Half-Price Homicide by Elaine Viets

Author:Elaine Viets [Viets, Elaine]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Tags: Fort Lauderdale, Women Detectives, Saint Louis (Mo.), Mystery & Detective, Consignment Sale Shops, Florida, Fiction, Women Sleuths, General, Hawthorne; Helen (Fictitious Character), Fugitives From Justice
ISBN: 9780451229892
Google: vdX5BOIKm0IC
Amazon: B004I1JQL6
Publisher: Penguin
Published: 2010-05-04T07:00:00+00:00

“I can’t believe St. Louis has a Hustler store,” Helen said.

Helen and Phil had picked up a rental car at the airport. Helen left the rental lot and was driving past the Hustler Hollywood store. The huge neon-lit shop stood out among the square utilitarian buildings like, well, a hustler in church.

“What’s wrong with it? It’s by the airport,” Phil said. “I don’t see any kids around here. Besides, we have one in Fort Lauder-dale.”

“That’s different,” Helen said. “Lauderdale is a tourist town. St. Louis is a family city.”

“How do you think people get children?” Phil asked. “Is St. Louis a sinless city?”

“Heck, no. Dad was the neighborhood skirt chaser,” Helen said. “No one but Mom was surprised when he was caught in the sack with another woman. But that was straightforward Midwestern sin, not cheap, flashy Hustler sin. I can’t see a St. Louis soccer mom sneaking into Hustler to buy a Slutty Senoritas video or a crotchless tanga.”

“No one will see her there except other sinners, who also have to be discreet,” Phil said. “And you seem to know a lot about cheap, flashy sin.”

“Peggy told me,” Helen said, hoping she didn’t blush. “She went with Daniel, her lawyer boyfriend, to the Hustler Hollywood on Federal Highway. Just to look at things.”

“Uh-huh.” Phil grinned at her. “We’re on Natural Bridge Road. Where is the natural bridge?”

“Legend says there used to be one nearly two hundred years ago, but it’s long gone,” Helen said. “The only bridges around seem to be overpasses. Natural Bridge Road has some cool vintage architecture, though, like the Goody Goody Diner.”

After several turns, Helen wound up on a major highway.

“Are you lost?” Phil asked.

“There’s a lot of new highway construction,” she said. “I think I can still find Kathy and Tom’s house from here.”

“Why not stop and ask directions?” Phil said.

“No, I’ll find something I recognize soon,” Helen said. She felt a little frantic driving in her former home, as if she was trying to find the city she used to know.

“I thought only guys refused to ask directions,” Phil said.

“Wait! Here’s Lindbergh Boulevard,” Helen said, hailing it like an old friend at a party. “Now I can find Kathy’s house.”

“I don’t mind driving around,” Phil said. “This is a good-looking city. Are we going to see the arch?”

“That’s downtown,” Helen said. “We can make time to see it, if you want.”

“I want to drop my bags at the hotel and get to work on your divorce research. That’s our priority.”

“Look at that,” Helen said, more to herself than Phil. “Schneit-horst’s has morphed into three restaurants with a rooftop beer garden.”

She turned to him and said, “Schneithorst’s is an old German restaurant.”

“I kind of guessed that,” Phil said. “Can I get a beer there?”

“Sure. It’s a watering hole for the old rich, and not just their money is old. Your silver-white hair would fit in nicely, but you’re younger than most of that crowd.”

“Jeez, you don’t have to insult the place because I wanted a beer there,” Phil said.

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