mansion and passed her first test.
“Open the gate,” she shouted at the guard, who stared inside and, seeing it was her, pushed a button. “I’m late.”
Parking over to one side of the driveway, she climbed from the car and lit another cigarette.
“Dump my ashtray when you get a chance,” she said to a gardener who walked past.
The man ignored her and continued on. Walking to the front door, she rang the bell, then waited until the butler opened the door.
“Out of my way,” she said as she swept past and headed for where she remembered the kitchen to be from the blueprints she’d memorized. Bursting into the kitchen, she stared at the stove, then turned to one of the chefs Iselda had hired.
“Is that the bisque?” she asked.
“Yes, ma’am,” the Chinese chef answered.
Strutting over to the stove, she removed the lid and smelled. “Spoon, please.”
The chef handed her a spoon and she tasted the soup.
“Seems light on the lobster,” she said.
“I’ll add more,” the chef said.
“Good, good,” Ross said. “If Mr. Ho needs me, I’ll be out back. Let me know when you bake the first shrimp puffs—I want to sample them.”
“Very good,” the chef said as Ross headed through the rear door leading to the grounds.
As soon as she was spotted leaving the house, the caterer in charge of the libations walked toward her. He paused and stared.
“You look particularly lovely today, Miss Iselda,” he said.
“Flattery will get you zilch,” Ross said. “Do you have everything ready?”
“Except for that one thing we spoke about yesterday,” the caterer said.
Damn, Ross thought.
“What thing?” Ross said. “I can’t be expected to remember everything.”
“The glacier ice,” the caterer said. “It will be here in another hour or so.”
“Good, good,” Ross said. “Now make sure all the glassware is polished.”
She hurried away to where a chef with an electric chain saw was cutting an ice sculpture.
The caterer shook his head at the exchange. Her demeanor was the same, but the caterer could swear that the mole on Iselda’s cheek was a few inches lower. He banished the thought and went to check the glasses.
Ross crushed her cigarette out under her high heel. Her head was spinning from all the smoking, and she paused and took a few deep breaths. “More detail on the wings,” she said to the chef, who nodded and continued working. A tall man walked past carrying several stacked chairs. He smiled and winked.
High in a hickory tree on the property, a Corporation employee dressed in a ghillie suit that blended into the leaves keyed a microphone and spoke.
“Linda’s in and working,” he said quietly.
STANLEY Ho was standing in his top-floor office staring down at the party preparations. He had seen Iselda walk onto the yard, but the last thing he wanted to do was talk to her. The butch Portuguese woman annoyed Ho—she was good at what she did, but she took herself much too seriously. This was a party, after all, not a Broadway musical. From past experience, Ho realized that a few hours from now most of the guests he had invited would be so inebriated that if he served rat as an entree, most wouldn’t even notice.
Ho was more concerned by the insurance adjuster who was due to arrive.
That and the fact that on the history of the Golden Buddha he had commissioned, the historian had noted that the icon supposedly had a secret storage compartment Ho had yet to find. It was a minor detail, but it bugged him nonetheless. The insurance adjuster was apparently an expert in ancient Asian art. Ho figured he’d question him when he arrived and see if he could supply the answer.
If not, Spenser would be here soon and Ho could ask him about it.
RICHARD Truitt drove the rental car carefully up Praia Grande to the gate of the mansion, then stopped. Rolling down the window, he handed the guard his invitation.
“Let me call the house,” the guard said.
Dialing Ho’s extension, the guard waited.
“Mr. Ho,” the guard said, “there’s a Mr. Samuelson from the insurance company here.”
That wasn’t who he’d been dealing with, Ho thought.
“Go ahead and let him in,” Ho said, “and have him wait downstairs.”
Then he hung up and dialed another number.
“Go on in,” the guard said. “Park by the garage and wait downstairs.”
Ho tapped his finger on the desk while the telephone rang.
“Lassiter residence,” a voice with a Cantonese accent answered.
“This is Stanley Ho. Is Mr. Lassiter available?”
