Death by Deep Dish Pie (31 page)

Truth be told, the actors and actresses almost didn't have costumes, because the costumes had suffered mildew damage. Fortunately, I was able to save them by treating the mildew with a solution of nonchlorine bleach and water (ratio of 1 to 3 parts each). Mildew is a living growth, and you can't just wash it out—you have to kill it. But be careful with fragile old fabric. Spray on the solution, then dab up with a clean cloth, and keep repeating until the mildew spots are gone, then clean as usual.

The Paradise Theatre itself also looked great! I'm proud to say we can thank my cousin, Sally Toadfern, for all her hard work on the theatre. And her little boys, Harry, Larry, and Barry were mighty handsome the night of the play, in their crisp clean shirts. Sally told me it was okay to share that Harry's shirt had an ink stain on the sleeve—until she followed my tip of spritzing hairspray on the stain before washing. (For super-stubborn ink stains, you can also try soaking the stain in milk for several hours before washing as usual.)

Other tips that have worked well for my customers this past month:

1.  For grease stains on work clothes, pour a can of soda in with the wash.

2.  For tomato-based stains (catsup, sauce, chili, and so on), pretreat with white vinegar. Another method—pour boiling water through the stain over the sink . . . but be careful!

3.  And for red wine stains, rinse out as much as possible with cold water. Then, mix equal parts hydrogen peroxide and Dawn dishwashing detergent and treat the spot before washing. This procedure is recommended by enologists—that's wine experts—at University of California, Davis.

Now, I used this last tip to help Mrs. Beavy. That's right . . . she drinks a little red wine every day now, mostly for medicinal purposes. But also, she says—and she told me I could share all this—because it tastes “just fine.” Life's too short, says Mrs. Beavy, not to have a little wine.

Which is why, she says, once the Breitenstrater mansion is converted over to be the new home for the Paradise Historical Society, cheese and wine . . . and Breitenstrater pies . . . will be served at the ribbon-cutting.

Until next month, may your whites never yellow and your colors never fade. But if they do, hop on over and see me at Toadfern's Laundromat—Always a Leap Ahead of Dirt!

Want to be in the next Josie Toadfern Mystery Novel?

Josie knows a lot about stains—but she's always willing to learn more! Send your best stain-fighting tip to Sharon Short, via or to [email protected]. She'll select her favorite and use it in the next Josie Toadfern mystery novel and give you a hearty thank you in the acknowledgments. Deadline: August 15, 2004.

About the Author

Photo by Jerry Huffman

S
HARON
S
HORT'S
humor column, “Sanity Check,” appears every Monday in the
Dayton Daily News
and covers everything from shredding pantyhose for stress relief to talking refrigerators. Her fiction credits include several short mysteries published in
Futures Mysterious Anthology Magazine, Murderous Intent Mystery Magazine,
and
Orchard Press Online Mystery Magazine.
In addition, Ms. Short is a principal of her own marketing communications firm. She lives in Miamisburg, Ohio, with her husband and two daughters. Readers can contact her at [email protected].

Visit
www.AuthorTracker.com
for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins authors.

Also by Sharon Short

D
EATH OF A
D
OMESTIC
D
IVA
A Toadfern Mystery

Copyright

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

AVON BOOKS
An Imprint of HarperCollins
Publishers
10 East 53rd Street
New York, New York 10022-5299

ISBN 0060537973

EPub Edition September 2013 ISBN 9780062330444

www.avonmystery.com

D
EATH BY DEEP DISH PIE
. Copyright © 2004 by Sharon Short. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

Avon Trademark Reg. U.S. Pat. Off. and in Other Countries, Marca Registrada, Hecho en U.S.A.
HarperCollins
^®
is a registered trademark of HarperCollins Publishers Inc.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

About the Publisher

Australia

HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty. Ltd.

Level 13, 201 Elizabeth Street

Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia

http://www.harpercollins.com.au

Canada

HarperCollins Canada

2 Bloor Street East - 20th Floor

Toronto, ON, M4W, 1A8, Canada

http://www.harpercollins.ca

New Zealand

HarperCollins Publishers (New Zealand) Limited

P.O. Box 1

Auckland, New Zealand

http://www.harpercollins.co.nz

United Kingdom

HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.

77-85 Fulham Palace Road

London, W6 8JB, UK

http://www.harpercollins.co.uk

United States

HarperCollins Publishers Inc.

10 East 53rd Street

New York, NY 10022

http://www.harpercollins.com