Murder on the Orient Espresso(15)

‘That was certainly nice of you.’

‘I was having a tough time getting a job in library science, what with all the budget cuts, and this gave me something to do – something I loved.’

‘Library science,’ I repeated. ‘So how did you end up in event management?’

‘You mean helping with the conference?’ Missy looked surprised. ‘Oh, that’s just a volunteer post. It’s not what I do for a living.’

‘You don’t get paid?’

‘I get my hotel room comped, and I don’t pay for the conference, of course. Plus, I meet such interesting people.’

An increase in the chatter coming from the ‘interesting people’ milling about on the platform drew my attention. The natives were getting restless. And Zoe Scarlett, of course, was nowhere to be seen to settle them down. ‘You couldn’t pay me enough to take orders from that woman.’

‘Zoe?’ Missy shot me a smile. ‘She’s not so bad, truly, though I think her divorce has left her a bit off balance.’

Not surprising, given the size of the woman’s new breasts. I refocused my attention on Missy. ‘… has contacts everywhere, which is crucial,’ she was saying. ‘She really put this conference together.’

‘If you say so.’ I’d had experience with ‘idea’ people who were only too happy to hand off their ideas to other people – like Missy – to implement. And guess who’d take all the credit? ‘But you seem to be the one who gets things done.’

‘It’s mainly logistics. Which is why, between you and me, I’m so excited about tonight.’ She lowered her voice. ‘I want to show everyone, including our guests of honor, that I’m capable of more creative things. Who knows where that might lead?’

Probably to Zoe dumping even more work onto her unpaid assistant. ‘But how do you pay the bills? You said you didn’t get paid for the research either.’

‘That’s changed, happily. A girl has to earn a living.’ Missy tried a longer piece of tape, this time attempting to wrap it around a rope attached to the top of the banner.

Well, that was good, at least. ‘Can you say who your clients are, or is that kept confidential?’

‘I always ask about the confidentiality issues, because it varies from writer to writer. Everyone here, though, knows I’ve worked for Rosemary Darlington.’ Missy took her hands away from the precariously hung banner. ‘That’s why she agreed to come to Mystery 101.’

‘Wow, that’s impressive. Zoe apparently isn’t the only one with contacts.’

The girl looked pleased and not only because the banner seemed to be holding. ‘Oh, it was nothing, really.’

‘Not true. As you said regarding Zoe, contacts are crucial in event planning.’ But I wanted to hear more about the research, especially in regard to Rosemary Darlington. ‘Did you work on Breaking and Entering?’

A quick sidelong look. Missy seeming uncertain about my motives for asking. I held up my hands. ‘Hey, I haven’t read the book. I’m not judging.’

‘Oh, not that kind of research,’ Missy said with a slightly embarrassed smile. ‘Heavens, I’m sure Rosemary … well, I don’t mean to say she has more experience, but … Oh, dear, I’m still making a mess of this.’

The banner took another dive and I made a grab for it. ‘I’m not sure even duct tape is up to this job.’

But I was also fairly certain the banner-hanging wasn’t what Missy thought she’d messed up. Or, at least, not the only thing.

She was happy to follow my differing lead, though. ‘You’re right. I didn’t ask the banner company to attach these ropes and they make it ever so much heavier. Maybe I should cut them off.’ She was eyeing the scissors.

‘Uh-uh.’ I scooped up the scissors before she could and stepped back to look at our options for securing the signage to the side of the train. ‘How secure does the banner have to be?’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Are we moving or staying right here in the station?’

‘Oh, no, we’ll be leaving in a few minutes. It’s very exciting. I’ve managed to get us a sneak preview of a brand-new excursion into the Everglades.’

I surveyed the ‘excursion’ train. There were four cars and … ‘We have a locomotive on each end.’ And facing opposite ways.

‘Of course. The west one,’ Missy pointed at the locomotive to our left, ‘will take us into the Everglades. The east one will bring us back to Fort Lauderdale.’