Pretzel Pizza Murder

by Patti Benning

  “I’m really sorry, Ms. P.,” the young woman said, clutching an envelope to her chest. “This wasn’t an easy decision for me to make. I love working here, and I’m not leaving because of anything you did. I just found a job that I think I will enjoy even more, and they’re also offering better pay. Here’s my letter of resignation. I plan on starting there in two weeks. If you need me to help train someone else or anything, I’d be more than happy to do that. You’ve done so much for me. I’m really sorry.”

  Ellie took the envelope, feeling more shocked than anything else. “I’ll be very sorry to see you go, Clara,” she said. “Do you mind if I ask you where you’re going to start working?”

  “At Hot Diggity Dog,” her employee said. “Joanna seems really nice, since they are so new she said that there is going to be a lot of room for advancement. I could even be manager there one day.”

  “I’m sure you’ll love working there. Thank you for letting me know. Will you be keeping the same shifts for the next two weeks, or do you need us to change the schedule for you?”

  “I plan on keeping the same shifts I already have for the next two weeks,” Clara said. “I don’t want to inconvenience you at all. I hope that this won’t be too hard for you. I know you’ve been so busy with opening the pizzeria in Florida, and I’m sorry that you’re going to have to hire someone else in the middle of all of this.”

  “It’s okay,” Ellie said. “I’m glad that you found somewhere else that you think will be a good place of employment for you. And you know you’re always welcome back here.”

  “Thanks, Ms. P., that means a lot to me.” Her employee gave her a shy smile, then bid her goodbye and walked away. Ellie watched her go, still stunned by the news. Clara had been there since before Ellie had even moved to town. The pizzeria wouldn’t be the same without her. Joanna had made an excellent choice of employee, but she just wished that the other woman hadn’t gotten one of her best ones.

  She pushed down the spark of annoyance that rose in her and focused on the envelope in her hand. Clara had already made her decision. There was no use in blaming anyone for it. She was a young woman with plenty of potential ahead of her, and Ellie had known that she wasn’t planning on staying at the pizzeria forever. It made sense that she would want to work somewhere that would offer her promotion and the chance to eventually hold a management position. She didn’t blame the young woman at all. However, it would be a pain to hire someone new while she was so focused on the other pizzeria. She wished that Clara had waited just a few months longer, but there was nothing she could do about it now.

  With a sigh, she stuffed the letter into her pocket. She would have to begin the search for another employee soon, but not right now. She already had enough on her plate with her Aunt Marietta and the will that she had appeared with, not to mention the poor lawyer’s death.

  No sooner had she turned to get back to work than her cell phone started to ring. It was her grandmother, who rarely called while she was at work. She answered it, already dreading what she was going to hear. What had her Aunt Marietta done now?

  “Ellie, you have to get this woman out of here. She’s driving me insane. She’s going around the house and dusting every nook and cranny. I bet she’ll start scrubbing the tiles in the bathroom with a toothbrush next. I’m not that bad at keeping the house nice. She’s doing this to insult me. And that darn bird is head over heels for her. She’s following her around everywhere.”

  “Marlowe likes her?” Ellie asked. “Wow, she usually doesn’t like anyone that’s not you or me.”

  “I just want her gone. Can you find another lawyer we can work with?”

  “I’ll call around and see what I can do,” she said. “Nonna, why do you dislike her so much? What did she do?”

  “That’s a long story,” her grandmother said. “I’ll tell you later. For now, let’s just get this whole business with the will settled.”

  The other line went dead. Ellie sighed, glanced back towards the pizzeria, then stepped out the front door. She might as well try to find a lawyer now. All of the offices would likely be closed by the time she got out of work.

  She started by calling the same building that their lawyer had been in, in hopes that they had another lawyer that might be able to see them. She was rewarded when the secretary that answered told her that they did have someone available.

  “He’s a newer lawyer. I think you’ll be one of his first clients. What times are good for you?”

  “As soon as possible,” Ellie said. “Tomorrow, if he can get us in that early.”

  “Hold on, let me check his schedule… Yep, he’s free in the morning. Would ten o’clock work?”

  “Perfect.”

  She hung up the phone feeling relieved. One way or the other, they would get this whole mess with the will sorted out. With any luck, Aunt Marietta and Uncle Orson would go back to wherever they had come from, and would leave Ellie and Nonna alone to manage the pizzeria on their own. If her will was real… well, they would have to face that when they came to it. She had her fingers crossed that it was a fake. Her life was already stressful enough without worrying herself over something that might not even happen.

  She bit her lip, thinking about Clara. She was sad that the young woman was leaving, and the truth was it really was a terrible time for it. Hiring new employees could be a long and stressful process. It was a small town, so they didn’t always get a lot of applicants. Besides, she would want someone committed for the long-term, which meant that she wouldn’t want to hire someone who would be leaving in a few months to go to college. Her options would be slim. She would just have to hope that someone trustworthy, reliable, and ready to work there for at least a year would come along. In her experience, everything usually ended up working out okay, but she was still always worried nonetheless.

  CHAPTER SIX

  * * *

  She didn’t want to go home after work and sit through another evening of cold glares and tense conversation, but she had no choice. Russell was going to be at the sheriff’s department late working on solving the lawyer’s murder, and besides, it wouldn’t be fair to leave her grandmother all alone with the woman that she hated. She was itching to figure out the reason for her grandmother’s dislike of Marietta. Why had she never even heard of the woman before? What could she possibly have done to earn Nonna’s mistrust? Her grandmother was usually friendly to everyone. She would have to have a good reason to be as rude as she was to Ellie’s aunt.

  Finding out the family secrets would have to wait. She knew that Nonna wouldn’t get into it with Marietta around, and Marietta wasn’t going anywhere until she got what she felt she deserved. It looked like they were in for another tense family dinner, and a long, restless night. At least they could look forward to getting some answers in the morning. Of course, those answers might not help matters at all. The thought of losing the pizzeria made her feel hollow inside.

  Ellie brought home pizza for dinner again, this time a thin crust Hawaiian pizza with thick-cut ham. She wasn’t surprised when Marietta complained about it, but Nonna made up for it by praising the food even more than she usually did.

  “You’re such a good cook, dear. I don’t think I’ve ever had such good pizza before, and that means a lot coming from me,” she said. “And Marietta, yes, we do eat pizza a lot. One tends to, when one owns a pizzeria. I’ve never had anything from Papa Pacelli’s I didn’t like. Ellie has been sticking to her grandfather’s recipe for the crust perfectly, and she has come up with some amazing combinations of toppings. If you don’t want to eat dinner with us, feel perfectly free to go to town to pick something up on your own. Keep in mind that almost everything in Kittiport will be closed by now. You might have to go all the way to another town. I’ll leave the light on for you.”

  The elderly woman grumbled and complained, but eventually she did sit down at the table with them. She ate her slice of pizza in silence, picking off the pieces of pineapple. Orson was his usual
quiet self, but he gave Ellie a thumbs-up when his wife wasn’t looking. She smiled, glad that at least one of her relatives was attempting to be friendly.

  Ellie couldn’t help but wonder what their day together must have been like. She tried to imagine spending eight hours alone with someone she hated, and couldn’t. The only two people she even felt something resembling hate towards were Jeffrey and Xavier. She supposed that if she had to spend an entire day locked up with one of them, she wouldn’t be very thrilled about it. It was no wonder Nonna was in an unusually snippy mood, telling Bunny to leave her alone instead of slipping her tidbits under the table. The little dog seemed to get the message and turned her attention to Marietta, who simply ignored her.

  Marietta and Orson retreated to the guest room without a word as soon as dinner was complete, and Ellie went to the kitchen to do the dishes. Nonna joined her, sipping a hot cup of tea at the kitchen table while they chatted. It was just like old times, and made Ellie wish that they could have the house to themselves again. So much had changed in just a couple of days.

  “I’m glad you found another lawyer so quickly,” she said. “I just hope that things don’t take too long to figure out. I have a copy of your grandfather’s original will somewhere. It may be difficult, because Mr. Drescher was the one that represented Arthur after his death. Do you think the other lawyer will have access to his files?”

  “I have no idea. We’ll have to talk to him about it tomorrow.”

  “That poor man. He helped us so many times. You know, he’s the one that helped with the pizzeria. He helped Arthur with all of the legal paperwork he needed to get his business license.”

  “It’s very sad that he died,” Ellie said. “I’m sure Russell will be able to figure out who his killer is soon. I only met him once, but he seemed to be very nice.”

  “He was,” her grandmother agreed. “Sometimes life is just unfair, especially to the good people.”

  The next morning, after breakfast, the four of them piled back into the car and drove into town. Ellie had a strong feeling of déjà vu; it was eerily similar to what they had done the day before. This time, however, when they got to the lawyer’s office the doors were propped open to let the pleasant late summer breeze in and all of the lights were on. There were a couple of people in the waiting room and the secretary, when Ellie introduced herself, told them to go on back. The lawyer they were seeing was someone named Pierre Jordan, a newcomer both to the small office complex and to the town. His office was right across from the office of the deceased Mr. Drescher, which was still sealed off with crime scene tape. Ellie paused before knocking, surprised to see that the door to Mr. Drescher’s office was severely scratched up. She didn’t remember seeing scratches the day before, though she supposed that she could have missed them. She had certainly had enough on her mind.

  Marietta, impatient with the delay, reached around Ellie and knocked on the door. “Come in,” the lawyer said. Ellie led the way, with the three others trailing behind her.

  “The four of you can take a seat. Sorry, I’m a little bit behind this morning. When the office opened earlier today, they discovered that there had been a break-in. Someone had tried to get into my colleague’s office during the night, as I’m sure you saw in the hallway. We had the police here for the last hour. They just left a few minutes ago.”

  “Do they have any idea who tried to break in, or why?” Ellie asked.

  “No,” the man said. “They think it’s related to his death, but no one is certain. The security system stopped working during the blizzard last year, and the building’s owner has yet to send someone out to fix it.”

  Aunt Marietta cleared her throat. “I’m not sure if my niece told you what we were coming in for when she made the appointment yesterday, but it’s a matter near to my heart. I’d appreciate it if we could get down to business.”

  “Of course,” the man said. “Just a second…” He shuffled the papers around on his desk. “Aha, there it is. Haley – our receptionist – left a note for me saying that you wanted to see me about a disputed will? The deceased was a client of Mr. Drescher’s, and I’m afraid I won’t be familiar with his files personally, but I’ll see what I can do to help you.”

  “Yes. I have a copy of his most recent will with me. The original is with my lawyer. He’s available to fax you whatever you need.”

  “And I have a copy of my late husband’s real will,” Nonna said, pulling a manila folder out of her oversized purse. “This is the one that was read shortly after his death. It states clearly to whom he was leaving what, and what he wanted to happen to the pizzeria.”

  “Let me see,” the man said. The two older women passed him the wills. He leaned over them, peering closely at the papers for what seemed like an eternity. At last, he straightened up. “Ms. Brown, could you give me your lawyer’s contact information? I’ll ask him to fax me a copy of the original that you left with him and see if they match up. Is he the one that witnessed it?”

  “Yes,” Marietta said. “He is aware of the situation, and will be happy to tell you whatever you need. He has my permission to disclose anything that you may ask him about me and my brother’s last meeting together.”

  “Thank you. If you would like to go have lunch, and meet back here at one, I should have something for you by then.”

  Ellie could tell that Marietta was expecting things to go her way. The older woman was more cheerful than she had ever seen her before, and was happy to let Ellie and her grandmother choose where they got lunch. On a whim, the pizzeria owner decided to go to the hot dog shop. It had been a while since she had stopped in, she was interested in seeing how it was doing, and how Joanna was holding up with all of the work.

  Hot Diggity Dog had had a few road bumps before its grand opening a couple of weeks ago. Ellie had helped the owner set up the restaurant, but hadn’t had much time to keep up with her since. Now that Clara was going to be working there, she wanted to try to make an effort to stop in occasionally and visit her old employee. As she walked in to the well air-conditioned room, Ellie could understand why the young woman wanted to change her place of employment. Everything in Hot Diggity Dog was sparkling and new. The computer was high tech with a touchscreen and a credit card slot built in. It was a modern restaurant with shiny stainless-steel stools and brightly painted walls.

  The food was delicious, too. Each of them got different toppings, and Ellie could tell that they were all fresh and well prepared. She smiled at Joanna, but didn’t spend much time talking to her since she was busy with her other customers. It would have been a pleasant lunch, if she hadn’t been so worried about the outcome of their meeting with the lawyer. It wouldn’t be long before they knew once and for all was going to happen, and the longer things got drawn out, the less she was starting to think it would end in their favor.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  * * *

  “I verified it with Ms. Marietta’s lawyer,” Pierre said. “Legally, half of the pizzeria is hers.”

  Ellie stared at the man, certain that she must have heard him wrong. This couldn’t be happening. It couldn’t be true. The pizzeria was hers and Nonna’s. It couldn’t belong to this stranger that she had never met before.

  “What – what happens now?” she asked after a moment. Her grandmother looked too shocked to say anything. Orson patted his wife’s arm with a smile at the good news.

  “Well, I’ll have to draw up the papers, and it looks like she is owed some money as well. If you get me the pizzeria’s financial records, I’ll get all of that figured out.”

  “I’m sure Eleanora will get you those right away,” Marietta said sweetly. “I can’t wait to start getting involved with the business. I’m sure we’ll work something out, Ellie. You’ll be able to keep managing the day to day aspects, of course. I would just like to be involved in some of the major decisions, and be given my half of the profits.”

  “Are you sure?” Ellie asked, her eyes on the lawyer. “That will,
it’s real?”

  “Yes, it is,” he replied. “The handwriting matches, and Ms. Marietta’s lawyer confirmed the date that it was written. It doesn’t change anything except for the ownership of the pizzeria.”

  Ellie and her grandmother exchanged a glance. That changed everything.

  “Now, if any of you have any questions about anything, feel free to ask them. I do have another client coming in shortly, so we can’t be too long about it today.”

  “I don’t think there’s anything else we need to go over right now,” Marietta said. She beamed at the lawyer. “We’ll discuss this amongst ourselves tonight. It doesn’t seem too complicated. Thank you so much for your help.”

  She rose to leave with her husband on her tail, leaving Ellie to help Nonna, who was still sitting numbly in her chair. She helped her grandmother to her feet and they walked slowly out the door together. She spared a single glance at the scratched door that led to Mr. Drescher’s office, but she didn’t feel much curiosity about it anymore. Nothing seemed real. Her entire life, everything that she had gotten used to over the past year, was about to change and not for the better.