the crushed
bumper. “And these are new—no rust. The accident didn’t cause this. Somebody rear-ended
this guy—a couple of times, I’d guess.”

“So you think he was shot first? Maybe whoever shot him managed to hit a vital artery.”

“And maybe he was able to get away—tried to get help. But somebody didn’t want him
to.” Nate shook his head. “Nothing’s simple, is it? I’m gonna have to get the body
moved and this thing towed to Lincoln Falls where the techs can have a better look.
Let’s go back up to the road. I want to get some shots of the tire tracks before everybody
messes them up.”

The three men climbed back to the road, doing their best not to slip on the soft earth
or wet autumn leaves. Nate reached out and took the camera from Bradley. Elias stepped
away and watched as Nate shot several photos.

“What can you tell from those?”

“See these right here,” Nate said, pointing to wide tire tracks. Elias nodded. “These
are the marks from the van. They start right here, off the road. No sign of an attempt
to brake. This guy just flew off the road. Maybe he was already unconscious. But I
still think somebody helped him along.”

Elias followed in Nate’s wake. “And back here . . .” Nate pointed to another set of
marks. “Somebody hit the brakes real hard. See these tracks? And then it looks like
he drove right onto the soft shoulder.”

He turned to his deputy. “Bradley, you stay here until everything’s handled and then
bring the cruiser back to the station. And make sure you don’t touch anything and
don’t let anybody stop to gawk. And especially right here,” Nate said, pointing to
a set of tire tracks. “Get some markers out of the trunk and make sure they get an
impression of that tire.”

Bradley wasn’t happy to be relegated to a mop-up operation but there wasn’t much he
could do about it.

“I’ll hitch a ride back to town with you, Elias. Bradley can handle the rest.” He
stood for a moment, silently surveying the scene. “Yup. I’d bet my last dollar. Somebody
was after this guy. We’ve got a murder on our hands.”