Written in Stone (A Books by the Bay Mystery)

over his shoulder. “Candice? My notes?”
    A bony girl bustled forward and handed Noah a clipboard. He looked at it, flipped a sheet over, and then handed it back to her and began to dictate a time line for the day’s filming. Olivia listened patiently until the director began discussing the rearrangement of the dining room in order to accommodate additional lighting. He pointed at wall outlets and gestured across the carpet, and one of the male crewmembers came forward with a trio of electric orange extension cords.
    “Excuse me.” Olivia positioned herself directly in front of Noah. “While I’m honored to have The Boot Top featured on
Talk of the Town
, this is still a place of business. You asked for us to carry on as if this were any other day, and in order for us to do so, our customers and servers need to be able to move about without fear of tripping. Why don’t you tell me how you’d like to stage the dining room and we can work together to make everything flow smoothly?”
    Candice’s mouth hung open in surprise but Noah didn’t seem to mind Olivia’s directness. “Yes, let’s do it!” he said and gestured for Candice to hand Olivia his clipboard.
    Instead of taking it, Olivia beckoned Noah to follow her. “Come to the bar. Gabe will fix you a virgin Bloody Mary that adheres to your diet.”
    Noah held out a warning finger. “Only if there’s no Worcestershire sauce and the horseradish is fresh.” He pursed his lips. “Does he make a good Bloody Mary? Could help me get over this jet lag.”
    Olivia smiled knowingly. “I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.”
    As it turned out, Gabe’s sister had gone on a raw-food diet six months after becoming a vegan and he was thereby well versed in which ingredients were acceptable and which were not. He presented Noah with the perfect Bloody Mary, and while the director was sipping happily away, showed him The Boot Top’s wine list, pointing out all the choices that were sulfite free.
    “We need to shoot a segment of Gabe at work,” Noah said, turning to Olivia. “He oozes charisma from every pore. What are the house cocktail specialties?”
    “Right now we’re featuring The Boot Top Bellini and an Oyster Bay Breeze. I’ll let Gabe tell you about them while I invite your crew to sample Michel’s fare. He came in very early to make something special and I don’t want him to think his efforts were wasted.”
    In truth, she wanted him to be in a good mood for what looked to be a very long day, so she waved at the men and women who’d be calling The Boot Top home for the next eight to ten hours and asked them to join her in the kitchen.
    Michel had laid out an exquisite breakfast buffet of scallion goat cheese muffins, chorizo frittatas, applewood smoked bacon, poached apricots, and rum raisin sticky buns. The table was festooned with citrus-colored orchids, and a French press filled with coffee stood at the ready.
    The Boot Top’s head chef was industriously chopping carrots at the butcher block when Olivia and the TV crew entered the kitchen. He looked up as if he were pleasantly surprised by their arrival, wiped his hands on his apron, and spread his arms wide in a gesture of welcome. He was beaming.
    “Welcome to my kitchen!” he called out happily, his faint French accent more pronounced. His smile wobbled slightly. “Where’s Mr. Wiseman?”
    “Being spoiled by Gabe,” Olivia assured him. “Let these folks indulge before your magnificent dishes grow cold, and in the meantime, you can introduce yourself and the rest of the kitchen staff.”
    Taking her advice, Michel described the dishes he’d prepared and then served coffee with steamed milk to the crew, asking their names and pausing to exchange brief biographical tidbits with each and every person. He was so gracious and charming that the crewmembers nearly forgot they were there to work.
    Noah Wiseman quickly put an end to the relaxed atmosphere. Waltzing into the kitchen he announced, “No, no. This won’t do at all!”
    Michel looked stricken, the sous-chefs offended. Even the dishwasher frowned and quickly dried his hands on a towel as if he might be called upon to defend The Boot Top’s honor by stepping outside and throwing a few punches.
    Candice immediately put her fork down and hastened to Noah’s side, clipboard at the ready.
    He turned to her. “How am I going to get a wide shot? I need to see this kitchen in action. I want curtains of steam and flames