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She called out yet one more time this day. " "You worry too much," came the reply from the bedroom. "I was taking a nap. " "Home invasions, burglaries, rapes. " Scarpetta made her way past the old Baldwin upright piano which her mother hadn't played since the last time it had been tuned, whenever that might have been. A lamp was on, but didn't do much good because her mother usually kept the draperies closed, and a clock ticktocked loudly from the wall. The pale blue carpet was worn and darkened with stains from the decades, and porcelain figurines of courting couples and elegant ladies from lost eras were strategically placed.

We've been good so far today," Lucy assured her. "Just coffee and diet sodas. But you're right" She looked at her friends. " Scarpetta glanced at her watch. M. There was just enough time to make her famous stew. Scarpetta's Famous Stew The sine qua non is a restaurant-size pot capable of holding twenty quarts. Usually—and this day was no exception—Scarpetta had two going at once, as the abundance of ingredients she used simply could not be contained in a single vessel. Meat was her first priority, and she pulled ground turkey, cubed tenderloin trimmed of all fat, veal, and chicken breasts from the freezer.

Talk all day. Share stories and dreams, and keep the cold away. Lucy's friends decided they were snowed in and it would be wise to stay over. It was a perfect night indeed for one of Scarpetta's soups. She keeps a good supply in her freezer, because it is her efficient tendency to cook great vats of soup at once. Lucy scanned freezer shelves of containers precisely labeled and properly sealed. " she called out to her buddies. Stretched out in the great room, made sleepy by the fire, they were in the midst of recounting embarrassing moments they had endured during their new agent days at their respective law enforcement academies.