Exotic Pizza Murder (Papa Pacelli's Pizzeria Series Book 9)

by Patti Benning

  CHAPTER SIX

  * * *

  “Oh no, Russell., not another one.”

  Ellie sat down on her bed, feeling all the energy go out of her. This marked the second death in a week. Things had just started to quiet down after news about the first murder got out.

  “Is it related to the first one at all?”

  “It’s hard to say. This guy had no connection that we can see to Andy Worth, and the method in which he was killed was different, but it was the same sort of situation. He answered the door, and someone attacked him. This person’s wife was at work, but he also lived with his brother, who came down a moment after he was killed and saw the killer drive off.”

  She had been shocked and dismayed to learn that the first victim had been one of the very men Russell had spoken of at the beginning of their date, the guy who was in constant competition with his neighbor. She hadn’t known the man at all, but even just the knowledge that they had talked about him only minutes or hours before he was killed chilled her to the core. How could a life be taken so quickly, so easily?

  “What’s going on in this town?” she asked. “This is insane. I don’t even feel safe at my grandmother’s anymore.”

  “Just don’t answer the door for anyone you don’t know. You have my number, and the sheriff’s department’s number, right? If someone you don’t recognize shows up, just call me right away, even if they aren’t acting suspicious.”

  “I will,” she promised. “I just hope my grandmother remembers not to answer the door either. I’ll leave a note to remind her.”

  “I’m sure the two of you will be fine. These two men probably had a connection that we’re just missing.”

  “I hope so. It’s horrible enough that people are dying, but if it’s random, it’s even more frightening.” Something occurred to her. “Wait, you said the last victim’s brother saw the killer drive away. Does that mean he saw the license plate?”

  Russell sighed. “Sadly, no. He just saw the tail lights. He said he thinks they belonged to a car, as opposed to an SUV or a truck, but he was understandably distracted by his brother.”

  “Of course. That must have been so horrible.”

  “I’m going to find the person or people who are doing this,” the sheriff said, his voice determined. “It will help the victim’s families to know the killer is facing justice, though of course nothing will bring their loved ones back.”

  Ellie realized that these cases must be hitting him close to home. His wife had been killed years ago, and he had never found the person responsible for her death. She didn’t know much about what had happened; he never talked about it, and she didn’t ask about it. She figured he didn’t want to relive the past — she knew she wouldn’t.

  “I know you’ll solve these cases,” she told him. “You’re the best sheriff I know.”

  To her relief, he chuckled. “And how many do you know?”

  “Well, one. But even if I knew a hundred, you’d be the best.”

  “I’m glad you have confidence in my crime solving abilities. I hope you’re right. I hope we catch this killer, before he strikes again.”

  Ellie and Russell said their goodbyes and got off the phone. It was early evening, and she was working in the kitchen at the pizzeria, trying to stay on top of things. Billy was out on a delivery, and Jacob was enjoying his first full shift as a server. She checked the orders and realized with relief that she was all caught up. Now to make some dough, and start tackling those dishes, she thought. I should top off the lemonade, too.

  She had just finished making the third dough ball to put in the fridge when the employee door swung open and Billy came into the kitchen. He waved at her, then sat down at the kitchen table.

  “Can I take my dinner break now, Ms. P.? I’m starved. Probably shouldn’t have skipped lunch.”

  “Go ahead, Billy. We have one more delivery to go out, but I’ll ask Jacob if he’ll do it. He said he wouldn’t mind doing them once in a while. You’ve been working hard, you deserve it.”

  “Thanks. I’ll make more lemonade while I’m at it. That stuff is good.”

  She smiled. So far, Billy had been a wonderful addition to the team. He never complained when she asked him to do something. He still seemed to have some trouble finding some of the addresses, but she couldn’t blame him. Cell phone service was spotty at best in Kittiport, so using GPS wasn’t very reliable. The best part was, he was happy to work as many hours as he could get. She was so glad that she had made the jump to hire another employee; it gave them all a lot more freedom and flexibility in scheduling.

  While Billy put his personal pizza together, she went out into the main room to find Jacob, who was just coming in from the patio with an armful of dirty dishes. “I can take those,” she said. “Would you mind doing a delivery really quick while Billy’s on his lunch break? I put the pizza box in the bag already.”

  “Yeah, no problem. Where’s the car sign?”

  Recently, she had ordered a new magnetic sign that her employees could put on top of their cars while they were doing deliveries. She liked that it made them look more professional, plus she had a feeling that it also made other drivers more forgiving when her employees were driving slowly and trying to find addresses in the dark.

  “Probably still on Billy’s car. When you get back, do you want to take your break? I can put a pizza in for you while you’re gone.”

  “Sure, thanks, Ms. P..”

  “Pineapple and pepperoni?”

  “You got it.”

  She pushed through the swinging door into the kitchen and dropped the dishes off in the sink while Jacob got his keys and the bag with the pizza in it. As he left, she went back out to the main eating area to see if any of her customers needed anything. Her work as manager never ended, but she didn’t mind much at all.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  * * *

  “Can I get you another lemonade?” she asked, approaching a table where a small family of three was seated. “And another soda?”

  “Yeah,” the kid said.

  “Brian, what do you say?”

  “Ugh. I mean yes, please,” he said, rolling his eyes at his mother.

  “I’ll take another lemonade, too, thanks,” said the man.

  “Coming right up.”

  As she was coming back with the drinks on a tray, she couldn’t help but overhear a part of their conversation. “I keep expecting to see Andy walk through those doors with Devon and Maria in tow like they did every Wednesday night. It’s hard to believe I’ll never see him again.”

  “Oh, Jason, I can’t believe it either,” said the woman, who Ellie assumed was his wife. “Poor Maria, I can’t even imagine… and poor Devon, growing up without a father.”

  “I thought you didn’t like him, Dad?” asked the kid.

  “We had a friendly rivalry, that’s all,” said the father, ruffling the kid’s hair. “You’ll understand one day. Now look, here comes the nice lady with the drinks. What do you say, Brian?”

  “Thanks!”

  Ellie chuckled as she put the drinks down on the table. “You enjoy yourselves, now. If you need anything else, don’t hesitate to flag anyone wearing a Papa Pacelli’s shirt down.”

  As she pushed through the patio door to check on the outside guests, she mulled over the conversation she had heard. Those people had known Andy, the first victim, the one that had died the week before. The seemed like such a normal family; it was a frightening reminder that anyone could be the victim of a crime. Sometimes I forget what a small town this is, she thought. These murder victims are more than just names or an interesting conversation topic. They are actual people, whose deaths effect everyone.

  She was still feeling down a few minutes later, when she was back in the kitchen and scrubbing the dishes. Another murder in her beloved town… how much more of this could they take? What if someone else was killed before Russell caught the perpetrator? She didn’t know if he would ever be able to forgive him
self, even though it wouldn’t be his fault, of course.

  The employee door opened. Ellie glanced up to see Jacob come in. She gave him a nod, then turned back to the sink. She was surprised when he came up beside her and spoke to her in a low voice.

  “Ms. P., where’s Billy?”

  “He’s taking a pizza out to someone on the patio. Why?”

  “I found something in his car, and I think you should see it.”

  Ellie blinked. “In his car? Why were you in his car?”

  “Because he had the magnetic sign in the back seat. I had to get it for the delivery. Anyway —”

  “Why was the sign in the car?”

  “I don’t know, but that’s not the point. Would you just come out and look at this?”

  She was surprised. Usually Jacob was the most relaxed of her employees, but right now he sounded more agitated than she had ever heard him.

  “Okay, I’ll go look at whatever it is you want me to see.”

  She rinsed and dried her hands off, then followed him outside. He made a beeline for Billy’s car, a nice sedan that was just a few years old. With a furtive look back at the restaurant, he opened the back door and gestured his boss over. Feeling guilty — no matter how she looked at it, this was a gross invasion of Billy’s privacy — she approached.

  “What am I supposed to be looking at?” she asked.

  “Look in his bag. I didn’t touch it at all, I swear. It was open when I got into his car to get the sign.”

  Ellie peered at the backpack on the floor of the back seat and gasped when she saw the tightly bundled wads of cash poking out of it. That’s a lot of money, she thought. I pay fair wages, but I don’t pay my employees that much. There was also a wallet. Carefully, she took it out and looked at the ID. It most definitely did not belong to Billy. She thought she recognized the man in the picture — one of their regulars.

  “Where did he get it all?” she asked Jacob in a hushed voice.

  “I don’t know, but he can’t be getting it legally, can he? I mean, who carries around that much cash in their car, and doesn’t even lock their doors?”

  “We can’t just assume he’s done something illegal to get it. That wouldn’t be fair. Maybe he just doesn’t trust banks. Or maybe…” she sighed. “I don’t know.”

  “Nothing’s been off with the pizzeria?” he asked.

  “What do you mean?”

  “The, ah, finances.”

  She frowned. “You mean, you think he might have been stealing from us? That’s a very serious accusation to make. Besides, I’m sure I would have noticed if that much money had gone missing.”

  She stared at the bills poking out of his bag for a second longer. There were a lot of ones and fives in there. She shook her head. She couldn’t jump to conclusions. It wasn’t illegal to carry around large amounts of cash. Billy hadn’t given her a reason not to trust him; until he did, she would treat him just like any of her other employees.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  * * *

  Ellie dropped a pair of sugar cubes into her teacup, then propped the tray against her hip and carried it out of the kitchen and into the living room where Shannon was waiting. Her friend sat on the couch with Bunny curled up contentedly next to her. Marlowe was on the back of the armchair across the room, her head tucked under one wing, snoozing.

  “I’ve got tea and the last of the blueberry muffins Nonna made this morning,” Ellie said. “I figure we can make a salad for lunch in a little bit. We’ve got plenty of fresh ingredients.”

  “That sounds great,” Shannon said. “This is so nice. We haven’t spent the day together, just us girls, in I don’t know how long.”

  “It’s my fault, I’ve been insanely busy. Now that the construction is finished and Billy’s pretty much trained, things have calmed down a lot.” She faltered slightly at the mention of her employee’s name. Ever since Jacob had discovered the cash in his car, she had kept a close eye on him. Sometimes she thought she caught him sliding something into his pocket after serving tables, but she hadn’t noticed any money go missing, and none of her other employees had complained about missing tips. Part of her wanted to just confront him about it, but then she would have to admit that she and Jacob had gone into his car without his knowledge, and she knew that they had both been wrong to do that.

  “Well, good. I’ve missed my best friend. I love James, but sometimes I just need someone else to talk to, you know?”

  “I completely understand,” Ellie said, taking the seat on the other side of Bunny, who was eying the muffins on the tray. “It will be good to catch up. Has Russell told you about the cases he’s working on?”

  “Yeah, he stopped by the other morning to borrow some tools from James, and he told us all about the murders. I heard about both deaths on the news, but hearing about it from him made it seem so much more real. James is all worried about me being home alone. I told him I’m not about to go opening the door to strangers when people have been dying.”

  “Russell was worried about me too. It is scary. I haven’t had a chance to talk to him much for a few days. Do you know if he’s had any leads on the case?”

  “I think he told James that he was looking into one of the guy’s neighbors, but he didn’t make it sound too promising.”

  I wonder if he was talking about Jason, the guy that Andy had that rivalry with, she wondered. She could see how on the surface, he seemed like the perfect suspect, but after overhearing his conversation with his family at the pizzeria, she didn’t think he was the one who had done it.

  “He said that both victims’ wives worked at the same place, so that could be another lead,” her friend continued. “It feels like he’s reaching with that, though.”

  “I don’t see why someone would kill two men, just because of where their wives work. Of course, I don’t understand what could motivate someone to kill in the first place.” She gave a shudder. “I’m glad that there are people like Russell in the world who track the bad guys down.”

  “Yeah, Russ is pretty cool. James thinks he works too much, though. Before the two of you started dating, he was even more obsessed with his job. Other than our weekly dinners, I don’t think he ever took an evening off. At least now he makes time for other things.”

  “We’re both workaholics,” Ellie said with a smile, stirring her tea. “I wouldn’t have it any other way. I am glad my job isn’t that stressful, though. I think I would go crazy if I had to do his. Having so many people rely on me, not just for food, but for their lives…” She shook her head.

  “It’s just been a bad year. Before you moved here last summer, it had been almost three years since there had been a suspicious death. The worst things they had to deal with were car accidents and the occasional break in, and of course damage from the winter storms.”

  “Still, I don’t know how he does it. He had to go and talk to the wives of the murder victims, to question them right after their husbands were found. I would be a mess if I had to do that. As it is, I can’t stop thinking about the poor women.”

  They both fell silent for a few moments, before Shannon cleared her throat and changed the subject. “Enough about that. Let’s talk about something less depressing. I’ve had to think about these cases all day at work; I need a break from it.”

  Shannon worked as a reporter for the local newspaper. She usually wrote a column about local events, from the annual Lobster Fest, to announcements from the knitting club, but recently had been chosen to write some of the front-page stories as well. Ellie loved that her friend was getting an opportunity to write more. She enjoyed seeing her friend’s name on the front page, and knew that James was proud of his wife, too.

  Casting around for something else to discuss, she thought once again about Billy. “There is something odd going on with my new employee,” she began.

  When she told her friend about the money that Jacob had found poking out of Billy’s backpack, Shannon frowned.

  “Have you told
Russell about this?”

  “No. Then I’d have to admit to him that I snooped in Billy’s car, which I’m embarrassed to do. I also feel like he has enough on his plate without worrying about one of my employees. I hired the guy, it’s my responsibility to make sure that he’s not doing something shady under the table.”

  “You know Russ would want you to tell him.”

  Ellie sighed. “I know. But I don’t want to distract from the murders. People’s lives are more important than this. If Billy is stealing from me, I can handle it on my own. I don’t need Russell to do everything for me.”