Prime Cut

back when I, too, was lucky to find a job. Did you like him?”

She twisted her mouth to one side as if trying to decide how to say something negative. “Oh, Goldy. Andre was an old man with a lot of stories to tell. He told them whether people were interested or not. I would tease him because he talked too much. When he would tie up one of the photo people with his chatter, then you had two people who were not working.” She picked up her briefcase, as if I had lured her into the same idleness. “My only concern has to be that the shoot run efficiently.” She marched out of the kitchen before I could ask just which photo people Andre had tied up with his chatter.

As soon as she left, I asked Boyd about the rifle. He said Fuller’s people had looked at the Winchester, and found that it was clean of fingerprints and had not been fired. I told him what Rustine had said about Gerald’s claim that he’d found a weapon that would make them rich. Boyd said a gun only made you rich if you used it to rob a bank. Great.

By nine-thirty, Boyd and Julian had set out a crystal bowl mounded with homemade granola and another containing a glistening array of sliced strawberries and kiwi. Crystal pitchers contained cream and skim milk. Carafes of coffee, decaf, and hot water were poised above lit cans of Sterno. I nestled assorted juices and waters into a table-size ice bath. Julian and Boyd had scuttled back to the kitchen, claiming they needed to assemble lunch. I suppressed a chuckle. Apparently, both men were embarrassed to appear openly interested in Rustine’s lingerie shoot.

They would have been disappointed, I reflected, after I watched Rustine go through her paces. The mother of all granny gowns concealed everything. Since I’d just seen the Polaroid of the gown hanging forlornly on its coat hanger, I knew it was quite ordinary, despite Rustine’s coy looks, dipped shoulder, and hands on hips. Behind his camera, Ian prompted Rustine with That’s it, baby. Keep it coming. That’s it. Don’t lose it now. Rustine simpered and kept moving through her poses. I wondered if the lace-trimmed gown could survive the restless insomnia a worrying cop’s wife endured every night, while waiting for her husband to come home with his bulletproof vest intact.

Back in the kitchen, I put these thoughts out of my mind and returned to that old soul-restorer: working with food. I hummed as I mixed the cottage cheese, buttermilk, and egg mixture with the sifted dry ingredients to make the girdle cakes. On the griddle, they would rise, develop a crunchy exterior and featherlight interior, and bring joy to the heart, no matter what you were wearing.

“I’m not staying out there to serve,” Julian announced fiercely, his cheeks pink. “That blond girl, Yvonne, is mean as a skunk. When I asked her what she was doing today, she told me to trot on back to the kitchen and mind my own business. At least Rustine pretends to like me.”

I murmured sympathetically and skimmed oil onto my electric griddle. I was studiously avoiding conversation with Rustine. I did not want anyone at the shoot even to suspect that she wanted me to act as her informal P.I. I hustled the griddle out to the central room, set it on a table, and plugged it into one of the numerous crooked wall outlets. Yvonne sauntered across the set in black bra and panties while Ian fixed his lens and swore. I frowned and remembered Rustine’s words from the first day: The blonde’s … wearing flesh-colored falsies. Was Yvonne dishonestly stuffed now? And how far had I come from pondering questions of eschatology while catering to the Diocesan Board of Theological Examiners?

Ignoring these mental digressions, I retrieved the batter and waited for the signal from Ian and company to start heating the skillet. With any luck, the bra shoot would only take twenty minutes. But the voices on the far side of the room rose suddenly, as did the level of activity. There was general scurrying and knocking into chairs. My heart sank as I gave the batter a gentle stir and wondered if we were in for another ruined meal.

“I told you so, didn’t I?” muttered Rustine at my elbow.

I jumped and barely avoided spilling the batter. “For heaven’s sake, Rustine! You told me what?” No wonder Andre had a heart attack, I thought uncharitably, as I righted the bowl.

Rustine, now clad in a tightly cinched sky-blue terry-cloth robe, gestured toward the far side of the room. Yvonne, in the lacy bra and panties, sat slumped on a chair beside one of the flats that formed the artificially lit three-sided stage that had been constructed for the day’s shoot. What—mountains were too suggestive a backdrop for department store lingerie? In any event, Yvonne blended in with the flats, which were painted a very light, neutral beige. Hanna, Ian, Rufus, and Leah were huddled in a hasty conference. Behind them, the day-contractors —female stylist, younger male hairdresser, older male makeup artist—shook their heads in bemusement.

Lingerie-Shoot Gridle Cakes

1 egg

1? cups or more buttermilk

1? cup cottage cheese

1? cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

? teaspoon baking soda

1 cup blueberries, plus more for serving

Butter and maple syrup for serving

Oil a large skillet or griddle (the Scots call it a “girdle,” hence the name) and preheat it over medium heat.

In a large bowl, beat the egg lightly. Stir in the buttermilk and cottage cheese.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Sift again into the egg mixture. Stir in the dry mixture very lightly, mixing only enough to combine. If the mixture is too dry, stir in a small amount of additional buttermilk. Gently stir in the blueberries.

Scoop the batter into pancakes into the hot, well-oiled pan. After the cakes have set on one side, lightly loosen them with a metal spatula to make sure they do not stick. When the edges of the cakes appear dry, flip the cakes carefully to cook until cooked through and golden brown on both sides. This can take from 2 to 5 minutes per side.

Serve immediately with butter and maple syrup or more fresh blueberries.

Makes 8 to 12 cakes

“She doesn’t have any cleavage!” Rustine whispered. “She may be blond, but it’s not enough. She can’t fill that bra.” Rustine lifted her chin and shook her red hair in triumph. Up close, I could again see that her face was flawlessly, if heavily, made up. “They’re going to have to use me. That’s great, because we need the extra money.”

“Why will you make extra?” I asked innocently.

She stared at me as if I had just offered to don the black bra and underwear myself. “Because more skin shows in a lingerie shot. They have to pay extra, and especially for yours truly, who will now be used for both shots.”

“Ah.” I cocked my head toward the set. “How close would you say we are to the coffee break?”

She frowned, then assessed the conference.

“Dammit!” Ian was yelling at Rufus. “Why can’t you check out the equipment before we start?” Ian stomped toward his tripod, then tripped. Flailing wildly, he crashed to the floor. “How many times,” he shouted angrily at Rufus, “have I told you to get rid of Eliot’s damn air compressor? Are you brain-dead? Were you deprived of oxygen at birth, Driggle? Get that damn thing out of here!”

Rufus, head bent in embarrassment, picked up the heavy compressor and struggled across the great room. He passed me without a glance, pushed the compressor against the wall outside the kitchen, then hustled back to Ian’s side to see about the problematic equipment. Ian’s cursing got more colorful. Still slumped in her chair, Yvonne was scowling at her gleaming fingertips.

Rustine continued as if nothing had happened: “The coffee break will be earlier than if they’d done the shot. They’ll break in about five minutes.” Time to cook, I thought. I turned on the skillet. “Getting me ready will take at least half an hour.” Rustine sniffed the batter, then whispered, “Have you been able to figure anything out about Gerald?”

I considered her question as I dipped a measuring cup into the bowl, then poured the contents out on the steaming griddle. The pale golden batter sputtered invitingly. This was not the time to get into a discussion of the Winchester, I decided. “Is there anything you haven’t told me?” I asked.