Creamy Casserole Murder: Book 15 in The Darling Deli Series

by Patti Benning

  In no time at all, a big bowl of fresh greens and veggies was sitting on the table, along with a few different varieties of dressing. The fish was cooking in the oven, and the cauliflower soup was simmering away on the stove. To complete the meal, Moira got out a chilled bottle of chardonnay out of the fridge and set it on the table. She had gone all out with the place settings, even digging up a tablecloth. It looks good, she thought, wishing that David could be there to appreciate it.

  “Wow, Mom, it smells amazing in here,” said Candice when she and Eli arrived a few minutes later. “You didn’t need to go to all of this trouble just for us.”

  “I wanted to,” Moira replied with a smile. “You’re my daughter… and I’ve come to realize just how special it is that we have such a good relationship.”

  She was thinking of Danny and his mother Beatrice again. How on earth could someone kill their own parent? It was a horrible thought, and it made her glad that she and her daughter got along so well.

  “I just wish David could have come,” she added as they sat down. “We haven’t had much of a chance to see each other lately.”

  Candice bit her lip and looked over at Eli before replying. “I’m sure it’s only temporary,” she said. “You’ve been so busy getting back into the swing of things after the cruise, and he’s been completely slammed at work. Things will calm down eventually.”

  “Did he tell you he was busy at work?” Moira asked, frowning. Why did it seem that David had time to talk to everyone but her?

  “Yeah, he stopped in at the candy store the other day to chat, only for a few minutes,” her daughter said. “But Mom, let’s eat. This fish looks delicious. What is it?”

  The conversation steered away from personal matters as Moira and Candice began reminiscing about their time together on the cruise. Eli took second helpings of the cauliflower soup and listened while the women talked.

  “I’ve got to ask,” he said at last. “Didn’t you ever get bored, spending all of your time on a boat? I mean yeah, it’s a big boat, but I feel like I’d go stir-crazy.”

  “Well we got to stop at some islands,” Moira said. “And there was a lot to do on the cruise. I think the hardest part for me was being around so many people for so long. It made me appreciate this quiet country house even more.”

  “I loved it,” Candice said. “Everyone was super nice and happy, and there was always something to do.”

  It wasn’t until Moira brought out dessert—homemade brownies with caramel drizzled on top—that she broached the subject of Reggie. She gathered that he had mentioned his concerns to Eli and Candice, but not in as much detail.

  “No wonder he wanted you to come to dinner Sunday evening so badly,” Eli said. “I’d wondered. He was very adamant that you were there. He mentioned it being something about Beatrice, but I didn’t pay much attention. I’m sorry to say it, but I thought he was imagining things.”

  “So did I at first,” Moira admitted. “David still isn’t completely convinced, but I think Reggie’s on to something.”

  “He may be,” Eli said. “I’ll do some digging, too. I’m at Misty Pines all the time, so it will be easy for me to ask around. Maybe one of Beatrice’s friends knows why she changed her will.”

  “See if you can talk to her sister,” the deli owner said. “According to Danny, they were close. If anyone knows anything, she does.”

  CHAPTER NINE

  The next morning, Moira got a call from Eli. He was excited, and she had to put down her coffee and ask him to go over it again.

  “It’s about Beatrice’s sister,” he said. “Her name’s Delilah. She’s even older than Beatrice was, but she seems to know what’s going on… and guess what?”

  “What?”

  “She says she knows her sister was killed, and she has a good idea about who did it. I guess someone’s been bugging her about her own will, but she had to go and do her morning exercises before she could tell me who. She wants to meet us for lunch and talk about it—oh, and she wants you to bring a fast food burger. She said she’s sick of the food here and wants something unhealthy for once. Will you be able to come?”

  “Lunch today?” Moira glanced at her watch. She had to be at the deli by one to relieve Meg. “I can come for a cup of coffee at noon, but I can’t stay for long. I’ll bring her burger as long as it won’t get me in trouble with the nurses.”

  “Perfect,” Eli said. “I can’t believe Grandpa was actually right. He’s always concocting mysteries where they don’t exist, but this is twice now that he’s actually been onto something. Bring David if you can. See you soon, Ms. D!”

  She and David pulled up to the retirement home shortly before noon. She clutched a small fast food bag, and kept glancing nervously at her phone; she had called Eli a few minutes ago to tell him they were nearly there, but he hadn’t answered.

  “I hope she hasn’t changed her mind about talking to us,” she said to David as they walked through the first set of heavy doors. “If she really knows who killed her sister, she might be in danger if she tells us.”

  They had to buzz twice before anyone came to unlock the second set of doors.

  “I’m sorry,” the harried-looking nurse said as she let them in. “One of our residents just passed away, so we’re all busy. It’s fine for you to come in as long as you stay out of the way when the paramedics arrive.”

  Moira’s stomach swooped.

  “Who was it?” she asked.

  “Delilah Ford,” the nurse said. “Did you know her?” She must have seen the shocked expression on Moira’s face.

  “No,” the deli owner said faintly. “Not really.”

  The nurse walked away, leaving them to find an out-of-the-way spot to stand. The assisted-living home was busy, with staff rushing back and forth, and most of the residents ignored them. She was just opening her mouth to wonder aloud to David if this could possibly be a coincidence when Eli rounded the corner and waved them over. His expression was grim.

  “We’re meeting in my grandfather’s room,” he said. “I take it you heard?”

  She nodded as they followed him. On their way, they passed a man even older than Reggie, sobbing quietly into a handkerchief.

  “That’s Griff,” Eli said softly. “I guess he was close to Delilah. They spent most of their time together.”

  How sad, she thought. To lose someone so close to him so suddenly…

  When they got to Reggie’s room, Moira was surprised to see her daughter there too, pacing back and forth in front of the window. The old man sat in an armchair, a frown creasing his brow.

  “Delilah knew,” he said once Eli had closed the door behind her and David. “She knew, and she got killed for it.”

  “Did she tell you who the killer was?” Moira asked him. He shook his head.

  “She got rushed away for morning exercises before she could. I didn’t know her very well, not like I knew Bea. She didn’t even know that I suspected murder until Eli here tracked her down and asked her about her sister’s death.”

  “How did she die?” the private investigator asked.

  “I heard one of the nurses say she passed peacefully in her sleep during a nap,” said Eli. “But I don’t know much more than that. We got shooed away as soon as they caught us listening.”

  “I feel terrible,” Moira said, setting down the bag containing the hamburger that Delilah would never get a chance to eat. “There’s no way this is a coincidence. I just don’t believe that two sisters passed peacefully in their sleep weeks apart from each other. Add in the accusations of murder, and it’s even more suspicious.”

  “Reggie,” Candice said suddenly. “You have to stop telling people that you think Beatrice was killed. If whoever did it is trying to cover their tracks, then you might be in trouble too.”

  “I’m not keeping quiet about this, young lady,” Reginald said firmly. “I can’t just turn my head and ignore the fact that two women—one of them a close friend—have been murdered in
side these walls.”

  “I know it’s hard,” David said. “But she’s right. We don’t want to see you get hurt, Reggie.”

  “Who else is going to find the killer?” he grumbled. “None of you believes me.”

  “We do now,” Moira said with a glance at the private investigator. “And we should have before. I’m sorry that we didn’t. Just be careful, please? We’ll keep poking around, but it might be dangerous for you to do so.”

  He nodded reluctantly. She wondered if they could trust him to keep to himself, but knew they didn’t really have a choice. If only I had believed him in the first place, this may not have happened, she thought guiltily. I could have gone to the police right away, and somehow have convinced them to do a full autopsy on Beatrice. They might have found something in time to save her sister, and could have caught the killer without putting Reggie in danger like this.

  “I really am sorry,” she told him in a softer voice. “I should have trusted you, Reggie. I’ll do my best to make up for it.”

  “What do we do now?” Eli wondered. “Call the police and have them bring Danny in?”

  “There still isn’t any evidence that he’s guilty,” David pointed out.

  “They might find something when they do an autopsy,” Candice said.

  “Will they even do an autopsy?” the deli owner asked. “Don’t they only do that if they suspect something suspicious about the death?”

  “There’s a few reasons why they would want to do an autopsy, but it’s likely that this death wouldn’t need one,” the private investigator said. “She was elderly, and if she had any sort of dangerous medical condition, her physician will probably just sign off on her death… as long as there were no signs of a struggle, of course. They might do an autopsy if a family member requested it, but if Danny is really her only living family member… well, that isn’t likely.”

  “Do you think he killed his aunt, too?” she asked. “He did say he liked her.”

  “And Mrs. Radisson told you that she thought his aunt had given him a lot of money, didn’t she? Maybe he didn’t actually like her, he just hung around for the money.”

  “And if she knew that he killed his mother,” Moira said, suddenly seeing the big picture, “Then she would have cut him off from the money and probably threatened to call the police on him.”

  They fell silent as they connected the dots. It was chilling to think that someone could have killed two of his family members just for money.

  “What now?” Candice asked at last. “How can we get the police to believe us?”

  “I don’t know,” David admitted. “If I can get them to see how suspicious the connection between the two deaths is, then they might be able to perform an autopsy even if Danny objects. I’ll go and talk to Detective Jefferson after this. I want the rest of you to keep your heads down and your eyes open. Danny has already killed two people, let’s not let him kill any more.”

  CHAPTER TEN

  Moira felt guilty for not believing Reggie at first. At least now she and David were both confident that he had been right about the murder, but it had taken a second death to convince them. How could she make it up to him? Food, she thought. He must be just as sick of the nursing home food as all of the other residents are. I could have him over for dinner—I just need to get a list of what he can and can’t have.

  The list was the easy part. All she had to do was phone Misty Pines, and one of the nurses emailed it to her. Figuring out what to make was harder. His diet wasn’t as limited as some of the residents’, but he couldn’t have much sodium, fat, or anything hard to chew. She decided to fall back on what she was most comfortable making: soup.

  She ended up making a delicious low-sodium cabbage and beef soup with a side of mashed potatoes and broccoli florets. Everything was on his list of safe foods, but it was all much more flavorful than the food normally was at the retirement home. Reggie, when she had called to invite him, had been thrilled; not just at the chance to eat normal food, but also to get out of the assisted-living home entirely.

  “I know it’s a nice place,” he told her. “And I’m grateful to Eli for putting me here instead of a cheaper place, but when you get down to it, it’s just a comfy jail.”

  Moira didn’t tell him, but she secretly agreed. She knew that the locked doors were there to keep the residents safe, since some of them had psychological issues that made them a danger to themselves, but it still didn’t seem right that none of the residents were allowed to leave unless they were checked out by a friend or family member. By the time I need to go to a home, I probably won’t care, she told herself. I’ll probably enjoy the chance to put my feet up and relax while someone else does all of the cleaning, shopping, and cooking.

  Moira put the dogs in the mudroom behind a baby gate before Reggie got there. She knew they wouldn’t purposely hurt him, but they were so big that they could easily push him over. He walked with the aid of a cane, and from what she had seen, he wasn’t particularly steady on his feet.

  Eli and Candice hadn’t been able to make it, but David had volunteered to come, and was even driving Reggie from the nursing home to her house and back again. She had protested at first, not wanting him to go out of his way for something that was her idea, but he had insisted.

  “You’re making the whole dinner,” he told her. “You don’t need to be driving into town and back again too. I’ll handle it. Besides, it will give me a chance to pick his brain. Maybe he’ll be able to remember something else about Beatrice’s or Delilah’s deaths.”

  In the days between their meeting at Misty Pines and the dinner, Reggie had met with Detective Jefferson to discuss their suspicions about the two deaths. Amazingly, the detective had listened and agreed to see what he could do about ordering an autopsy on Delilah’s body. It was a big step forward, and all three of them eagerly awaited news.

  David and Reggie pulled up in the driveway shortly past five. Moira had the meal ready and waiting for them, and the table nicely set for Reggie’s apology dinner. She was still mentally kicking herself for not believing him sooner, but at least he didn’t seem upset with her.

  “Thanks for coming,” she said as she opened the front door for them.

  “A chance to get out of that place and eat some good food for once?” he said. “I wouldn’t have turned down this invitation even if Danny was the one that sent it.”

  “Don’t say that,” she said with a shudder. “If he knows that you’re the reason the police are going to order an autopsy; you very well could be his next target.”

  “Oh, I’m going to be fine,” he said with a casual wave of his hand. “Don’t tell any of them at Misty Pines, but I had someone bring me one of those rubber door stops. No one is getting into my room if I don’t want them to, even if they have a key.”

  “That, um, seems dangerous,” she said, raising her eyes to meet David’s. He shrugged, looking amused.

  “How’s it dangerous?” Reggie asked, seating himself in the chair that she pulled out for him. “I don’t want a killer coming into my room again. There’s nothing dangerous about that.”

  “But what if you fall or have a stroke, and the nurses can’t get in in time to help you?” she asked.

  “If it’s my time, it’s my time,” he said nonchalantly. “Now, this smells delicious. Let’s eat.”

  I’m going to have to tell Eli about that doorstop, she thought as she sat down across from him. David took the seat next to her and squeezed her hand before putting his napkin into his lap.

  “This does look amazing, Moira,” he told her. “Have you served this soup at the deli before?”

  “A couple of times last year,” she said. “I may bring it back again this winter.”

  “Mmm, restaurant-quality food.” Reggie rubbed his hands together expectantly. “It’s been too long.”

  “Well, dig in,” she told him. “It’s all healthy, so I don’t think I’ll get in trouble with any of your nurses. I’ve got dessert
too, but you’ll have to wait to find out what that is.”

  The dinner was a success. She doubted that it had been necessary to get Reggie to forgive her for not believing him—he seemed to have done that already—but it was nice to see him enjoy the meal so much. For a moment she was half-tempted to take up the director’s offer of working as the chef at Misty Pines. It would be nice to have this much appreciation for her cooking every day. It’s not like my regular customers don’t appreciate it, she told herself. They’re just used to it.

  About halfway through the meal, David got a call on his cellphone. He glanced down at it, then stood up.

  “Sorry,” he said, “but I’ve got to take this.”

  A moment later he returned, sliding the phone back into his pocket. “I’ve got news.”

  “What?” said Moira and Reggie at almost exactly the same time.

  “They got the autopsy report on Delilah back. Normally it takes longer, but they rushed it. Apparently Danny bought a one-way ticket to South America, and Detective Jefferson worried that he was getting ready to leave the country for good.” David paused. “I’m not really supposed to be telling you this. Can you both keep it mum?”

  “Of course,” Moira said. Reggie nodded.

  “According to the autopsy, Delilah suffocated. They think she was smothered by a pillow or a blanket—they found fibers in her lungs. Her death has officially been labeled a homicide.”

  “That’s great,” Reggie said enthusiastically. Then he cleared his throat and added, “I don’t mean that she was killed, but that they’re finally investigating it.”

  “I understand,” Moira told him. “It is good. Hopefully they can arrest Danny soon, before he gets on that plane.”

  She felt relieved at the news. Her part in all of this was done. The police would handle it now, and if they moved quickly, then hopefully no one else would get killed.

  “Dessert time,” she announced, feeling like a weight had been taken off her shoulders. “I hope you both like apple crumble.”