A Thin Crust of Murder

by Patti Benning

“I know I’ve said it before, but I’m so happy for the both of you,” Nonna said. “There is something I want to talk about, but it can wait until we get to the restaurant. I’ve been saving room for dinner all day, and I don’t want to wait a second longer.”

  The White Pine Kitchen was by far the nicest restaurant in Kittiport. It was just outside of town, and was nestled in the thick evergreen forest that bordered the town on three sides. This late in the evening it was nearly pitch black under the trees, and the restaurant, with its glowing windows and decorative lights, was absolutely beautiful. The hostess greeted them, recognizing Russell by sight, and immediately led them to a table. A waitress appeared just a few moments later to take their drink orders, then left them in peace to look at the menus.

  Ellie was still trying to figure out which of the new menu items she wanted to try when her grandmother cleared her throat.

  “Now, there’s something that I wanted to talk to both of you about. Do you remember my interest in the retirement community that we visited when we went to Florida?”

  “Yes, I do.” She remembered it well. Her grandmother had fallen in love with the beautiful retirement community down near Miami. Ellie could understand why; it was designed for people her grandmother’s age, and Nonna already had a few friends there. She didn’t blame her for wanting to stay somewhere with sandy beaches, palm trees, and sunny skies throughout the year.

  “Well, just a couple of days ago I finalized a half-time lease for one of the condos,” the older woman said. “I’ll be staying there from October through April this year, and depending on how that goes, for each winter in the foreseeable future.”

  Ellie blinked. This wasn’t the news that she was expecting. She knew that her grandmother had an interest in the community, but she hadn’t known that she was actually going to make the leap, and this soon. Her first feeling was sadness; she would miss the older woman terribly. However, she was also glad that her grandmother was taking this opportunity to do something that she wanted to do.

  “That’s wonderful, Nonna. I think you are going to be really happy there.”

  “I hope so. I’ll be able to take a cab and visit the pizzeria down there. It will be just like home, but warmer.”

  Ellie smiled. It would be nice to have her grandmother down there with the pizzeria. She would feel better knowing that it was in the hands of someone that she trusted and loved.

  “But that isn’t all,” Nonna said. “I’d like to give you the house, Ellie. Consider it a wedding gift. It will be yours, and all I ask is that you keep my room for me when I come back for the summer.”

  “Oh, Nonna, I couldn’t. That’s your home. You and Papa lived there all those years together—”

  “And as much as it saddens me, those years are over,” her grandmother said firmly. “Living in the past isn’t doing me any good.”

  Ellie bit her lip and looked over at Russell. Could they accept this? She had no idea how her fiancé would feel about any of this.

  “Thank you,” he said, reaching across the table to take her grandmother’s hand. “Ellie and I appreciate this very much.”

  “We do,” Ellie agreed. “I hope you’re not going to Florida because of us, though.”

  “No, no, not at all. I was going to tell you the news sooner, but then you told me about your engagement and I didn’t want to overshadow that. When I was down there with you last month, I was so happy. It was wonderful to see my friends again, and to be in a community where I don’t have to be limited just because of my age. And honestly, I don’t really want to go through another Maine winter. You will come and visit me though, won’t you?”

  “Of course. Maybe we can fly down for the holidays. We should be together over Christmas.”

  “I can always fly back up here to visit too. It’s just half the year, and I’m sure we’ll keep in touch.”

  Ellie nodded, still reeling from the news. Her grandmother would be spending half of the year 1800 miles away. It was difficult to imagine living in the Pacelli house all alone. Nonna was such a part of her life now that she didn’t know how she would manage without her company and advice.

  “Will you be flying down at the same time that Ellie does for the second pizzeria’s grand opening?” Russell said. “It would be nice if we could help you get settled in while we’re down there.”

  “Yes, that’s the plan,” Nonna said. “Who else is coming? I know you mentioned bringing some of your employees, Ellie.

  “Yes, I’m inviting them all. I’m planning to close Papa Pacelli’s down for a few days. We’ll lose some business, but I think it’ll be worth it to have both teams together. I really want these two restaurants to feel connected.”

  “That will be such fun,” Nonna said. “It’s too bad that Shannon and James won’t be able to make it. I wonder what came up?”

  “I don’t know,” Russell said. “They’ve both seemed distracted lately. Has Shannon mentioned anything to you, Ellie?”

  “No, she hasn’t,” Ellie said. “I haven’t spoken to her as much lately, not with everything that’s been going on. Speaking of being busy, I’ll be going back to the hotdog shop tomorrow evening to help Joanna do whatever things she needs to get done at the last minute before opening on Saturday.”

  “Well, that’s wonderful,” Nonna said. “It’s so nice that you’re becoming friends with this lady. I’m sure she shares a lot of your interests, what with her being in the restaurant business and all.”

  “That reminds me,” Ellie said suddenly. “Gina, the owner of the coffee shop, thinks I should start a club for all of the small business owners in town. I like the idea a lot.”

  “I think a lot of people around here would,” Russell said. “What sorts of things would the club do?”

  “I don’t know,” Ellie admitted. “I have to think about it more. It’s something I definitely want to do, but it will have to wait until later. I just have too much going on already to start another project right now.”

  It really was a promising idea. It would be wonderful to get more involved with the town and meet some of the other business owners around her. Maybe together they would be able to prevent people like Steve Winfield from making changes to the town that no one wanted. If enough people stood together, anything could happen.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  * * *

  Ellie hit the light switches with a feeling of relief. It had been a long day. She had spent most of the morning on the phone with Linda to help the woman finalize plans for the necessary renovations for the building in Florida. After that, she had gotten on the computer and looked at prices for tickets to Florida. It would be a lot cheaper to buy them early and as a package, so she would have to round up her employees as soon as possible and try to figure out who all was actually going.

  It had been a busy Friday, and normally she would have gone straight home for a nice bath and relaxing cup of tea, but not today. She had promised to help Joanna with the last-minute preparations for her big opening day tomorrow. If she was feeling tired, it was nothing compared to what the other woman must be feeling.

  She ignored the little voice in her head that reminded her that she didn’t actually know whether the other woman was innocent or not. Joanna just didn’t seem like a killer to her, and she liked to think that she was a pretty good judge of people. That’s not always the case though, is it? she reminded herself. Her previous engagement was proof of that.

  It was too late to change her mind. She had already committed to helping Joanna, and that was that. She was sure she would perk up once she was armed with a coffee.

  She arrived at the coffee shop to find the doors locked and the windows dark. She squinted at the hours that were printed on the door, and the numbers confirmed that it wasn’t supposed to be closed for another hour. She hoped that nothing had happened to Gina. Even if the woman was sick, why hadn’t one of her employees taken over? The coffee shop was popular with everyone at the sheriff’s department, and often go
t quite a lot of business late in the evening when people were going home.

  She tugged at the door once more, then sighed. Without coffee, the evening was looking longer by the second. She walked slowly back to her car, trying to remember if Gina had mentioned anything about the shop being closed today. She made a mental note to stop by tomorrow and see what had happened.

  Joanna let her into the hotdog shop, and Ellie was met by the delicious smell of roasting meat. She hadn’t been hungry when she left the pizzeria, but now her stomach gave a little pinch. She didn’t have any coffee to help energize her, but a hot meal just might help perk her up.

  “I thought I might as well give everything one last test,” Joanna said. “I put a couple of hotdogs on the grill, and I just took a fresh batch of fries and onion rings out of the fryer. The shake machine should be just about ready, too. I set it up a while ago—it needed a couple of hours to chill. Can we do a practice run? You pretend you’re a regular customer, and I’ll take your order.”

  Joanna got behind the counter, and Ellie approached, taking her time to look through the menu before placing her order. The other woman vanished back into the kitchen, reappearing a few minutes later with a hotdog in a pretzel bun along with a side of fries and a side of onion rings on a tray. She handed it over to Ellie, then turned around to work the shake machine, finishing by swirling some whipped cream on top.

  “Go on and take a seat, I’ll grab some food for myself and join you.”

  Ellie sat at one of the high tables and dug in, already knowing that the food would be delicious. She wasn’t disappointed.

  “What do you think?” Joanna asked anxiously as she sat down across from her.

  “This is the best hotdog I’ve ever tasted.” It was true. She didn’t think she would ever be able to eat a boiled frank again. The fries and onion rings were equally delicious, and Ellie could easily see herself eating an entire basket of either. She would have to watch herself when she came to eat here if she didn’t want to go up a pants size.

  “Well, you’ve got one loyal customer,” she said, dabbing at her mouth with a napkin.

  “Thank you,” Joanna said, smiling. “You don’t know how much that means to me. Here, I’ll grab some glasses and we can give the soda machine a try.”

  They both had fun trying all the unusual flavors of soda that the machine offered. The more time she spent around Joanna, the more she began to like the woman. Joanna was fun, happy, and easy-going. Ellie could see herself having a great friendship with her for years to come… if, of course, she wasn’t the killer.

  After their meal, Ellie helped Joanna tidy the kitchen up in preparation for the morning. “If you want, I can come over tomorrow and help,” she offered. “I’m not at the pizzeria on weekends, usually, so it won’t be any trouble.”

  “Would you? Oh, that would be wonderful. I still haven’t had any luck finding an employee.”

  “I’m sure you will, once this murder gets solved. People will be raring to work here.”

  “Has the sheriff made any progress? I know that you’re close to him. I’m not trying to get any information I shouldn’t have, but I would love to hear if there’s been any new leads.”

  “There hasn’t been anything new that I know of,” Ellie admitted. “To be honest, we haven’t talked much about the case lately. We just got engaged, and we’ve been trying to figure out some things about our future.”

  “Congratulations,” Joanna said, smiling at her. “That must be so exciting. I remember when Steve proposed to me. I had never been so happy in my life.”

  “Despite all the ugliness, it’s been a happy time,” Ellie admitted. “I can give him a quick call if you want. I’ll see if he can tell me anything that might put your mind at ease.”

  Joanna agreed, and while her friend finished cleaning the kitchen for the next day, Ellie stepped out front with her cellphone. Russell answered almost immediately.

  “Everything is fine,” she assured him before he could speak, knowing that he would be worried about her being at the hotdog shop alone. “I was just wondering if you’ve made any progress on the case yet.”

  “I was just about to call you,” Russell said. “I got the results back from forensics. According to them, the murder weapon was a copper pipe which was swung at the back of his head at an angle that suggests that the killer was significantly shorter than the victim. The amount of force used suggests that the killer was either a woman of average build, or a man with below average upper body strength.”

  “So that means she’s still a suspect,” Ellie said quietly.

  “It could have been her, yes, but there are other possibilities as well. Her employee was a young man, wasn’t he?”

  “Yeah, he was eighteen,” she said. “He was scrawny, if I remember right. Do you think it was him?”

  “I have no idea,” Russell said. “We’re going to bring him in for questioning soon. Since Joanna’s still a suspect, I think it would be best if you left sooner rather than later.”

  “We’re just cleaning up now. I’ll call you when I’m on my way home.” She was about to hang up when she realized she had something else to ask him. “Do you know what’s going on with the coffee shop? It was closed when I stopped in earlier, with no explanation. I’m worried about Gina.”

  “Did she say something to make you think she might be in danger?”

  “No… well, she’s been having some troubles with Joanna’s husband, Steve. I guess he keeps coming by to see if she’ll sell the coffee shop. I don’t think it’s very likely, but what if he did something to her since she refused to sell?”

  “I’ll send someone down to the coffee shop to check it out. Just in case. Be careful, Ellie. Let me know you get home, all right?”

  “I will, I promise.”

  She went back inside to find Joanna just finishing wiping the counters down. “Any news?” she said hopefully.

  “No,” Ellie said. “Sorry.” She hesitated, then decided to ask was on her mind. “Do you know if Steve has been to see Gina—that’s the lady that runs the coffee shop—recently?”

  “I don’t know. Why? I can ask him. Is it important?”

  “It’s just that Gina seemed to think he was harassing her about selling, and today when I stopped the store was shut up with no note or anything. I’m worried about her.”

  “Are you accusing Steve of something?” Joanna asked, her tone more confused than accusatory.

  “I’m not. I was just wondering if he might have upset her somehow.”

  “Look, I know my husband can be a bit… determined, but he wouldn’t push things far enough to really upset someone. You don’t even know him, it’s not fair to judge him like that.”

  Ellie sighed. She hadn’t meant to upset anyone. Of course, Joanna would defend her husband. It was true that she had yet to even lay eyes on Steve Winfield.

  “I’m sorry,” she said. “You’re right. I’m sure he’s a wonderful man. I apologize.”

  “It’s okay,” Joanna said, relaxing slightly. “He’s picking me up soon, you can meet him then.”

  “Okay. I—”

  She was cut off by a pounding coming from the restaurant’s front door. The two women exchanged glances, and Ellie felt her skin prickle. Two women alone in an empty restaurant late at night… had they made a terrible mistake?

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  * * *

  “Who in the world could that be?” Joanna asked, staring at Ellie in surprise. Ellie looked back at her with just as much surprise. Russell and Nonna were the only two people who might come looking for her there, and she had just gotten off the phone with Russell a minute ago. There was no way he could have made it to Hot Diggity Dog so quickly.

  “I have no idea,” Ellie said. “Maybe Steve is early?”

  “He wouldn’t try to come in the front. Besides, he has a key. Let’s go together.”

  “Of course.”

  Joanna dried her hands, and the two of them left the k
itchen together. Ellie felt a rush of relief when she saw who was at the door. She hurried forward to unlock it and let Gina in.

  “Ellie?” she said, looking shocked. “What are you doing here?”

  “I was helping Joanna get set up for tomorrow,” she said. “What are you doing here? I stopped at the coffee shop earlier and it was closed. I was worried.”

  “I had to take a personal day. Everything will be okay though, don’t worry.”

  “What’s going on?” Joanna asked. “Do you need something?”

  “I was hoping to see your husband. He told me to meet him here. He made a deal with me for the coffee shop, I wanted to… discuss it with him.”

  “He should be here soon,” Joanna said. “Do you want to sit down? I might be mistaken, but I thought you had decided not to sell. I told Steve that he would probably have to make plans without your building. Your coffee shop is quite famous in town, or so I’ve heard.”

  “I just want to talk to him about the latest offer he made me, that’s all,” Gina said. “You know, he got the bookshop, too?” This last was directed at Ellie.

  “No, I hadn’t known that,” she said. “I’m surprised old Mr. Schneider decided to sell. He’s aiming to buy up every store on this street, isn’t he?”

  “He’s trying to,” Joanna said. “I told him that he might want to wait until we get a little more established and people start recognizing his name. He’s got such wonderful plans for this town. If he could just be patient, I’m sure people would see that. My husband and I don’t always see eye to eye on everything; he’s so much more impulsive than I am.”

  Gina just shrugged. She seemed upset, and Ellie thought she might have been crying. She frowned, feeling conflicted. Joanna seemed so nice, but her husband was a different matter. Why couldn’t he just leave the people of this town alone?

  “Can I get you anything?” Joanna asked after a moment.

  The other woman shook her head. Ellie and Joanna exchanged another glance, and Ellie shrugged. Whatever Gina wanted to talk to Steve about, she didn’t look happy about it. Ellie hoped that the woman hadn’t decided to sell the coffee shop, and not just because she knew she’d never find such a good cup of coffee anywhere else.