A Saucy Taste of Murder

by Patti Benning

  A Saucy Taste of Murder

  The Papa Pacelli’s Pizzeria Series Book 34

  Patti Benning

  Summer Prescott Books Publishing

  Copyright 2019 Summer Prescott Books

  All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication nor any of the information herein may be quoted from, nor reproduced, in any form, including but not limited to: printing, scanning, photocopying, or any other printed, digital, or audio formats, without prior express written consent of the copyright holder.

  **This book is a work of fiction. Any similarities to persons, living or dead, places of business, or situations past or present, is completely unintentional.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Epilogue

  Also by Patti Benning

  Author’s Note

  Contact Summer Prescott Books Publishing

  Chapter One

  Eleanora Ward pushed open the kitchen window, breathing deep as the brisk spring breeze blew into the kitchen. It was warmer out now than it had been for months, but warmer in Kittiport, Maine still meant chilly. Even though the temperature was enough to raise goosebumps on her skin, the fresh air was welcome.

  She heard footsteps behind her and turned to see her grandmother, Ann Pacelli, also known as Nonna, walk into the kitchen with a bundle of freshly washed dish rags and hand towels in her arms.

  “Is the quiche done?”

  “It should be just about ready,” Ellie said. “Let me check on it.”

  “I’ll get started on the toast. Do you want whole wheat bread or white bread?”

  “Whole wheat,” Ellie said, bending over the oven to squint at the spinach and feta quiche inside. “But don't worry about that. I can get everything else ready. You should go sit down.”

  “Ellie, I've been taking care of myself for the past six months.” Nonna put her hands on her hips, the hand towels half-folded and forgotten on the counter. “I think I can take the bread out of the pantry and put two slices in the toaster, thank you very much.”

  Ellie laughed, holding up her hands in surrender. “All right, all right. I'm just trying to help out. It's nice to have you back.”

  Nonna had returned from Florida earlier that week. The two of them hadn't had much of a chance to catch up since Ellie had dropped her off at home. Nonna’s friends had been eager to see her after her long stay away, and Ellie had been busier than ever at the pizzeria. There was always a boost in business once the first thaw of the season rolled in, and this year had been no different.

  She was sliding the quiche onto a hot pad when she heard the familiar sound of the mail truck driving by outside. She saw her grandmother get up, and Ellie quickly straightened.

  “I’ll get it,” she said, still feeling ridiculously overprotective of the older woman. She had missed her more than she had realized. “Do you want to finish getting everything ready for breakfast?”

  “Don't think I don't know what you're doing,” Nonna said, shaking a finger at her, but she was smiling as she moved toward the fridge. “You’d better let me do my fair share of helping out at the family barbecue next week.”

  Ellie made her way to the front door, slipping her feet into boots and stepping outside. She walked down to the road, looking both ways before crossing to the mailbox. She grabbed the small pile of letters and advertisements and walked back to the house, flipping through the mail as she did so. It was an old habit, left over from when she and her grandmother had shared the same address.

  She put the mail on the table when she got inside, careful to step around her grandmother’s tiny chihuahua, Amie, who was trailing after the older woman. Nonna had finished getting everything on the table and was just sitting down in her spot. She had poured them both tall glasses of orange juice, and had arranged various condiments in the center.

  “I think we made too much,” Ellie said, surveying the table. “I sort of forgot Russell wasn't going to be here.”

  “We can put the leftovers in the fridge,” Nonna said. “I’ll eat some for lunch. Maybe I’ll make a bacon and egg sandwich.”

  “That sounds pretty good,” Ellie said. “Maybe I should make another breakfast pizza for the pizzeria’s weekly special. The last one wasn’t quite as popular as I had hoped, but then again, we don't open until lunchtime. I could try something with Tabasco sauce this time. People seem to like a bit of spice.”

  Her grandmother served herself eggs, bacon, and fresh tomatoes, sprinkling a little bit of sugar over the tomatoes before passing the dish to Ellie. “A little bit of spice is okay,” the older woman said as she shook a few drops of hot sauce onto her quiche. “I don't like too much, though. The pizzeria in Florida sometimes had things a bit too hot for my tastes.”

  Ellie nodded, serving herself. “You definitely have to find a balance,” she said. “I'm not a fan of too much spice either. Maybe I can offer hot sauce on the side.”

  They ate in silence for a few minutes as her grandmother flipped through the mail, making small noises of interest every now and then.

  “Oh, look, they're building a new park,” Nonna said, passing a pamphlet over to Ellie. “I know the city bought that land years ago, and it's just been sitting empty. This should be lovely, especially if they manage to get it built this summer.”

  Ellie took the offered pamphlet and looked over it. It was, indeed, a notification about a fundraiser event for a new park. “I wonder if this has anything to do with the hotel that Steve is helping to build,” Ellie said as she read the information on the back. “That hotel is going to change things around here, and I'm sure the town probably wants to beautify the city a bit before we start getting loads of new tourists.”

  “They're looking for donors,” Nonna said. “It says that you get a plaque with your name on it if you donate over a certain amount.”

  Ellie nodded. “Do you think I should donate something?” she asked. While she didn’t have any desire to have her own name on a plaque, it might be nice to have one with the pizzeria’s name. It would be a way to immortalize the restaurant that she loved so much.

  “It’s always nice to get involved,” Nonna said. “Maybe you could donate pizzas instead of money. If you do, I could help out.”

  Ellie smiled. She was getting the feeling that her grandmother was already beginning to feel a bit bored. At the retirement community in Florida there was always a lot to do. If she wanted to go into the city, she could have a taxi within minutes. Here, in Kittiport, she lived far enough out of town that she was pretty much stranded at her house unless she could get someone to come out and give her a ride. Kittiport didn't have a dedicated taxi service like Miami did. It was definitely much quieter here.

  “I'll stop in at City Hall and talk to someone in the park department to see if they need me to bring food,” Ellie said. She folded the pamphlet and held it up. “Do you mind if I take this?”

  Her grandmother shook her head, and Ellie slid it into her pocket. Maybe it was just because spring was in the air, but she found herself itching for a new project. Her grandmother wasn’t the only one who was going stir crazy.

  Chapter Two

  Ellie stopped by City Hall on her way to work that morning. She had been there a couple of times, and had met many of the people who worked there in passing. Somehow, she had managed to become involved with the town in the few years that she had lived there. It was a nice feeling, if still a bit surprising at times. She couldn
’t pinpoint just when, exactly, Kittiport had become her home, but she knew that she wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.

  She waved to the secretary, who she didn't recognize, and said hello to the woman in charge of the zoning division, whom she did. She was pointed toward the park department’s office and quickly found herself in a small room with two desks and a window overlooking the road.

  “May I help you?” the woman behind the desk asked tiredly. She moved her glasses up to rub at her eyes before tilting her head to look at Ellie.

  “Yes,” Ellie said, stepping just inside the door. “I don't have an appointment, but I saw your pamphlet about the fundraiser for the new park. I thought I'd stop in and see if my restaurant could help out. I'd be willing to donate a number of pizzas to the event, if I can bring a booth and set up there.”

  The woman sat up a bit straighter. “That would be lovely,” she said. “You're Ms. Pacelli, right?”

  “Mrs. Ward now,” Ellie said, stepping forward to shake the other woman's hand. “Don’t worry, everyone has made that mistake since I got married. You can just call me Ellie.”

  “I’m Jessica Warton. It’s nice to meet you. If you're serious about donating the food, then it’s a definite yes,” the other woman said. “Do you think you could advertise the fundraiser in your store too? Getting this park built has been one disaster after another, and we could definitely use the help.”

  “I'd be happy to do it,” Ellie said. “What stumbling blocks have you hit?”

  The other woman shook her head. “I don't even know where to begin. If I was a more superstitious person, I would say that it's cursed. We've lost form after form, we had a contractor scheduled to come out and do the digging, but he never showed up and he told us that someone called to cancel, when no one did. We had troubles getting the proper permits, we’ve lost money that should have been secure, just an endless chain of things. We should have everything straightened out now, though. If we raise enough at the fundraiser, then we’ll be good to go. I'm excited to actually break ground. This park has been my pet project since day one.”

  “It certainly looks like it will be nice,” Ellie said, thinking of the concept drawings from the pamphlet. “I hope it works out well.”

  “Me too,” the other woman said. “It will only be Kittiport’s second developed park. We have the big park by the marina, of course, and a couple of nature trails outside of town, but this one will be somewhere in between those two. We'll have a couple of short trails, a pavilion for public events, a very nice playground, and if we can swing it, we’re even going to have a fenced in area for a small dog park.”

  “That’s the part I’m most excited about,” Ellie said with a grin.

  The other woman chuckled. “I take it you're a dog lover?”

  “I have two,” Ellie said, smiling. “They would love a dog park. The pizzas are definitely a go. Just tell me how many you think we’ll need. I’ll figure out a monetary donation for you as well. Here, I’ll give you my number so we can talk details. I'm looking forward to it, next weekend should be fun.”

  “Thanks,” the other woman said, seeming to be in a much brighter mood now. “I really appreciate this. Thank you for stopping in.”

  “It was my pleasure,” Ellie said.

  She left the City Hall in high spirits, taking the short drive to work with the windows down, despite the fact that it was still a bit chilly outside. The air smelled like spring, she had a small pet project of her own, and a lovely new park was opening up soon. Her grandmother was back, things were going well for Russell at work, and the pizzeria was running smoothly as ever. Could life get any better?

  As usual, she was the first one at the pizzeria and had a lovely half an hour to herself before it was time to open the restaurant. She spent this time getting the by-the-slice pizzas cooked and prepared. They always had three pizzas sitting under the warmers, ready to go. One plain cheese, one cheese and pepperoni, and the other whatever their weekly special was. This week, she had a pulled pork barbecue pizza on thin crust with crunchy French onions sprinkled on top after it was done cooking. She was still toying around with the idea of a breakfast pizza for next week, and would have to experiment with it this weekend to get it right by next Monday.

  Iris, the employee who was sharing the morning shift with her that day, got there a couple of minutes before opening. Her hair was a bright green and pink that was probably in honor of spring. Ellie smiled. She enjoyed her employee’s frequently changing hair colors, and was glad that she had hired Iris the year before. The young woman was smart, hard-working, and was great with the customers. While she had gotten a few complaints about her hair color and piercings over the months, she made a point to ignore those. Good employees were well worth one or two annoyed customers, and as far she was concerned, Iris was completely free to express herself the way she wanted as long as she kept it appropriate for children, which she always did.

  The two of them worked together, chatting amicably as they prepared the pizzeria for the lunch rush. The warmer weather meant there were a lot more pedestrians on the road, and they got a good number of people stopping in for a quick slice and something to drink before going on their way. They had to work hard to keep up with the demand, but Ellie loved every second of it. I might need to hire more employees this summer, if the hotel brings in as much business as everyone seems to think it will, she thought. She would have to ask Linda's advice on how to handle the increased business. The Miami pizzeria, even though it was newer than the Kittiport one, was almost twice as busy since it was located in a major city that doubled as a tourist hotspot.

  She was bringing out a tray with a large pizza on it when a snippet of conversation caught her attention. She paused, listening to the dark-haired man as he ranted to his friends. “I hate that that park is being built,” was what caught her attention. She tried to look unobtrusive as she listened in.

  “It’s right next to my house,” he continued, folding up a piece of pizza and biting into it. He chewed for a moment, then swallowed. “I like it how it is, as natural space. I walk my dog there, and even though there's one or two other visitors a day, it's always nice and quiet. Now, with everything they're planning on adding, it's going to be total chaos. It's completely unfair. I'm going to go down to City Hall after this and complain.”

  She heard one of his friends say something soothing to him, and tore herself away from the conversation, knowing that the table she was serving was waiting eagerly for their pizza. Still, she kept the conversation filed away in the back of her mind. It seemed that not everyone was happy with this park.

  Chapter Three

  The rest of the week went by quickly. The warm front that had swept over the town put everyone in a good mood, it seemed, and Ellie couldn't help but absorb all the happy feelings. As far she was concerned, everything in her life was going well. She was excited for the fundraiser, and was even looking forward to the marathon pizza making session that they were going to have Saturday morning.

  Saturday morning, Ellie said a quick goodbye to Russell, who was working an extra shift that weekend to go supervise the fundraiser, and drove over to Nonna's house. Her grandmother was waiting for her, already dressed and ready to go. The older woman had offered to help with the pizzas, and Ellie had been happy to accept. It was good to have her grandmother back, and she was looking forward to spending the day with her. On top of all that, Nonna was something of a mascot at the pizzeria, and she knew that the older woman would have a warm welcome.

  They drove to town together, chatting happily as the still drab Maine landscape passed them by. It wasn't late enough in the year for the trees to have begun budding, but the air still smelled like spring.

  They were the first ones at the pizzeria, but were soon joined by Jacob, Pete, and Rose. Jacob and Rose were going to be joining them at the fundraiser, and Iris was coming in later to help Pete run the pizzeria for the day. Ellie had decided to make mostly cheese and pepperoni piz
zas – the perennial favorites – but she was also going to include a smaller amount of the barbecue pulled pork pizzas. They had been a hit all week long, and she was sure that it would be a good seller at the fundraiser.

  The morning went quickly. Everyone but Nonna had spent the past year or two making pizzas from scratch almost every day and could practically do the job in their sleep. Before Ellie knew it, three large stacks of pizza boxes were waiting and ready to go. She checked her watch. It was an hour until the fundraiser was supposed to begin. She didn't want to get the pizzas there too early, since they would begin to cool off once they were out from under the warming light. She and Nonna were going to get there first and set up their booth, and Rose and Jacob were going to bring the pizzas along later.