Shop Till You Drop

By eleven-oh-two, all the special guests had arrived. Helen popped the first champagne cork. It was like she had fired a starter's pistol. The five women bought as if shopping was a competition sport, an Olympic event. They spent like drunken congressmen with taxpayers' money. The clothes Tara bought cost more than Helen made in a year at Juliana's. Niki beat her in the shopping sweepstakes. Brittney spent more than both women combined.

The women spent with style. They tried on dresses that laced fetchingly up the front like corsets, or bared elegant backs. Skirts were slit to the thigh. Blouses showed off smooth shoulders or slender waists.

The fabrics were rich or sheer or so frothy you wanted to dive into them. The colors were edible. Tiffany bought a delectable peach slip dress. It's stylish on her, Helen thought. I'd look like I was in my underwear. Sharmayne came out in a severe black Chanel suit piped in white, and black ankle-strap heels straight out of a bondage catalogue. The effect was incredibly sexy. Everyone applauded, and Sharmayne did a catwalk strut through the store.

They are so beautiful, Helen thought. They're like flowers in an exotic garden. Except one of these beauties could be a killer. She looked at the gorgeous women laughing and sipping champagne. She wondered which one murdered that poor woman and let her rot in Biscayne Bay.

She also wondered why she was trying to trap this killer. Was she nuts? The fear began crawling in her guts again. I'm playing Nero Wolfe, she thought, but I forgot he had Archie Goodwin when he sat in a room with a killer. Not me. I'm getting them drunk. I'm unarmed and desperate.

Buy at Murder on the Beach

SHOP TILL YOU DROP: A Dead-End Job Mystery by Elaine Viets - Signet Mystery, $6.50, 0-451-20855-2.

Reading Guide for Discussion Groups for
Shop Till You Drop.