Hearty Homestyle Murder: Book 9 in The Darling Deli Series (11 page)

“Besides, if the Grill closes down, where will we go to eat?” He grinned at her. “It would just be a disaster all around.”

“I know. We might actually have to discover new restaurants. The horror.” Chuckling, she let her gaze sweep across the room again, wondering when her friend would make her way over to their table. She really wanted to congratulate Denise on how well her restaurant seemed to be doing with its new hours.

She didn’t see the tall redhead. Instead, her eyes landed on another familiar face. Mayor Willis was seated just a few seats away, and across from him was Sandy Keller, who was wearing a short dress and a big smile, and appeared to be flirting with him.

“What is Mayor Willis doing on a date with Gordon Smith’s fiancée?” she asked David in a low voice. He followed her gaze.

“What do you mean?” he asked, a puzzled expression appearing on his face. “Are you talking about the guy who was our previous mayor? That Gordon Smith? He’s already married.”

“No he isn’t,” Moira said, frowning. “He’s engaged to Sandy Keller. She was in my store just the other day to ask if I could cater their wedding reception.”

“Moira, he’s been married for fifteen years. I should know; I used to date his wife’s sister. His wife, Meredith, is very sick. It’s possible that he’s seeing someone behind her back, I suppose.”

“I don’t understand. Why would Sandy tell me that they’re engaged if they aren’t? And why is Sandy here with the mayor?”

“I haven’t the slightest idea.” David shook his head. “It really isn’t our business, either. It isn’t a crime to cheat on your spouse.”

Moira sighed. “You’re right. I’m here to enjoy your company and support my friend’s restaurant—I shouldn’t be gossiping about a woman who has only ever been perfectly nice to me.” She smiled and turned her gaze away from the mayor and Sandy to show that her attention was on David alone.

Try as she might, she couldn’t keep her eyes from flicking back to the cheating couple occasionally.
Why would she lie to me about being engaged to Gordon?
she wondered.
What will she do if she sees me? Should I walk over and say hi just to see what she does?

When she saw the mayor get up and head towards the restrooms, she considered that very action. She was opening her mouth to excuse herself from the table when she saw Sandy glance around and then carefully remove a small vial from her purse, pour the contents into the mayor’s cup of soup, then return the vial to her bag.

Moira frowned, her brain trying to figure out what she had just seen. David was saying something about a boating trip when she turned to face him with wide eyes.

“I think Sandy just poisoned the mayor,” she told him in a voice that was barely above a whisper.

“What?” He blinked at her, thrown off course by her unexpected announcement.

“She poured something in his soup when he got up to go to the bathroom,” she explained. “I think it was poison!”

“Why on earth would Sandy want to kill the mayor?” he asked. “Are you sure she wasn’t just adding some salt or pepper to his food?”

“She
poured
something from a vial that she took out of her purse,” she told him desperately. They mayor was already on his way back from the bathroom. In just a few moments he would sit down and begin eating. “Oh my goodness, she must have poisoned Reuben too.”

David still looked skeptical, and Moira was running out of time. Mayor Willis was already lowering himself into his seat.
I can’t just let him die. I have to do something
, she thought. Taking a deep breath, she stood up and walked over to the other table, calling out the mayor’s name as she approached. A look of annoyance flicked across Sandy’s face as she turned to look at Moira.

“Imagine running into the two of you here,” the deli owner said forcing a cheerful expression onto her face. “How’s Gordon doing, Sandy? His wife still hanging in there?”

Sandy blushed, but her embarrassment quickly turned to anger. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said.

“Ms. Darling, what a pleasant surprise,” Mayor Willis said after shooting Sandy a puzzled look. “I’ve been meaning to stop by the deli and extend my apologies to you. I wasn’t thinking clearly after my son’s passing, and I shouldn’t have spoken to you as I did. Give my secretary a call tomorrow and I’ll pay whatever I owe you for the food.”

“Oh, thank you, Mayor. I can’t imagine what you must have been going through. Trust me, there are no hard feelings from me or anyone at the deli.” She felt flustered by his apology. It was so unexpected that she forgot for a moment why she had walked over. When she saw they mayor lift a spoonful of soup to his lips, a flash of fear went through her. Without thinking, she knocked it out of his hand.

It seemed like the entire restaurant went silent as the mayor’s spoon clattered to the floor. Moira felt a blush rise on her cheeks. What had she done? What if she
had
been mistaken about the poison?

“What the—” the stunned mayor said. He rubbed at the splotches of soup that had spattered onto his nice shirt with a napkin. “That was
very
unprofessional, Ms. Darling. I admit that I shouldn’t have treated you the way that I did after the fair, but that’s no reason to get violent.”

“The soup was poisoned,” she blurted out. “I saw her do it.” She pointed at Sandy, whose eyes had widened.

“That’s ridiculous,” she spluttered. “Why would
I
poison the mayor?”

“What’s going on here?” a familiar voice said. Moira turned to see the familiar form of Denise standing at her elbow. David was just a step behind her. He was staring between Moira and Sandy with a thoughtful look on his face.

“She attacked me for no reason,” the angry mayor said, still dabbing at his shirt. His face was reddening, though Moira didn’t know if it was out of anger or embarrassment at the whole restaurant being witness to the incident.

“I knocked a spoon out of his hand,” she explained turning to her friend. “I saw Sandy pour something into his soup. I think it was poison. I was trying to save his life.”

Denise passed a hand over her face, shooting Moira a peeved look. The deli owner met her gaze firmly, hoping her friend would believe her.

“This sounds like something for the police to sort out,” she said at last with a sigh. “I’m going to ask everyone to sit tight. José, please go and place a call to the police station and explain our situation. Their number is to the left of the phone in the kitchen.” The young waiter who had been listening in nodded, and hurried towards the back of the restaurant.

“You can’t hold me here,” Sandy said. She made a move to stand up, but David stepped forward and put a hand on the back of her chair.

“Actually, I can,” he said.

“Look, I didn’t poison the soup. This woman is obviously insane.” She gestured at Moira. “I bet she’s the one who poisoned that guy at the fair in the first place, and now she’s trying to blame it on me.”

“
That guy
was my son,” the mayor said sharply. He put his napkin down and considered his soup. “You say you didn’t poison this soup, Sandy. If that’s true, then you won’t have a problem eating a bite or two of it, would you?”

Sandy fell silent, staring at the bowl of soup with a suddenly worried expression. “I don’t like cream of mushroom,” she said quietly after a moment. “So no thanks.”

“Just take one bite,” the mayor said, pushing the bowl towards her. “And I’ll tell everyone that this was just a misunderstanding, and we’ll all walk away from here, no need for the police.”

Sandy bit her lower lip and closed her eyes for a long moment. When she opened them, she reached for her spoon. Her hand shaking, she reached towards the soup, only to let the spoon drop to the table at the last moment.

“I can’t,” she said, her voice quivering. “I-I’m allergic to mushrooms. I might die.” Tears sprung to her eyes and she reached for her purse. David tensed.

“Keep your hands where I can see them,” he said.

“I just need a tissue,” she whispered.

At that moment, José reappeared. “The police are on their way,” he announced. Moira glanced up at him, and saw David do the same. Sandy took advantage of their momentary distraction and withdrew a small revolver from her purse. Before anyone could move, she cocked the gun and pointed it at the mayor.

“Gordon gave me this so I could defend myself,” she said. “But I think he would be just as happy to know that I’m using it to kill you, Mayor Willis. I may go to jail, but at least my Gordy will get the chance to be mayor again. And when I get out, we’ll get married and run this town together.”

The mayor stared at the gun, his face pale. Moira was too horrified to look away. Just as Sandy’s finger was beginning to tighten on the trigger, David lunged forward and grabbed at her arm. After that, everything seemed to happen at once.

The gun went off with a loud bang that left Moira’s ears ringing. It felt like someone had punched her in the arm, and she spun sideways. Thrown off balance, she stumbled and hit her head against the corner of a table. She heard screaming all around her and saw people running past, some rushing for the entrance, others heading towards the kitchen.

She struggled to sit up. Where was the mayor? Had David saved him? Where was Sandy? She blinked, her vision blurry and the side of her head aching from where it had hit the table. Her left arm was wet for some reason, and it wasn’t until she looked over and saw blood that she realized she must have been shot.

“Moira! Moira! Are you okay?” David’s face swam into view. He was crouching over her.
That’s odd,
Moira thought.
I thought I was sitting up. Why am I slouched down so far?

“I’m fine,” she managed to say. The pain in her arm was starting to register now, and it was making it hard to think. “Sandy?”

“I don’t know, I lost her in the crowd. Moira, you’re bleeding. We have to get you to the hospital.”

“Gotta catch Sandy,” she mumbled. Why was everything getting dark? It was still lunchtime, wasn’t it?

The last thing she remembered was David scooping her into his arms before she blacked out.

“I can’t believe it’s really over,” she said, wrapping her hands around the mug of herbal tea that David handed her. It was late, but she didn’t want to sleep yet. She was still too horrified by the events of the night to have any hope of getting a decent night’s rest. At least the pain pills were working. The pain in her head had subsided to a distant throb, and her arm only hurt if she moved it too quickly. “Thanks for sticking around.”

“No need to thank me, I’m just glad you’re all right,” the private investigator said. “How’s your arm?”

“It will be fine. The doctor said it was just a graze. I was lucky that the bullet wasn’t an inch farther to the left, or it might have shattered the bone or hit an artery.”

“He’s probably the only person left on this planet who would call you lucky,” he replied. “Have you considered rethinking your career? You could try something less dangerous… like lion-taming or skydiving.”

“Ha. Ha.” Moira said dryly. “You know; I actually
am
pretty lucky. I mean, I’m alive. It could be worse.”

“You’re right,” he said, suddenly serious. “It
could
be worse. You got lucky, but you won’t always. Moira, I worry about you. And I feel terrible—you wouldn’t have been shot if I hadn’t knocked Sandy’s hand to the side.”

“I’m fine, David, honestly. I don’t blame you—you did what you had to to save the mayor’s life. The doctor said I’ll be as good as new in a week or two. Even Sandy will be all right—the car that hit her after she ran out into the road wasn’t going that fast. She’ll be in the hospital for a few weeks, then will be taken to prison.” Despite everything, she was glad that Sandy wouldn’t die. The woman would spend her life in prison, getting the punishment that she deserved.

“She got lucky too, then.”

“She already admitted to painting the graffiti on the store,” Moira added. “She was doing everything she could to make it look like someone at the deli had killed Reuben. If I had to guess, I’d say she called in the anonymous tip about Darrin too.”

“She’s a dangerous woman,” the private investigator said with a shake of his head. “What are you going to do now? You should take a few days off to rest, even after you get out of the hospital.”

“Yeah, I know. I’m not in any condition to run the deli right now. I was actually thinking about having Darrin, Dante, Allison, and Meg over in a few days, before I get back to work. And of course you and Candice, and Eli if he wants to come. I still have all of that extra food from that catering contract that got canceled, and there’s no point in letting it go to waste. Besides, I have an announcement that I want everyone to hear.”

***

One thing that she loved about her little stone house in the middle of the woods was that it was perfect for entertaining. There was ample parking space, plenty of room on the counters for food and drinks, and the rooms were big enough that people wouldn’t feel crowded.

She had ended up inviting Martha and Denise as well. The former had come, bringing Diamond along too, though Denise had declined, unable to get away from work for the evening on such short notice. Everyone else had come and Darrin had brought his sister, Danni, a cheerful young woman with straight brown hair and a quick smile. Since Candice had brought Eli, it was a pretty full house by Moira’s standards.