Chicken Pesto Murder: Book 5 in The Darling Deli Series (4 page)

“I won’t tell anyone,” she promised. “I wouldn’t want to do anything to mess up their investigation.”

“That’s good, but it’s not what I asked,” he said. “I don’t want you involved, period.”

“What do you think I’m going to do?” she asked, somewhat miffed. “It’s not like I go
looking
for trouble. I don’t like being chased by murderers, or stumbling across dead bodies.”

“I know.” David sighed and ran his hand through his hair. “It’s just that trouble seems to have a way of finding you.”

“Well, I don’t see how I would get dragged into this case,” she said. “It has nothing to do with me, or the deli, or any of my employees.”

“Good,” he said. “I hope it stays that way.”

He still looked worried, so Moira decided to change the subject. She understood that he didn’t want her to be in danger, but it hurt that he thought that she would go looking for trouble. She had been cherishing the peace of the last couple of months, and besides, she would do anything to keep herself and her daughter away from whoever had killed Detective Fitzgerald.

“Do you want a bowl of soup and a sandwich?” she asked him. She gestured to the blackboard where the day’s special was written. “It’s a new combo, and it’s been quite the hit so far.”

“Sure.” He gave her a tired smile. “If you join me, we can talk about one of my new cases.”

“It’s a deal.” She flashed him a grin, then pushed through the door to the kitchen to get their food.

* * *

“So, tell me about this case,” she said, taking a bite of her sandwich. The strong flavors of basil, Romano cheese, and pine nuts burst in her mouth. The cold sandwich was a wonderful pairing with the warm garlicky soup. This was definitely one of her new favorite combos.

“Well, a few days ago, I was contacted by an elderly lady in Lake Marion who said her beloved dog had been stolen. Of course, at first I thought it must have just run away, but I agreed to take the case anyway since it was obvious that she was distraught.” He paused for a spoonful of soup. “However, when she showed me her house and her yard, I realized that it was very unlikely that the dog ran away. The gate to her backyard is on a spring, so it closes automatically—couldn’t have been left open—and she only ever uses the back door to go in and out. All of her windows have screens on them, so the dog couldn’t have gotten out that way. It was a real mystery.”

“Did you solve it?” Moira asked, fascinated by the story. His life must be so much more interesting than hers, but more dangerous, too. “Did you find the dog?”

“Not yet,” he said with a grimace. “But the really interesting part comes a few days later, when a few other people came in complaining of stolen dogs. The total is up to five now, and I’m sure there are more that haven’t reported it yet.”

“So someone is out there stealing people’s pets? That’s terrible.” She hadn’t had a pet in a couple of years, but the dog that they had had while Candice was growing up had been a part of the family. It had been hard to let the fourteen-year-old Labrador go, and Moira and her daughter had both been too heartbroken to get another pet right away.

“I’ve been doing everything I can to find them, but haven’t had a lead so far,” he told her.

“I hope that nothing bad happens to those dogs,” she said. “People that hurt animals are especially terrible.”

“You
can
help me out on this if you want,” he said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. “This has a picture of each missing dog on it. If you see someone walking one of these dogs, or driving with it in a car, you should call me right away.”

“I’ll keep my eyes peeled,” she promised, taking the paper from him and unfolding it. Most of the missing dogs were purebreds. There was a picture of an apricot poodle, a chubby beagle, a gorgeous collie, a blue-eyed husky, and a little black mixed breed with long fur.

“Remember,
call
me. Don’t get involved.” He looked like he was already regretting giving her the paper, so she folded it up and slid it into her pocket.

“I’ll call,” she assured him. “Don’t worry, I want to stay as far away from criminals as possible.”

The following day was one of Moira’s rare days off. Dante and Darrin were at the deli, and though she would be available if they needed her, both of them had assured her that they would be able to manage fine without her. It was never easy leaving the deli in someone else’s hands, but she trusted the young men, and knew that going too long without a day off wasn’t good for her.

She had a few things that she wanted to do during her free day; ironically, number one on her mental list was to figure out just how much more work would be required if they started opening the deli in time for breakfast. After waking up unusually early and grabbing a cup of steaming, rich Columbian coffee, she sat down at the dining room table with a pad of paper and her account book, and began looking at the numbers. She would definitely have to hire a new employee soon in any case, with Candice about to leave to start her own business. If she were to extend the deli’s hours, she would likely need to take on two new employees, which, along with the extra hours, would add up to quite a bit more that she would be paying in wages each month.

The question was, would they end up bringing in enough extra money through the sale of breakfast items to make up the difference? It was a hard question to answer, but after she did some math and played around with the existing schedules for a bit, she thought the answer might be yes. As long as they got at least as many people in for breakfast as they did for lunch most days, then the deli would end up making a profit, even after the additional expenses.

That wasn’t taking into account the extra hours of electricity, of course, or the cost of new packaging materials or appliances, but she was pretty sure that they would be able to make it work. She leaned back in her chair, impressed by what she had accomplished already that morning. All that was left was to find a couple of new suppliers, figure out if she was willing to commit the extra hours of her own time, and see if Dante was actually any good at making quiches.

“I thought I smelled coffee,” said Candice as she walked down the stairs. She paused to yawn and stretch, still in her pajamas. “Isn’t this your day off, Mom? Why do you look like you’re working?”

“Just figuring out some stuff for the deli.” Moira gulped down the last dregs of her now lukewarm coffee. “What are your plans for the day?” She knew that Candice wasn’t scheduled at the deli for the next two days, but hadn’t yet asked her daughter why she had requested the time off.

“I’m going over to Samantha’s house,” the young woman said. “We’re going shopping, and then I’m going to spend the night at her place. We’re planning on having a movie night.”

“Oh. That sounds nice.” She couldn’t help but feel somewhat disappointed that her daughter wouldn’t be around for the day.
I’d better get used to being alone in this house,
she thought.
Soon enough, she’s going to live in another town
. “Have a good time, sweetie.”

“I’m sure we will; she just got one of those new smart TVs that can play things in 3D.” Candice yawned again. “Any coffee left?”

A few hours later, after her daughter had gotten dressed and left, Moira found herself kneeling on the bathroom floor scrubbing at the tiles with a rag. She was rarely so bored as to have to entertain herself with cleaning, but today was one of those days where she wasn’t in the mood to watch television, she didn’t have anything good to read, and there were no pressing errands. She could always go into the deli and see if the boys needed any help, but she didn’t want to give up on having a day off quite yet. Surely she’d find the secret to relaxing soon.

It wasn’t until she began a load of laundry that she found the folded-up paper with the pictures of the missing dogs in her pocket. She gazed at the somewhat blurry photos of the pooches for a few moments, an idea slowly forming in her mind. It was just after noon, so she had the whole afternoon in front of her. Instead of puttering around the house, why not go into town and do some window shopping, while keeping an eye out for the missing pets? She had promised David that she wouldn’t go looking for trouble and she would be mostly keeping her promise. After all, a day spent out in town could hardly be considered looking for trouble, and if she just
happened
to see one of the missing dogs, she might be able to help the private investigator with his case and reunite the beloved pets with their frantic owners.

Her mind made up, and feeling much better knowing that she had something to keep her occupied for a few hours at least, Moira finished putting the load of laundry into the washer, then headed upstairs to get ready to go out. The house still felt oddly quiet without Candice there, so to combat the silence, she turned the radio on for company as she did her hair and makeup. She had never liked living alone, and the thought that Candice would be moving out for good in just a few short months made her melancholy.

Maybe I should adopt a dog, she thought, her mind still on the missing pets that David was trying to find. It would be nice to have someone to take care of once Candice moves out, and I would be able to give an animal in need a loving home. Then again, if she did decide to expand the deli’s hours, she might not have time for a pet. She heaved a sigh and leaned towards the mirror to fix a smudge in her eyeliner. She was always either working too hard or nearly going out of her mind with boredom. She really had to find a middle ground, and fast, or she would lose her mind.

She parked her car at the deli, partially out of habit, and partially because it wouldn’t make sense to pay for a spot along the street when she could use her own business’s parking lot for free. Resisting the urge to poke her head in the store and see how things were going, she locked the car, swung her purse over her shoulder, and made her way down the sidewalk towards the rest of the shops that lined Main Street.

Window shopping quickly became real shopping when she saw a cute blouse in the window of Another Man’s Treasure, the secondhand shop that was run by an elderly couple. She stopped in and greeted Mrs. Zimmermann, then spent the next few minutes browsing. She spent the better part of an hour like that, weaving in and out of the small businesses on Main Street and greeting the owners by name when she knew them, and learning them when she didn’t. Most people were familiar faces: they were her regulars, the people that came into the deli every week to pick up their special order of cheese, or to grab the deli’s daily combo for lunch.

When clouds began to rush in, obscuring the sun and lending a sharp chill the air, she decided that it was time to head back to her car. She had kept her eyes peeled for any sign of the missing dogs, but hadn’t seen any that even somewhat resembled the pictures that David had given her.
Of course the thief probably isn’t going to be stupid enough to prance around town in the middle of the day with stolen animals,
she thought. David had probably only asked her to help out with this case to keep her away from the mystery surrounding Detective Fitzgerald’s death. W
hy does he want me to stay away from that case so badly?
she wondered.

She rounded the corner, and was surprised to see David’s car parked next to hers in the deli’s parking lot. What was he doing here? Maybe he had news on the missing dogs. After pausing by her car to drop off her purchases, she let herself into the deli to find the private investigator leaning against the counter near the register and chatting with Darrin.

“Hey, Ms. D,” her employee said, looking up as she came in. “How’s your day off going?”

“Well, I got some shopping done,” she said. “But it looks like I still ended up coming in.”

“I saw your car,” David said. “I stopped in to say hi, but Darrin told me that you weren’t working today.”

“I only came in because I saw that you were here, David. I wasn’t planning on stopping in, I promise,” she told Darrin with a laugh. “I’m perfectly capable of going a day without working.”
Unless you count the finances and planning I did this morning,
she thought guiltily.
But I’ll just keep that to myself.

David started to reply, but fell silent, his eyes looking over Moira’s shoulder, past her and towards the window that overlooked the parking lot. She turned, following his gaze, and saw Detective Jefferson getting out of his squad car, his two-way radio in hand and a frown on his face. She wondered what he was doing here. By his expression, he wasn’t after a midday snack.

“Ms. Darling,” he said as he walked in, inclining his head towards her in greeting, and then fixing his gaze on David. “Mr. Morris. I’m going to need to ask you to come with me, please.”

“Why?” the private investigator asked. He looked confused. “Is this about one of my cases?”

“No. I just need to ask you some questions down at the station.” He frowned. “Do you want to follow me there, or would you rather I give you a ride?”

“I’ll follow.” David shared a quick, befuddled look with Moira. “I’ll call you later,” he promised.

What was going on?
she wondered. Had he made a mistake while investigating something for a client? Or perhaps the police had found the person responsible for the rash of pet thieveries. But no, the detective had told him that this wasn’t about one of his cases.
Confused and concerned, she watched as David got in his car. As he pulled out of the parking lot right behind the police detective’s vehicle, she turned to Darrin, who looked just as confused as she did.

“I’ve got no idea what that was about,” he told her. “But whatever it is, I doubt it’s serious. It’s David, after all. He wouldn’t commit a crime, would he?”

The next morning, Moira woke up early so she could meet David. He’d called after leaving the police station, but said they needed to speak in person, not over the phone. She had agreed to see him before she went in to the deli, then spent a sleepless night wondering what on earth the police could have wanted with him.