Peppered With Murder (The Darling Deli Series Book 26)

by Patti Benning

  “For now, let’s just enjoy our breakfast and be thankful that it’s not one of us out there.”

  “That I can do,” she said.

  After breakfast, she got ready for her day. It had been a while since she had seen Denise, and she would be happy to visit her friend again, even if it was just for a few minutes. Between planning the haunted house and thinking about finding the injured man outside the deli, she hadn’t had much time to devote her thoughts to Logan’s upcoming trial. She wished that she had some encouraging words for the other woman, but she didn’t know enough about the court system or his case to know what the likely outcome was. What could she say about something that she knew almost nothing about other than good luck?

  Logan was Denise’s nephew, not her son, but she couldn’t help but draw comparisons between what her friend must be feeling and what she would be feeling if Candice was in a similar situation. She couldn’t blame her friend for being completely focused on the case. She knew that she herself would have dropped everything for Candice; any parent would. She hoped that by taking over the responsibility for the haunted house, she was taking at least some of the stress off of Denise’s shoulders.

  The drive to her friend’s house wasn’t long, and she ended up getting there a good twenty minutes earlier than she had planned. She was surprised to see another car in the driveway when she got there. She hoped that she wasn’t interrupting a visit with Logan’s lawyer, or some other important meeting related to the case. She let her car idle while she sent her friend a text message letting her know that she was there, and waited patiently for her reply before going in. When, a few minutes later, she saw Denise’s newest chef, Julian, walk out the front door, she couldn’t do anything but stare.

  When Denise had first hired Julian, her friend had had many reservations about the new chef. Moira had been certain that he wouldn’t last long, but somehow the issues that her friend had with him seemed to fade over time. She had suspected a couple of times over the past few weeks that Denise had feelings for the skilled chef that went beyond those of a simple acquaintance, but hadn’t brought the subject up yet. She didn’t want to jump to conclusions; there were many reasons that Julian might be here in a professional capacity. With Denise so distracted by Logan’s court date, she probably wasn’t at the Redwood Grill much, which meant that the chefs had to run it themselves. While Moira was sure that they were fully capable of doing so, she knew that her friend tended to be a little bit of a micromanager. It would make sense that she still wanted to run the restaurant by proxy, and the easiest way to do that would be by getting regular updates from the chefs themselves.

  She waited until Julian got in his car and started it up before getting out of her own vehicle and walking towards the front door. Denise, who was waiting for her just beyond the threshold, invited her in.

  “Sorry I’m so early,” she said.

  “Don’t worry about it, I don’t mind. The boxes are in the foyer, right here. I can help you load them up. I hope this hasn’t been too much of an inconvenience for you.”

  “Not at all,” the deli owner said. “I’m just happy to do what I can to help.”

  “Thanks.” Her friend gave her a wan smile. “I promise I’ll make it up to you when this is all over.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” Moira said. “You just focus on what you need to do. Although, I wouldn’t mind a little bit of gossip. What was Julian doing here?”

  Her friend blushed. “He was just stopping by. He actually brought me lunch from the Grill. He made it himself.”

  “That’s nice of him,” Moira said with a grin. “I didn’t know the two of you were so friendly.”

  “I don’t even know what to say about him,” Denise said. “Sometimes he’s just so… arrogant, and aggravating. But he’s also really thoughtful, and intelligent, and I just like being around him. Of course, I need to focus on Logan right now.”

  “Maybe once all of this is over, you’ll have time to start dating again.”

  “That’s a whole other mess I’m not sure I’m ready to deal with yet,” her friend said with a smile. “Come on, let’s load these boxes up, then why don’t you come in for a drink and we can catch up for a little bit? A distraction would be nice; this stress is going to be the end of me.”

  CHAPTER TEN

  * * *

  After spending some quality time with one of her two best friends, Moira drove back into town and stopped by the grocery store to put together a gift basket for Maurice Brown’s family. She was sure they had already been getting plenty of support from the town, but she wanted to do something herself. After all, her deli had been the scene of the missing man’s attack. She knew that it wasn’t her fault, but she still felt as if the blame somehow lay on her shoulders.

  Maurice’s missing poster had their address on it, so it was a simple matter for her to find their house. A woman about her own age answered the door when she knocked. Her eyes were red rimmed from crying, but she gazed at her with hope, as if expecting the deli owner to bring news that her father had been found safe and sound tucked away in some emergency room somewhere. She looked familiar, but Moira couldn’t remember where she had seen her before.

  Moira cleared her throat. “Hi. My name is Moira Darling. I own the deli, and I’ve been following the search for your father. I just thought I would stop by with this. I know it’s not much, but I just had to do something to let you know that you have a lot of people thinking about you.”

  As she spoke, she realized just how pointless this gesture was. It was something that would make her feel better, but it wouldn’t bring much, if any, solace to the grieving family. Still, she was here now. She had to go through with it.

  “Thank you,” the woman said. “I’ll just put in the kitchen with the others.”

  The deli owner winced, regretting this more and more with every passing second.

  “Suzanne, who is that?” a voice called from further back in the house.

  “It’s someone here with a gift basket for Dad,” the woman called back. Suddenly Moira remembered where she had seen her before; she had come into the deli sometime the week before to buy food for her husband and her father. If she had thought the woman looked tired then, it was nothing compared to how she looked now.

  “Another one?”

  There was the sound of footsteps, and then a burly man appeared in the doorway beside the woman. He stared down at Moira, frowning.

  “I hate all of this hubbub,” he said. “I already told you, your dad probably just decided to get out of our hair, like I have been asking him to do for the past three years. When I said he could move in, I thought it would be temporary. I would never have agreed if I had known it would be a permanent arrangement.”

  The deli owner couldn’t help but stare back at him. On his temple was a partially healed cut with faint bruising around it, as if he had been hit in the head with something. She thought immediately of the smudge of blood she had found in the alley outside the deli’s side door.

  “Dad would never just leave without telling us,” Suzanne said. “And remember what the police said? Someone spotted him, and he was injured.”

  “He was probably just limping, he never takes his cane when he goes on those walks of his.”

  “They said it was a serious injury, Hal,” she snapped. “They said —” She took a deep breath. “They said we should prepare for the worst.”

  “Yeah, whatever. Thanks for the gift basket. If you see my father-in-law, let us know, it will shut my wife up.”

  He slammed the door in Moira’s face, leaving her standing outside for a moment until she could recover from her shock. Ten minutes ago, she hadn’t had a clue who may have attacked the man. Now, it looked like his son-in-law was the prime suspect.

  Still, there was no progress on the case over the rest of the weekend. Maurice’s disappearance had gone from being front page news, to being an afterthought in everyone’s lives except her own and his family’s. W
ith Halloween a day away, most people had plenty to think about without worrying about one old man who had wandered off.

  Moira had a lot on her plate even without her concerns about Maurice’s fate. It was Monday, and the deli would be closing at noon so they could prepare for the haunted house that evening. It was going to be a long day, and she felt tired just thinking about it.

  Her customers that morning were in high spirits, even the adults were picking up on the thrill of the holiday. The deli was serving Halloween themed food and handing out candy to their younger guests. It would have been perfect, if she hadn’t had so much on her mind.

  At noon, they locked the doors and flipped the sign over to Closed. Moira hung sheets over the windows so no one would be able to get a sneak peek of what was to come, while Cameron and Chance, one of the two non-employee volunteers she had found, unloaded the portable room dividers from the truck parked in the alley.

  It didn’t take long to move the tables and get the dividers set up, and it was odd to see the deli’s usually open dining area so closed off. Moira walked through the makeshift rooms and smiled to herself. This haunted house was going to turn out well, despite the last-minute planning.

  They draped the dividers and counter in black sheets to add to the mood, then began decorating. Within hours, the deli was completely transformed and nearly unrecognizable. The appliances in the kitchen were shrouded in black, and the fluorescent light bulbs in the kitchen had been replaced with blue and purple ones. In an effort to keep people from damaging the essential and expensive appliances, they had crisscrossed the front of them with bright yellow tape that read Caution in bold black letters. The tops of the counters in the kitchen played host to all sorts of spooky props. Outside, Darrin and the other volunteers were busy setting up the large event tent. Dark-colored tarps hung from the sides to give it a more enclosed feel, and they had used two of the spare portable dividers to make a couple of different areas in the outdoor space.

  “Excellent job, guys. I’m going to head home and get changed into my costume. Can you finish up here?”

  “Sure, Ms. D.,” Jenny said. “See you soon!”

  Moira squinted at the mirror, putting the finishing touches on her green makeup. Being a witch wasn’t exactly original, but she had appreciated Darrin tying the idea in with her main role at the deli. It would be fun to forget reality for a night and pretend that the soups that she made on a daily basis were actually magic potions.

  “Where is your wart?” David asked, poking his head into the bathroom.

  “Not all witches have warts,” she replied. “Don’t stereotype us.”

  He grinned. “How do I look?”

  She turned to give him a once-over. He was dressed as a mummy, with ragged tatters of cloth hanging from his body. The costume was a good one, and she smiled at him.

  “Perfect. You’ll look great standing in the kitchen next to the refrigerator. Remember, scare the adults as much as you want, but if there are kids with them, go easy.”

  “I don’t want to give anyone nightmares,” he said. “I will be a responsible scarer.”

  “I wish I had your job. Hiding in the shadows sounds a lot more fun than taking cash from people. I do that every day anyway.”

  “Maybe we can switch out part way through,” he said. “You should have a chance to enjoy this too.”

  “I don’t know… I promised Denise I’d handle it…”

  “I’m your husband. I doubt she’d care. How’s she doing, anyway?”

  “She’s just trying to keep her stress levels under control right now, I think,” she replied. “Once Wednesday is over, she’ll finally be able to breathe again.”

  “I hope things go well for them. We should get going. The haunted house is supposed to open in an hour.”

  “Okay,” she said. “I’m ready. Let’s do this.”

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  * * *

  Moira had never seen the deli so busy. People were lined up at the door, eager to get in. Inside, a Halloween sounds CD played on repeat, and the mist from a fog machine one of her volunteers had brought billowed around people’s feet. She heard shrieks of delight and surprise coming from behind the portable barriers, though she couldn’t see any of it from her post behind the counter.

  “One adult and one child. That will be eight dollars.”

  She took the cash and slid it through the slot at the top of the lockbox, thanking the woman and telling her to go ahead into the next area. She sighed. Besides the atmosphere, it could have been just another day at work. She hadn’t agreed to do the haunted house for fun, of course; it had been a favor to a friend. Still, she would like to enjoy it. It had been a lot of work to get everything organized and set up, and she felt like she was missing out on the best parts.

  “Just one adult,” the next person said.

  “Okay, that will be…” she trailed off. Standing in front of her was Hal, the missing man’s son-in-law. He was the last person she would have expected to see at something like this, and he was alone. “Where’s your wife?” she asked, the words blurting out of her before she knew it.

  “Suzanne’s too upset to come out. She made me go to this instead. I figure if I have to donate to a charity, I might as well get my money’s worth.”

  Moira refrained from saying what she was thinking this time; that he was somewhat missing the point of charities. Instead, she took his money and slid it through the slot in the top of the box.

  “Just wait a few seconds before going through to give to the previous people some time,” she said.

  She watched as he shambled away to wait at the entrance to the haunted house. Something about his presence there made her uncomfortable. She knew that, in the movies at least, the killer often returned to the scene of the crime. She hardly knew the man, but from her short interaction with him the other day, she had gotten the feeling that he both disliked his father-in-law, and tended to be somewhat irritable. She knew firsthand just how tense things could get with family. Was it possible that a man like him had taken it to the next level?

  Remembering David’s offer to switch places with her, she pulled out her phone and sent him a quick text message. With luck, he would read it and make it to the counter before Hal got through the haunted house. She was glad that a woman with a child had gone before him; the children always took longer to make it through the maze that her deli had become.

  It was with relief that she saw the cloth-wrapped form of her husband slip between one of the dividers. “I’m here,” he said. “Go on back. I’ll take care of this.”

  “Thanks.” She gave him a quick kiss, then slipped through to the kitchen. It was time to get to the bottom of Maurice’s mysterious disappearance.

  The space next to the fridge had been decorated with a fake, styrofoam coffin. Her witch outfit didn’t exactly fit in with the prop well, but she figured most of the people wouldn’t notice. They were here for fun, not serious scares.

  She had just settled into the spot when she saw the woman and child who had gone into the haunted house just prior to Hal. As they went by, she let out a cackle, which made the kid jump — probably more due to how odd it sounded than any real spooky effect.

  She waited in silence for a few moments until she saw someone else coming through. Hal. She hadn’t really considered what she might glean from watching him walk through the haunted house, but at least it was better than standing up front and letting her imagination go crazy.

  He entered the room and took his time looking at the props. He didn’t seem to be in any hurry to leave, but also seemed bored by the setup. He prodded a bowl of fake plastic eyeballs, chuckled, then turned towards the next thing.

  She sighed. This wasn’t getting her anywhere. Unless he was about to confess his crime to the rubber disembodied head, this was a waste of her time.

  When he at last turned to the door that led to the tent outdoors, she stepped away from the wall and followed him silently. If anything would t
ell her whether he was guilty or not, it would be when he was outside, at the scene of the attack.

  She caught the door as it swung shut behind him and slipped through. This part of the haunted house looked like a barber shop that had been the scene of a bloody murder. Chance was supposed to be working there, as the insane barber, but he was nowhere to be seen. She shrugged it off; everyone had to take bathroom breaks occasionally.

  Hal made his slow way through the room, seeming to grow less interested as he went. He paused to check his phone, then, just before he went through to the next section, he slipped past the tarp and out of the tent. He did it so suddenly that she almost missed it. Waiting for a count of three in case he came back, she followed him. The sounds of Halloween faded behind her, and she realized just how dark it was in the alley.