Salami Murder: Book 8 in The Darling Deli Series

by Patti Benning

  “I know, you’re right.” She gave her mother a grateful smile, then her eyes drifted over to the shop’s front door. A frown flicked across her face a moment before someone knocked on the door.

  Moira and David both turned to see who it was, the private investigator teetering dangerously on the stepladder before steadying himself. Moira didn’t recognize the young man waiting on the sidewalk and assumed that he must be a friend of Candice’s, but when she glanced over to her daughter, the young woman shrugged.

  “I’ve got no idea who that is,” she said. “Maybe he thinks the candy shop is open—I’d better go tell him it’ll be a few more days.”

  She walked over to the door and unlocked it, then leaned against the door frame and exchanged a few quiet words with the man. After a moment she glanced back at David and her mother, shrugged, and beckoned him in.

  “This is Eli Rothberg,” she said as they approached the register. “He owns a business in town too. Eli, this is my mom, Moira, and her boyfriend, David. He’s a private investigator.”

  “Nice to meet you,” Moira said, privately amused by her daughter’s casual description of her and David’s relationship since she wasn’t quite ready to call David her boyfriend yet. “What business do you own?”

  “Ice Cream Dream,” he said. “And it’s actually my grandfather’s—I just manage it. Sorry for interrupting; I saw people in here, and have been wanting to introduce myself for a while, and also tell you that you’re welcome to put flyers in my store to advertise your grand opening if you want.” He had short dark hair and wore glasses that gave him a bookish look, though he was tan enough to make Moira think he must have spent a lot of time outdoors over the summer.

  “Oh, thanks!” Candice said brightly. “I’ll print some more off later and run them over. How late is the ice cream parlor open, anyway? I’d love to stop by and get a cone.”

  “We’re open until nine,” he told her. “And eleven on weekends.”

  “I should be done here by then. Thanks for stopping by. It’s so nice to feel welcomed to the town,” she said, smiling. “I’ll see you this evening.”

  “It was great to meet you all,” he said with a quick wave at Moira and David. “Feel free to stop by any time if you need anything.” The last part was directed towards Candice, who was grinning up at him.

  “You too,” she said. “I live above the shop, so I should be pretty easy to find.”

  “Good to know.” He grinned back at her and, with a nod towards David and Moira, shoved his hands in his pockets and left.

  David raised his eyebrows and met Moira’s gaze, then went back to installing the security camera. Candice walked back to her mother, blushing.

  “He was cute,” she said.

  “A bit young for me,” Moira said jokingly.

  “Mom! That’s not what I meant, and you know it. He’s only a couple of years older than me, and he runs a business too. I bet we have a lot in common.” Candice bit her lip, her gaze thoughtful.

  “I think you should take some time to get the candy shop on its feet before you think about dating again, sweetie,” the deli owner said. With a sigh, she added, “But it’s your decision. Either way, it will be nice for you to have a friend in town, especially one that manages a business that will be seeing a lot of the same customers as you do.”

  She fell silent, thinking of her fellow businesswoman and friend, Denise Donovan, who owned the Redwood Grill—the local steakhouse. David and Moira usually went there for their weekly dinner date, and the restaurant nearly always seemed busy to her, but her friend had lately been expressing concerns about whether or not she would be able to afford to keep the same hours during the winter. She knew Denise was concerned that she would have to let go some of her staff; though the restaurant was doing well now, once tourist season was over and the snow began to fall, she would have to depend on the locals to keep her busy. Moira did all that she could to help her friend out, even suggesting the steakhouse to her customers when the topic came up. She might have lost a few sales to the other woman’s restaurant, but it was worth it to keep her friend in business. Would it be possible for Candice to form the same sort of close working relationship with the young man who managed the ice cream parlor?

  “Well, this one is done,” David said, breaking the silence. “I’ll go start on the one in the back. Then do you want to head to the office for lunch, Moira?”

  “Sure,” she replied. “Candice, will you come?” Her daughter shook her head.

  “I can’t, I have too much left to do. I’ll see you guys on Saturday, okay?” she said.

  Saturday, three short days away, was the day of the candy shop’s grand opening. Moira couldn’t wait to see Candice’s Candies open its doors to the public, and wouldn’t have missed the event for the world.

  “Of course I’ll be there,” she told her daughter with a mock frown. “Do you still want David and I to come early?”

  “Yeah. I’d love having your help to make sure everything is perfect, especially since Adrian won’t be here.” Candice wrapped her arms around herself, her eyes shining with excitement. “Just a few more days until I finally get to see this place come to life.”

  CHAPTER THREE

  Moira checked herself in the mirror one final time. Her hair was pulled up in a ponytail and her brown eyeliner accentuated the green of her eyes. She was wearing one of the pastel shirts that Candice had had made for her shop, black capris, and an old pair of sandals that weren’t quite as cute as she remembered, but at least went with the rest of her outfit.

  The grand opening of Candice’s Candies would begin in just a few hours, and Moira’s job would be to help her daughter with the initial rush of customers. At least, I hope there’s a rush of customers, she thought. She hoped that the candy shop would be busy today—otherwise, there was no telling if the little store would make it through the winter. Candice needed to build up a strong base of loyal customers. Quickly.

  Today our roles are switched, she thought, meeting her own gaze in the mirror. She would be working for her daughter, much as Candice had worked for her at the deli only a few short months ago. Her help would be temporary; Candice had asked her to come only for the first few hours, but Moira had ensured that her schedule for the rest of the day was clear if the need for her to stay longer arose. She had even made plans for Maverick—Ben Hall, the young man who took care of her yard, would be coming over to let the dog out and to play with him a bit while Moira was busy at the candy shop.

  “So you’ll be all set, boy,” she said out loud to the German shepherd, who was lying by her feet, watching her get ready with a relaxed, somewhat resigned look on his furry face. She felt bad about leaving him alone during the long hours that she worked, but couldn’t seem to come up with an alternative. There were no doggy daycares in town—she had checked—and she couldn’t afford to hire someone to come and spend time with him every day. She tried to make up for her absences by being extra attentive to him when she was home.

  She said goodbye to the dog and tossed him a meaty treat from the bowl on the counter, then grabbed her purse, keys, and a brown paper bag stuffed full of sandwiches, flavored sparkling water, and to-go bowls of soup for the pre-grand opening party that she and David had planned for Candice. He was bringing the cake, and she hoped he remembered the paper plates too, as she hadn’t found hers yet. Her kitchen was still a mess of boxes—one more thing for her to put on her mile-long to-do list.

  When she pulled up to the candy shop, Candice was outside on a stepladder hanging a large banner across the front. Candice’s Candies Grand Opening! it read, the words surrounded by digital pictures of a variety of candies that the store offered. The young woman waved to her mother as Moira drove by and looped around to the parking lot in the back. She walked through the back door just as Candice was climbing down from the stepladder. They met at the register counter, where Moira set the bag containing the food and looked around. Everything seemed to be in place; th
e little store looked ready for business.

  “Is there anything I can do to help?” she asked anyway.

  “I don’t think so,” Candice said. “Pretty much everything is done. I’m just waiting for Matt—he’s one of the workers—to finish up in the kitchen. There was some sort of problem with one of the outlets, and he’s been in there for the last few hours trying to get it fixed.”

  “Nothing serious, I hope?” Moira asked, concern lacing her voice. The last thing her daughter needed was for something to complicate the opening day of her store.

  “I don’t think so. He said it shouldn’t take very long, and that he would try to be done and out of here by the time the store officially opens.”

  “That’s good.” She smiled at her daughter. “Are you excited?”

  “Excited… nervous… I’m not sure which is stronger,” Candice said with a quiet laugh. “I keep thinking… what if no one shows up?”

  “People will show up,” Moira assured her. “Look, here’s your first customer,” she added as David walked through the front door. The private investigator had a white box in his arms, and Moira recognized the local bakery’s logo. She smiled when she saw the stack of paper plates on top of the box. She could always count on him to think a few steps ahead.

  “It looks like you two already started the party without me,” he said with amusement, eying the smorgasbord of food that Moira had been taking out of the paper bag.

  “Don’t worry, we haven’t started eating yet,” she told him with a grin.

  “Wow, thanks so much,” Candice said, staring at the cake box. “I thought we were just going to grab a quick bite before we got busy.”

  “This was all your mother’s idea,” David told her. “I just did the best I could to pick the right cake. How does it look?”

  He opened the box and turned it towards them so the two women could see it. Inside was a round three layered cake, each layer frosted in a different pastel color—pink, blue, and green—to match the colors that Candice had chosen for her store. On top were the words Congratulations, Candice! in white letters, surrounded by a few artfully placed pieces of candy. Moira glanced up at David and mouthed “thank you” at him as Candice’s face broke into a grin.

  “It’s wonderful,” she said. “Thank you, both of you.”

  The three of them pulled stools up to the register and dug in, first eating the lunch that Moira had packed for them before turning to the cake. It was so beautiful that she was almost reluctant to cut into it, but if the bakery’s reputation was true, then it would likely taste just as good as it looked.

  “To a prosperous future,” David said once each of them had a piece of cake on their plates. He lifted his bottle of raspberry sparkling water in a toast. Candice and Moira mirrored his gesture, and they each took a drink before digging into the delicious cake.

  “That was even better than I expected,” Moira said when her piece was gone. She gazed at the cake in the box, more than half of which remained, toying with the idea of taking another piece. Just a small one, she thought. After all, it wasn’t every day that her daughter would be opening the doors of her first business.

  “What are we going to do with the leftovers?” Candice asked. In addition to the leftover cake, there were also a few unopened sandwiches and an extra bowl of soup.

  “I shouldn’t have brought so much,” Moira said regretfully. “We can put the leftovers in the fridge, I guess. That way we’ll have something more substantial than candy to eat if we get hungry later.”

  “Sure,” the young woman said. She rose from her stool and began putting the sandwiches back in the paper bag. “After that, I’ll run upstairs and fix my makeup. I want everything to be perfect for the grand opening.”

  “I’ll take care of all of this,” her mother told her. “You just go get ready.” Candice gave her a quick hug, then hurried out the back door. Moira could hear as she ascended the stairs leading to the apartment above the candy shop.

  “I’ll take care of the trash,” David told her. “Do you need help carrying anything to the kitchen?”

  “I think I’ll be able to manage on my own,” she replied. “Thanks again for getting the cake. It was just perfect. Are you sure you can’t stay longer?”

  “I wish I could,” he said regretfully. “But I have an appointment with a client. It’s been a while since I’ve taken on a new case, so hopefully this will lead to something.”

  “Good luck,” Moira told him. They exchanged a quick hug before Moira gathered up the remains of their lunch and made her way to the back of the shop.

  With the cake box balanced on one hand and the paper bag containing the sandwiches and soup under the other arm, it was all she could do not to drop anything as she hip bumped the kitchen door open and pushed her way inside. The candy shop’s kitchen had previously been a storage room for the toy store, and the room retained a cavernous feel. It had already had plumbing, to an extent, when Candice bought the building, but no gas lines or appliances. Getting the room renovated and up to code had been an intensive project, but now that it was done it looked great, with shiny new appliances and rows of rolling shelves for Candice to store her homemade candy on.

  Humming quietly to herself, Moira tugged the fridge open and found a space to slide the cake box. She put the bag of sandwiches in the door, then almost jumped out of her skin when a loud beeping sounded from somewhere behind her. She let the fridge door swing shut and turned around to find the source of the noise.

  It seemed to be coming from the outlet next to the stove, where a small machine with a blinking red light was plugged. Moira approached it curiously. A moment later it beeped again, and she realized that it must be some sort of voltage tester. She remembered Candice saying that there had been some sort of problem with an outlet back here; from the looks of things, the problem had been resolved. Good, she thought. One last thing for Candice to worry about.

  She turned back to the fridge to make sure that it had shut all the way, but stumbled to a stop when she saw the slouched form in the corner next to the shiny stainless steel refrigerator. Her breath caught in her throat and she took a hesitant step forward, half wanting to check the man’s pulse even though the trickle of congealing blood down his forehead and the glazed, blank look in his open eyes left little doubt that he was dead.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  She managed to catch David before he left, her rubbery legs barely supporting her as she stumbled back into the main room of the candy shop. He gave her a sharp, concerned glance.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked.

  Moira couldn’t bring herself to say out loud what she had seen, but managed to choke out the words “the kitchen,” and point towards the back of the store. David frowned and hesitated for a moment, then strode towards the door that lead to the back. A few minutes later he returned, his cell phone pressed to his ear and his face pale. He put a comforting hand on Moira’s shoulder, and when she looked up at him he glanced towards the ceiling his eyebrows raised questioningly. Feeling sick to her stomach, she knew that he wanted her to get Candice. Though the last thing she wanted to do was be the bearer of bad news for her daughter, she knew he was right. Candice had to know what had happened back there, and better that she heard it from her mother than from anybody else.

  While David was on the phone with the police, Moira made her way up the stairs that led to her daughter’s apartment. She took a few deep breaths in an attempt to calm herself. The sight of the dead man seemed to be burned into her eyelids. She couldn’t believe that she hadn’t noticed him as soon as she had walked into the kitchen. As soon as she had laid eyes on him, she had been unable to look anywhere else.

  Candice answered her mother’s knock at the door just as the wail of sirens started in the distance. The young woman’s happy, excited expression dropped as soon as she saw the look on Moira’s face.

  “What happened?” she asked.

  “One of the workers that you hired is dead,” t
he deli owner told her daughter, her voice shaking. “I think you need to come downstairs. The police will have questions for you.”

  Within minutes, the candy shop was full of people. Police officers and paramedics crowded into the building, and the intermittent flash of a camera eerily lit the back hallway as a crime scene photographer did his job. Moira glanced at the clock and realized that the candy shop’s grand opening was supposed to begin in only a few minutes. It looks like the only crowd in this store today will be one made up of law enforcement, she thought. The grand opening would have to wait until another day, when the candy store was no longer a crime scene.

  She was sitting at the counter, having already given her statement to the officer who had been the first on scene. Now she watched as Candice and David gave theirs. Was it murder? she found herself wondering. Or could it have been an accident? Maybe he slipped and hit his head on something. She closed her eyes, then snapped them open again as image of the dead man appeared in her mind’s eye.

  David’s gaze met hers from across the room, and she knew from the cloud of worry in them that he assumed the worst. Surely we would have heard a murder happening right under our noses, she thought, feeling the hairs on the back of her neck rise at the thought that the killer had been in the building with them while they were laughing and eating cake.

  “Matt was so nice,” Candice said sadly a few minutes later once she had given her statement to the police. “I feel terrible for his family. I met his daughter. She was so excited for the candy shop to open.”

  The three of them had been allowed to leave the crime scene, and were now sitting in David’s office while the forensics team finished combing through the candy shop. David had called and rescheduled his meeting with the client, for which Moira was grateful. If anyone could help her and Candice figure out what was going on, it was him.

  “Her life will never be the same,” she said, agreeing with her daughter. “I hope his family gets answers quickly.” She knew firsthand just how deeply this man’s death would affect his family—she and Candice had gone through the same thing not long ago. The three of them fell into a subdued silence.