Arsenic and French Lace by Alex Wagner

Author:Alex Wagner [Wagner, Alex]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-05-01T04:00:00+00:00

13

When Penny returned to her room, she felt she had been transported to the suite of a luxury hotel. Everything was spotlessly clean, the pillows on the bed were arranged like two swans, and her personal belongings, which she had carelessly dropped in random places, had been neatly arranged on the desk, on the bedside table, or sorted into drawers and cupboards. Everything was where it belonged.

The Schümanns' maid had done a great job. But most of all Penny was pleased with the pretty silver rimmed porcelain plate on the bedside table ‘cause on top of it sat a huge piece of cake. It was lemon yellow with a golden-brown icing and smelled heavenly. Probably courtesy of the cook, whose baking creations Penny had praised extensively. The perfect consolation after the dreadful dinner experience with Arthur Zauner.

Penny flopped down on the bed, grabbed the tiny silver fork, and began to gorge herself on the cake. It tasted even more delicious than it looked.

When she had already devoured half the piece, it occurred to her that a cup of hot chocolate would be the crowning glory for this late-night sin. She was tired and had little desire to leave her bed again, but it couldn't be helped. The thought of hot chocolate with that lovely cake was just too tempting. She could almost taste it in her mouth.

Penny left the room and ran down the stairs to the ground floor. Nothing was stirring in the old house, all the inhabitants seemed to be asleep already. However, as she headed for the kitchen, she noticed a sliver of light coming from under the door. Cautiously, she peeked into the room, not wanting to run into Arthur Zauner again, who might be treating himself to a late-night drink. No hot chocolate in the world was worth having another argument with that creep.

But Penny could breathe a sigh of relief. It was only Emma, the cook, who was still at work in the kitchen. She was sorting cutlery into a drawer—and winced with a sharp cry when Penny entered the room.

"Sorry," Penny said. "I didn't mean to scare you." She ran over to the refrigerator and grabbed a carton of milk. "I just want to make myself a quick cup of hot chocolate to go with that lovely lemon cake you brought to my room."

Emma stepped in her path. "Why don't you let me do that? You are a guest in this house. No, don't argue." She took the milk carton from Penny's hand and began rummaging in one of the cupboards, probably looking for cocoa powder.

Penny thanked the eager cook, then—condemned to temporary inactivity—settled down at the large table in the center of the kitchen.

Reclining on her chair, she noticed that the room seemed to be spinning around her all of a sudden. A dizzy spell?

She hadn't been asleep yet, and she wasn't really that exhausted. Or was she?

Suddenly there was this burn in her stomach—and now that she registered it, she found that her palate felt the same.

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