“He canceled the catering a few days ago,” she said with a sigh. “He said that the party had been moved back, and he was going to hire a different caterer. He mentioned then too that he blamed me for his son’s death. I had already bought the extra food, so it was definitely a blow to my wallet, but I’m sure I’ll be able to sell most of it. I’ll just have to run a sale for a few days.”
“That’s not fair,” Candice cut in. “If he hired you to cater and you already ordered extra food for it, he should still pay for it even if he changed his mind.”
“Normally I would agree with you,” she told her daughter. “But with what he’s going through… well, I don’t want to make a big deal out of it. He lost his son. He doesn’t need anything else to deal with on top of that. I’ll manage; the deli will be fine.”
“That’s admirable of you,” David said. “But I don’t think it would be wrong to ask him to at least pay for the extra food that you already ordered for the party, especially since he was rude about it. I don’t think it’s a good idea to let him walk all over you. He’s the sort of man who might take advantage of that.”
“I’ll think about it,” she said. “I don’t want to cause more drama. It’s bad enough that I had to speak to the police once already.”
“Do you think they really suspect you?” Candice asked. “Shouldn’t Detective Jefferson know by now that you would never hurt someone?”
“I think he’s trying not to let his personal feelings get in the way of a case,” she told her daughter.
“He’s a good detective,” David added. “I think he’ll be fair to your mother, but he can’t ignore the fact that she was connected to his death. One of my contacts at the crime lab confirmed that Reuben’s bowl of gumbo was the only one that was poisoned. Your guess was right, Moira.”
Moira paled. Even though she hadn’t done anything wrong, she couldn’t help but feel terrible knowing that the gumbo that Darling’s DELIcious Delights had entered in the contest had been used to kill somebody.
“I have no idea how that could have happened,” she said. “I feel horrible, but I certainly didn’t have anything to do with it.”
“The killer would have had to poison it while the bowls were being ladled out, after you handed the gumbo off to Sandy Keller. She’s the woman who was volunteering to help with the contest. Are you sure you didn’t see anything suspicious around the soup table?” he asked.
“Not that I remember. I’m guessing the police already interviewed that woman?”
“Most likely, yes.” David nodded. “I’m sure they have quite a few suspects lined up; what they’re lacking is physical proof to tie someone to the crime. Without proof, unless the killer confesses, they won’t be able to do anything. That’s why it’s so important to figure out when and how the poisoning happened. Somebody would have had to slip the poison into the gumbo without drawing attention to themselves… somebody who wouldn’t have been out of place in the tent. It’s likely it was one of the three judges or volunteers. You’re certain you don’t remember anything like that? You didn’t happen to glimpse someone pouring something into a bowl of soup?”
She remembered Darrin slipping the tiny unlabeled bottle into his pocket. Was it possible that… no, Darrin wouldn’t kill someone—of that she was certain. Bringing attention to him wouldn’t do anything but waste everyone’s time.
“No,” she said with a shake of her head. “I keep thinking back to that day, but I don’t remember seeing a single thing that seemed out of place.”
CHAPTER NINE
Moira opened her eyes to a pale grey morning. Her sleepy brain wondered for a moment what had disturbed her. Then she registered the vibrating of her phone. She must have forgotten to turn the ringer back on when she got home last night; she was surprised that the humming sound had woken her.
“Hello?” she asked groggily, her eyes searching out the glowing numbers of her alarm clock as she spoke. It was just a few minutes past seven. Way too early for most people to be calling unless there was some sort of emergency.
“Ms. D, it’s Darrin,” the young man said. “I’m at the deli and, well, you’d better get down here.”
She dressed hurriedly, let the dogs out, fed them breakfast, then left. When will I catch a break? she wondered. According to Darrin, someone had sprayed graffiti across the deli’s front windows. He had seen it when he got there to open for the morning shift. She had told him to report it to the police, although she was reluctant to have another encounter with either of the two detectives.
Her heart sank as she pulled into the deli’s parking lot. Someone had spray-painted the words “poison” and “killer” in large blue letters across each of the large picture windows that fronted the deli, along with a skull and crossbones symbol. She knew as soon as she saw it that, unless the vandal had used water-soluble paint, she would have to close the deli for the day while she figured out how to remove the ugly words.
“The police will be here soon,” Darrin told her.
“Oh my goodness…” She stared at the deli, shocked and hurt at the sight of the graffiti. Who had done this? And why? Her shock and hurt began to turn to anger. She hadn’t done anything wrong, so why was she being treated like a criminal?
“Do you think they’ll be able to catch whoever did it?” Dante asked.
“I don’t know. Probably not. Not unless whoever did it was caught on camera, but I don’t think the camera above the register has a good enough view out the windows.”
She checked the app on her phone that was linked to the deli’s single video camera. A small portion of the window was in view, but whoever had committed the crime had done it in the middle of the night. They were nothing more than a dark silhouette against the orange glow of the streetlights. Nothing about the person’s shape or movements stood out to Moira, so she saved the video in hopes that the police might be able to get something useful from it.
A few minutes later a single cruiser pulled into the parking lot. The officer got out, shook Moira’s hand, and introduced himself as Officer Brown. He glanced towards the deli with a frown.
“What I’ll do is take some pictures, if that’s okay with you. Then we’ll run through some basic questions. I’ve got to be honest with you, though. Chances are we aren’t going to be able to track down whoever did this. I suggest you get some security cameras and motion-activated lights to prevent this sort of thing in the future.”
The entire thing took only a few minutes. Moira explained to the officer what had happened at the fair, and asked him if he thought anyone at the police station had been sharing sensitive information.
“We’re professionals, ma’am,” he said, affronted. “We don’t go around spreading rumors. It sounds to me like you made an enemy somewhere along the line. Now, I don’t want to frighten you, but you should be careful and keep your phone close by in case of an emergency. You never know what people are capable of.”
“Do you really think that whoever did that,” she gestured towards the deli, “might actually want to hurt me?”
“It’s possible,” he said, nodding. “Just be careful. Do get those security cameras and lights if you can. Visible security measures go a long way towards preventing a crime.”
Moira watched as the officer drove away. She felt a bit foolish for assuming that her call to the police station would warrant a visit by the town’s two detectives. Officer Brown had been nice enough, though she wished he would have done something more to figure out who the vandal was. Couldn’t he have dusted for fingerprints at the very least? She glanced over at Darrin, who had brought a bowl of warm, soapy water and a sponge out of the deli and was futilely scrubbing the windows. Whatever sort of paint the vandal had used wasn’t coming off easily.
“It’s okay,” she told him. “I’ll have to call a cleaning service, I’m sure they’ll have some sort of chemical that can get the paint off without scratching the glass. I’m going to run home and get some sheets to cover the windows
in the meantime - we don’t want the bad publicity if we can help it - and the I’ll wait around for the cleaners to get here. You can head on home if you want.”
“Thanks, Ms. D,” he said. He dropped the sponge in the bowl of water with a sigh. “Nothing’s been going right since that bowl of gumbo was poisoned, has it? I hope things get back to normal quickly.”
It wasn’t until after he was already gone that Moira wondered how he knew that Reuben’s bowl of gumbo had been poisoned. As far as she knew, she, Candice, and David were the only ones who knew that for sure besides the police. It was another mystery to file away, right next to the mystery of why the mayor was so certain that she had been involved with his son’s death. If she didn’t know better, she would think there was some sort of mole in the police station.
When she stopped at home she decided that she might as well take the dogs back to the deli with her. The cleaning crew wouldn’t be there for a few hours yet, so after she covered the windows with the sheets she would be able to take them out for a walk around town. Maybe she would go take a look at the site where her old house once stood. She had sold the property a few months ago, and was curious to see if the new owner had started any sort a rebuilding after tearing down the burnt shell of her old house. Will Maverick recognize the property? she wondered. He had only lived there for a short time before the house had burned down, so it would be interesting to see.
With all three dogs in the car and a few old sheets and a roll of duct tape in the trunk, she drove back to the deli. Both Maverick and Diamond had been in the deli before for short periods of time—sometimes Martha stopped by while she was walking her dog in town, and Candice had occasionally brought the German shepherd over during the day to visit—but it was Keeva’s first time. Moira watched her closely for a few minutes to make sure she wasn’t going to potty somewhere she wasn’t supposed to or try to get to the food. The big grey dog seemed just as comfortable in the deli as she was at home, so Moira gathered up her supplies, fetched a stepladder from the storage room, and went outside to cover up the horrible graffiti on her beloved store’s windows.
CHAPTER TEN
“Thanks again,” Moira said as David packed up his tools.
“It was no problem,” he assured her. “Your safety comes first. Just remember, flip this switch to turn the motion sensors on the lights on and off. Once winter gets here, it will be dark before the store closes, and you probably don’t want these spotlights coming on and scaring your customers when they walk by.”
“I’ll try to remember,” she said. “I’m sure I’ll forget by the time the days start getting shorter though. Are the security cameras set up the same way as the one above the register is?”
“Yep. I already linked them with your account, so all you have to do to access them is open the app on your phone, just like with the one inside the store.”
“Perfect. You do so much for me, David. I really am grateful.”
“I’m just glad I can help. Are we still on for dinner tonight?”
“Yep. I’m looking forward to it.”
“Good. I’ll pick you up at eight.” He put his toolbox in the back seat, then turned back to her. He surveyed the deli and shook his head slowly. Moira could guess what he was thinking. How did trouble keep finding her like this? “Be careful,” he said at last. “I worry about you. If you need anything else, just tell me. I want you to be safe.”
“With the lights and cameras, I do,” she assured him. “Really, I’m more angry than anything. I almost hope whoever vandalized the deli tries it again and gets caught on camera.”
“Just as long as they don’t try it when you’re inside,” he said darkly. “Whoever did this must have been very angry. People like that can be dangerous.”
Moira held back her sigh until he had gotten in his car and pulled away. She knew that he was just concerned for her safety, but all she had been hearing since Darrin had discovered the graffiti yesterday was “be careful,” and “the vandal might be dangerous.” Part of her knew they were right, but another part of her really wanted to dismiss their worries. Whoever did the graffiti won’t come back, she thought. Why would they, now that I have the motion-sensitive lights and extra security cameras? No matter how angry this person is, they’re bound to realize eventually that I didn’t have anything to do with Reuben’s death.
The thing that she found most annoying about the whole situation was that she still couldn’t figure out how anyone else could possible know that it was the gumbo that had been poisoned. If the police hadn’t let something slip, then who had? She knew David wouldn’t spread sensitive information like that, and she doubted that Candice would tell anybody other than Eli. The only other person who would know was the killer.
She paused, her breath catching. Was it possible that the vandal was the killer? The graffiti on the deli’s windows could be his way of trying to keep the focus of the investigation on her. If that was the case, then she might be in more trouble than she thought.
***
It felt good to get back into the rhythm of running the deli on a normal day. No county fair, no graffiti, nothing urgent to deal with. Just herself and the customers. Sometimes she almost missed the earlier days of the deli when they were only open for half a day. Thinking back over the past year, Moira felt a pang as she realized how much had changed. Less than a year ago, she had still been living in her old house, the same house that she had moved into with Mike all those years ago, the same house that Candice had grown up in. Candice had lived with her up until just a few months ago, and she still missed her daughter’s daily presence. No matter how much she loved Maverick, a dog just wasn’t the same as having your child around.
A lot has changed lately, she thought. But they really aren’t bad changes, for the most part. She lived in a different house now, but it was a beautiful house in the middle of five peaceful acres of woods. It might not be full of memories of her daughter’s childhood, but having a chance to make some new memories wasn’t a bad thing. The fact that Candice had her own place now was bittersweet. Although she missed her daughter, she was also unbelievably proud that the young woman had her own apartment and was running her own business. She was glad that Candice had found her path in life so early. It had taken decades for Moira to find her own path. She would never consider the years spent raising her daughter wasted, but she couldn’t deny that she had ignored a lot of chances to explore her own passions and hobbies.
The deli door jingled open and Moira blinked and looked up, forcing her thoughts back to the present. The two people who were walking into her store looked familiar, but it took her a second to place them. The woman was the same one who had been volunteering at the soup contest—what was her name? Sandy?—and the man was Gordon Smith, Maple Creek’s previous mayor. She had voted for him in the last election and was glad that although he was no longer mayor, he retained a seat on the city council. He was a friendly man with a good sense of humor, and she had always enjoyed his speeches during election season.
“I come to this place for coffee sometimes,” the woman was explaining to him. “But I haven’t gotten lunch here yet. I’ve heard from the ladies at the salon that they have great food.”
“I’m happy to try whatever you want, darling,” Gordon said. “Wasn’t this deli one of the contestants at the soup contest?” This last was directed towards Moira.
“Yes,” she told him. “Darling’s DELIcious Delights entered a vegetarian gumbo into the contest.” She winced the second the words were out of her mouth. Would he have recognized that as the dish that Reuben had died while eating? She shouldn’t have been so specific. Luckily neither of them seemed to make the connection.
“What all comes with the special?” Sandy asked, eyeing the blackboard.
“The special includes a bowl of beef and barley soup and a sandwich. The sandwich of the day is swiss cheese, caramelized onion, corned beef, and baby spinach leaves on toasted whole grain bread, or I can make you a cus
tom sandwich. Depending what you want on it, it might cost extra. The special also comes with a drink. Anything on the middle two shelves of that fridge over there or I can make you a fresh juice mix for a dollar-fifty extra. We juice the fruits and vegetables ourselves when you order the drink, so it doesn’t get much fresher than that.”
“I’ll take a special. Gordon, what do you want?”
As Moira took down their orders she debated whether she should bring up Reuben’s death. In the end she decided not to; they had come to the deli for a pleasant lunch, not to be reminded of the terrible tragedy that had taken place during the fair.
She handed them their trays with a smile, then ducked into the kitchen to wash dishes, knowing that the couple would probably appreciate some privacy while they ate. It was a quiet day, and she thought that if she sat behind the register while they dined, they might feel uncomfortable. The two were obviously in love and deserved to enjoy the good food and each other’s company in peace while they ate.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
“Hi, Moira. I just wanted to let you know that I got back a little bit early. I hope it’s all right if I stop by and get Diamond today instead of tomorrow. Give me a call and let me know what a good time for you it. I hope she’s been good for you. Thanks again for watching her. Talk to you soon. Bye.”
Moira deleted the message, then made a quick call back to Martha, letting her know that she would be around until eight that evening and she could stop by and get Diamond any time.
“It looks like you’ll be going home a day early,” she said to the little black-and-white dog once she had hung up the phone. “Did you have a good time here?” She thought that Diamond likely had; she, Maverick, and Keeva had enjoyed several pleasant evenings of play in the backyard, and Moira had let her snuggle up next to her on the couch when she watched television in the evenings. She would be sad to see the dog go, but was certain that Diamond would be ecstatic to see her owner again.
Hearty Homestyle Murder: Book 9 in The Darling Deli Series Page 5