“That’s what I mean,” she told Russell quietly. “Rumors. People think I’m responsible for Ms. Martin’s death.”
As if to prove her point, the couple at the next table flagged down the waiter, and a moment later, hurried away, their food left uneaten. Russell stared after them, his gaze cold.
“There’s absolutely no reason you should be linked to her death,” he said turning back to her. “You were never even an official suspect.”
“All they know,” she said, meaning the general populace of Kittiport, “is that the woman was driven away from my pizzeria in an ambulance, and was found dead later that night. The details don’t matter to them. It doesn’t help that Xavier and Jeffrey have been hanging around in front of the pizzeria, waving signs that warn people that I’m a killer.”
“I’ll see what I can do about that,” he told her. “I’m sorry, Ellie. The last thing I wanted was for you to get dragged into this.”
“It’s not your fault,” she said. “It’s just, well, bad luck. Once the real murderer is caught, things should go back to normal… I hope.”
Despite her words, Ellie didn’t have much hope. She picked at her food when it came, hardly noticing the mouthwatering flavors of the pecan-encrusted fish. The reaction of the couple, who had gotten up and left when they found out who she was, hurt far more than Xavier and Jeffrey picketing. She expected that much from them, but to think that she had become such a pariah to people who didn’t even know her struck her to the bone.
CHAPTER TEN
* * *
Bringing up the case during dinner had been a mistake. She should have started talking about something else — anything else. For the rest of the meal, they mulled over ideas for how to boost the pizzeria’s reputation, but Ellie knew that both of their minds were on the real puzzle; who had killed Laura Martin?
After they were finished with dessert, the sheriff walked her to her car, and they stood there for a moment in the chilly night air. “I had a nice time,” Ellie said at last.
“Me too,” he said. “Thanks for coming. I’m sorry our conversation wasn’t over a cheerier topic.”
“Well, at least I got to pick your brain for ideas. I’m glad you like the plan that Jacob came up with.”
“I think Papa Pacelli’s should have done it a long time ago,” he said. “Who doesn’t love a good calzone?”
“I’ll expect you to be first in line,” she told him with a smile.
She was tired by the time she got back home, and it felt amazingly good to curl up under her blankets with Bunny on the pillow next to her head, comfortably warm in her room while a cold wind blew outside. Her thoughts oscillated between the subject of the murder, and dinner. She was in an odd mood, and more than anything wanted to talk to someone about her night, but Shannon wasn’t likely to appreciate a call this late at night. Bunny, though a great listener, was a terrible conversationalist. Anything Ellie wanted to discuss, would just have to wait until morning.
The next day started off well, with fresh blueberry muffins and a quick jog with Bunny. Well, it was mostly a walk, with a couple of faster steps thrown in for good measure. Still, everyone had to start somewhere, and neither of them were in the best of shape. Half a mile to Ellie might as well have been three miles to the papillon.
When she got to work, she was happy to see that Jeffrey and Xavier weren’t in front of the pizzeria with their signs. Whether they weren’t coming at all, or simply weren’t there yet, she didn’t know. She hoped the former, but either way, she and Jacob were going to spend a few hours working on his plan this afternoon.
Having skipped the early lunch that her grandmother had offered, Ellie was starved. The whole point of skipping the meal had been to make up for some of the calories that she had eaten the night before, all in line with her new goal of getting both herself and Bunny back in shape. Unfortunately, the promise of a custom, fresh-made personal pizza with all of her favorite toppings and extra cheese was just too much for her to resist. Once the ovens were fired up, she quickly rolled out a small ball of dough and let it pre-cook while she continued preparing to open the restaurant. By the time Rose and Jacob arrived, she was sitting at the kitchen table, halfway done with her bacon, chicken, and pineapple personal pizza with extra cheese. Note to self, she thought, don’t skip lunch. Being hungry destroys what little self-control I have.
Maybe thanks to the fact that Xavier and Jeffrey seemed to have given up on their little sign-waving venture, the pizzeria was busier that day than normal. Well, the new normal; it was still well below how it had been before the whole fiasco with the mayor’s wife. Ellie was relieved that they actually had customers again, though she couldn’t help but wonder exactly how long it would take before they were back up to pre-disaster standards.
Once again deciding that she would best serve the pizzeria by hiding in the back, so as not to frighten away the cautious customers, Ellie let Rose spend her entire shift at the register. Since that was usually a more coveted position than working in the kitchen, where it was stifling hot at the best of times, she was surprised to see her employee come into the back and tie an apron around her waist.
“There’s someone here to see you,” Rose said. “I’ll take over back here if you want.”
“Who is it?” Ellie asked, putting down the spoon that she had been using to ladle sauce and going over to the sink to wash up.
“She said her name was Grace Camper,” Rose said. “Which order is this?”
“Number twenty-three, thin crust with green peppers and ham,” the pizzeria manager answered automatically. Then, as her brain caught up with her mouth, she added, “Grace Camper? I’ve never heard of her. Did she say what she wanted?”
“She said she wanted to talk to you, but that’s it,” her employee said. She gave her boss a concerned look. “Is everything all right?”
Ellie shook her head. “I don’t know. To be honest, with everything that’s been happening, I doubt she wants anything good.”
She pushed through the kitchen doors, then stopped in her tracks. The woman in front of her was familiar; she had a face that Ellie would never forget. How could she, after having been accused of murdering the woman?
“Laura Martin?” she squeaked. She realized her face immediately, as the other woman’s face crumpled.
“No, I’m her sister,” she said. “Grace.”
“I’m so sorry,” Ellie said, her cheeks flaming with embarrassment. “I know I met you at the party. You just look so much like her…”
“I know. I’m two years older than her, but we look like we’re twins.” The woman’s breath caught. “Or I guess I should say ‘looked’ and ‘were.’”
“I can’t even imagine what you’re going through right now,” the pizzeria manager said. “Is there anything I can get you? Rose said you wanted to talk to me. What can I do to help?”
“Can you sit?” Grace asked, indicating a table with a nod of her head. “I want to ask for your help with something, but it might take a little bit of explaining.”
“Of course.”
They sat, and Ellie waited quietly for the woman to gather her thoughts. At last, she took a deep breath and said, “I think Laura was killed by her husband.”
“The mayor?”
Grace nodded grimly.
“Have you gone to the police? Why do you think that he killed her?”
“I don’t want to go to the police until I have some sort of proof,” she said, a look of fear flashing through her eyes. “If they question him, but don’t have enough to hold him, then who’s to say he won’t come after me next?”
“I’m sure Russ— the sheriff would protect you,” Ellie said. “What makes you think the mayor did it?”
“I think one of them was having an affair,” the other woman said, lowering her voice even though there was no one else in the restaurant. “She was alone with him that evening. He said that she decided to go out on a walk alone, but there’s no alibi, no one can s
ay for sure whether she went alone, or if he followed her.”
The pizzeria manager was nodding. Especially after what Russell said about the mayor, it seemed plausible. “Why come to me, though?”
“Because I heard that you were friends with one of the women that writes for the paper. I thought maybe you could ask her to do some digging on both my sister and her husband. If she can find some sort of proof that one of them was having an affair, then that might be enough proof to put the mayor away, or at least make the police take us seriously. I know you probably want the whole thing over and done with as much as I do.”
A glance around the conspicuously empty restaurant drove the point home. “I’ll do what I can to help,” Ellie said. “You keep trying to find some sort of proof, too. Between the two of us, and Shannon, we should be able to come up with something good.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
* * *
Promising Grace that she would help find the person who killed her sister was one thing. Actually doing it was another. Ellie was immediately tempted to go to Russell with what she knew, but realized that the woman’s concerns were legitimate. If the mayor really had murdered his wife, then what were the chances that he would feel bad about doing her sister in, too? If Russell questioned him, and he got the feeling that Grace had something to do with it, then her life very well could be in danger.
She ended up doing just what the woman had suggested; she went to Shannon the next morning. Her friend was more than happy to meet her at a cafe in town, eager to hear more details about her date with Russell. They had only been able to cover so much over the phone, and before Ellie got down to the real reason for their meeting, she went over the night of the dinner once more.
“I can’t believe they just got up and left,” her friend said, fixated on the couple that had abandoned their meal after realizing just who it was they had been seated next to.
“It was pretty terrible,” Ellie agreed. “I can’t believe how quickly word spread around town. Well, word about the bad stuff. The fact that I’m actually innocent doesn’t seem to be making any headway at all.”
“Oh, it can’t be that bad. You said yourself that you’ve been getting more customers lately.”
“We still aren’t nearly as busy as we were before all of this,” she pointed out. “But anyway, that’s not why I wanted to meet you. I know I messed up dinner with your brother-in-law pretty badly; I don’t want to relive it over coffee.”
“Sorry,” Shannon said. “I don’t think you messed anything up, though. Russ is a good guy. He’ll understand that you’re going through a hard time right now. Since you brought it up, what exactly was the reason you wanted to meet? You wouldn’t say very much on the phone.”
Ellie took a sip of her slightly-too-sweet coffee, then leaned forward and in a hushed voice, told her friend what Grace had told her.
“So she wants our help in tracking down an affair we don’t even know for sure exists?” Shannon said when she was done, one eyebrow arched.
“She seemed to be pretty certain about it.”
“Did she gave you any names?”
Ellie hesitated, then shook her head. “No names.”
“Do you really think the mayor did it?” her friend asked.
“Maybe. Russell did say that he didn’t seem too upset about the whole thing.”
Shannon sighed. “Well, I’ll do some digging, but I’m not promising you anything, okay? It would help if I had names, dates, anything to go on, really.”
“Grace said she’s going to look for proof too. So between the three of us, we should be able to find something.”
“If there’s anything to find,” her friend said. “I wouldn’t hold my breath.”
Ellie left their coffee date in time to make it to the pizzeria for opening. Today was a big day, and she didn’t want to miss it. Besides, Nonna was planning on working there again for a few hours, and she had to make sure her grandmother got settled in okay and remembered how to use the register correctly.
Jacob was already getting started on their big surprise, and Ellie shared a mischievous grin with him as she passed through the kitchen. She couldn’t wait to see the reaction of the crew at Cheesaroni when they found out what their competitors were planning. And, even better, her crew at Papa Pacelli’s didn’t have to drag anyone’s name through the mud to get their revenge.
“Hey, Nonna,” she said as she walked into the dining area. “Are you sure you’re up to this today?”
“Yes I am,” her grandmother replied. “I’m old, that doesn’t mean I’m made out of glass, you know. I could do more than sit behind this register all day, if your employees didn’t all act like I could break at any moment.”
“They’re just concerned about you,” she said. “Besides, the customers love seeing you out front at the register. You’re the face of Papa Pacelli’s.”
“Oh, that was your grandfather, and I make a poor fill-in for him,” the older woman said. “But I suppose you’re right. There should be a Pacelli out front to greet the customers. It’s a job I’ll proudly do.”
Ellie smiled to herself as she walked across the room to unlock the front door. She enjoyed having her grandmother there. She would never admit it to the older woman, but she was almost like their mascot, and she suspected that her employees felt the same way. Even the customers seemed to like Nonna best; they always left the most in the tip jar when she was the one at the counter.
She had just unlocked the door when a familiar form walked into view. It was Russell, walking along the sidewalk towards the pizzeria. He waved when he saw her watching him.
“Hey,” he said as she opened the door for him. “I just thought I’d stop by and see how everything is going. Any more trouble from those guys at the calzone place?”
She shook her head. “Thankfully, no. They must have gotten bored, standing out there all day. Can you stay for about half an hour? Jacob’s putting the first batch of our revenge plan into the oven as we speak.”
“Sure. I’ll be the first in line to buy one,” he said, grinning. He glanced at the register, then did a double-take. “Is that your grandmother?”
Ellie looked over her shoulder. Nonna gave a wave. “Yep, that’s her. She works here part time now. Her decision. I think it’s been too quiet around the house for her taste.”
Smiling, Sheriff Ward walked over to the counter to say hello, while Ellie grabbed a poster out of the supply cupboard and prepared to hang it on the window. It was almost time for the grand reveal.
CHAPTER TWELVE
* * *
“What do you think?” Ellie asked anxiously, watching the sheriff’s face as he chewed.
“This is seriously the best calzone I’ve had, Ellie,” he said when he swallowed. “I think you’ve found your new calling.”
Ellie smiled with relief, then turned her attention to the half calzone on her own plate. She cut a bite off and dipped it in the cup of pizza sauce next to her plate before popping it in her mouth. It was good; their first full batch of calzones had turned out even better than the practice one they had made the other day. Gooey cheese, pepperoni, mushrooms, and fresh basil leaves along with the famous Papa Pacelli’s crust combined to make a heavenly pocket of goodness.
“This is perfect,” she agreed. “I can’t believe I didn’t think of this before. It has got to be the best way of getting back and Xavier and Jeffrey for everything they’ve done over the past few months. They seem determined to run this restaurant into the ground, so I don’t feel bad at all giving them some real competition.”
“I bet this will boost your sales, even with everything else that’s going on,” Russell said, glancing at the new poster in the window, which read Now serving calzones! in big letters, with a picture of their practice calzone underneath, Somehow, Jacob had even managed to capture the steam in the photo as it rose from the cut-open dough. It was a mouth-watering advertisement, sure to draw in hungry guests.
“I sure hope s
o,” Ellie said. “I just need to get the word out. We probably won’t get too many people passing by on foot in this weather.”
It had started to rain since Russell got there, a cold drizzle that showed no sign of letting up. It wasn’t a great day for advertising their new calzones, but at least she was certain that the duo from Cheesaroni wouldn’t show up.
Italian Wedding Murder: Book 4 in Papa Pacelli's Pizzeria Series Page 5
