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more ornate than the one before.
    Goldie swung around and brushed a strand of silver hair from her eyes. “Wow, Rudy. These are incredible.” She picked up one that was particularly beautiful and inspected it closely. “Rudy, these are not the ones I ordered from their inventory catalog. I’ve never seen such fabulous pieces.”
    “You ain’t complainin’, are ya?”
    “No way! I just wish I ordered more.”
    At eight o’clock she phoned Mimi Mendoza. Belle’s group was meeting at her teashop that afternoon, and Goldie knew Mimi would want to show off a new samovar.
    “Hey, Mimi, are you up and dressed? We just unpacked the samovars, and if you hurry over you can have first pick before the tourists have at them. Trust me. You’ve never seen anything like these.”
    Mimi lived above her shop, Tea & Sympathy, on South Franklin. The cozy little Russian tearoom with its lace curtains, crisp white tablecloths and glass pastry case was a popular gathering place for some of the groups in town. Four different types of tea were dispensed from antique samovars on the marble counter. A gilded shelf along the back wall displayed the rest of Mimi’s collection.
    Goldie looked out the front door as Mimi, a spry, no-nonsense looking woman with shiny black hair and a copper complexion, bounced down the street toward the Silver Spoon. The thing Goldie liked best about Mimi was the perpetual twinkle in her eye. “Hey Goldie! Hi Rudy! Isn’t it a beautiful day? The forecast is for partly cloudy but you know what that means? The other half is partly sunny.”
    As she looked over the exquisite assortment lined up for her inspection, Mimi’s twinkle became a laser beam. “Goldie, where did you get these? They make the rest of my collection seem so ordinary.” She picked up the one with the ivory handles. “How much?”
    The wholesale price, even with shipping and handling was just a fraction of what they were probably worth. Goldie thought for a moment, before quoting a price that was much lower than what she could have asked. After all, Mimi was a friend and a good customer.
    Mimi said without hesitation, “I’ll take it.” Then she pointed to the one with fluted panels and lion paw feet. “And that one too, if the price is as good.” After sharing some local gossip, Mimi headed out the door with the ivory handled samovar in her arms. Rudy trailed behind balancing the beautiful vessel with lion paw feet.
    By nine o’clock, when Dora and Nora hustled into the shop, Goldie had entered the remaining five samovars in the inventory book and slapped some heavy price tags on the new additions. The church ladies headed right for the counter and without wavering picked exactly the one they wanted for Father Innocent. Goldie gave them the fifteen percent discount she reserved for certain locals and put the gift in a big box covered in royal blue paper with silver spoons and swirls on it.
    “Father Innocent will be so excited when he sees this,” Nora said, grinning from ear to ear. “Poor old dear, he’s been beside himself since Father Augustine’s murder.”
    “Yes,” sighed Dora, “now Rimsky has had to do everything but give the Sunday sermon. He’s really a vile man, you know, but what can you do? He is a big help.”
    “Any news on the investigation?” asked Goldie.
    Dora shrugged. “Nothing. That young priest was such an engaging person. And so smart, too. According to gossip in the church, the police don’t even have a clue why he was killed. Who would want to murder him?”
    All three women shook their heads in dismay. Nora picked up the box and the two ladies bustled out, their flowered dresses disappearing into a cluster of tourists on South Franklin Street.
    At noon, Belle blasted into the shop in a flurry of magenta and purple. She gave Goldie a hug. “Wasn’t the party fun? I just love that handsome devil your sister’s got hold of. And did you see that dress Emily Pickle had on? Were you there when