Pies, Lies and Murder (The Darling Deli Series Book 22)

by Patti Benning

  She found her daughter reading one of her novels in bed. She stood in the doorway and watched silently for a long moment before speaking. The Dunker’s young daughter had looked so much like her. It was reassuring to see her daughter alive and well. She knew that this was probably their last peaceful moment for a long while. She was reluctant to speak, but she could already hear the sirens in the distance.

  “Candice, sweetie, something happened,” she said.

  Her daughter looked up, marking her place on the page with her finger. Worry flickered across her face.

  “What is it?” she asked. “Are the dogs okay? Did something happen to someone at home?”

  “It’s the people that were renting a cottage next to us,” Moira said. “Sweetie, their daughter has been killed.”

  CHAPTER SIX

  * * *

  Moira watched from the front porch of their own cottage as the body was brought of out the neighboring cottage by paramedics. Half of the houses on the street had people standing on the front porches or in the front yard, watching. She wished that they would go inside. She understood that they were just curious, but it seemed disrespectful somehow to the dead woman for all of the bystanders to be gawking and taking photos like it was just some gruesome form of entertainment.

  A man in a brown sheriff's uniform approached her. "Ms. Darling, you're the one who found the body, correct?"

  She nodded.

  "All right, we're going to need to ask you some questions. Ah… do you want to sit down somewhere? I understand that this must be quite a shock for you, but we need to try to figure out what happened." He was looking at her with concern, and she realized that she must look like she was about to faint. She certainly felt pale and unsteady.

  "We can sit out here," Moira said. Candice was inside, talking to Eli over the phone and telling him what had happened. She wanted to protect her daughter from hearing her description of the murder scene.

  "Very well. First, can you tell me what you were doing at their house this morning? Did you know them personally, Ms. Darling?"

  "I didn’t know them at all. They introduced themselves the day before yesterday when we got here, and that was the first and only time we spoke to them. I was over there because the mother, Melissa Dunker, told me they had to leave unexpectedly, and asked me to keep an eye on their daughter…” She told him about deciding to go over and ask Jillian if she wanted to join them for breakfast. When she mentioned the bloodstain on the porch, he interrupted her for the first time.

  "Why didn’t you call the police at this point?" he asked

  "Honestly, I didn't know what was going on. They had gone fishing the day before yesterday. I thought maybe someone had just cut their finger on something. But then I saw the blood by the door, and I knew something was wrong. Maybe I should've called the police then, but the window was right there, so I peeked inside first. When I saw that poor young woman lying on the floor, I didn't even think about it. I just rushed inside to see if there is anything I could do to help." She fell silent, thinking of the horrible image of the young woman sprawled on the living room floor in a pool of her own blood. It was the blonde hair that stuck with her the most. It was so like Candice’s.

  "How did you know that the door would be unlocked?"

  "I didn't. I just tried it, and it happened to be open. Officer, what do you think happened? Who would do something like this? Are we in danger?"

  "I’m sorry I can’t be more reassuring, but I don’t have any answers to those questions at this time," the officer said. "I can promise you that we will increase police presence in the area. I’m also going to suggest that you and everyone else on this street locks their doors even if you are home, and be careful about who you let into the house. How much longer will you be in town?"

  "We are supposed to be here for four more days, but I'm not sure now. We might end up leaving early."

  "I would appreciate it if you would stay for the time you have planned. We may need to ask you some more questions as investigation proceeds. Now, I can’t force you to stay in town, but it’s going to look a lot better if you cooperate, do you understand?”

  Moira nodded, trying to push away the quick stab of anger and hurt that she felt. She understood that right now, she and her family were probably the closest thing that the police had to being suspects. She and David had found the body, and they were staying right next door to the murdered girl. They may not have a motive, but there was probably enough circumstantial evidence to raise suspicion.

  “Now, do you remember hearing or seeing anything unusual last night?” the sheriff continued.

  "No, not at all. We got back pretty late from the fireworks, and went straight inside and to bed. I woke up first and took the dogs outside, then went right back in. Everything seemed normal."

  “Do you know if there was anyone else staying with them?"

  "No, I don’t think so. If there was anyone else, they didn’t mention them." Moira fell silent, trying to remember everything that the Dunkers had said when they introduced themselves. "They did mention something about having trouble in town a while ago. They used to live here, I guess, and they had an issue with one of the men in town. They didn't tell us any more than that, sorry."

  "Thank you, Ms. Darling, that may be very helpful."

  He asked both David and Candice a few questions, then left them with instructions to call if they remembered anything unusual. After he left to go and question the people across the street, they went back inside and locked the door behind them. They were silent for a long time before David spoke up.

  "What do you want to do now?" he asked. "If you want to go home, I can start packing up."

  "The officer said that we should stay in town," Moira said. "I think we should stay at least another day or two. If we leave right now, it might seem like we have something to hide.”

  “Okay, we’ll stay. I’m surprised we didn’t hear anything last night,” David said. “To think that we might have been able to save her if only we had slept with our windows open.”

  Moira closed her eyes, seized by a sudden feeling of guilt. It had been her job to keep an eye out for Jillian. She couldn’t stop going over the evening before in her head. What David had just said really struck her. Things might have turned out so differently if only they had glanced out the window at the right time.

  “This is so horrible,” Candice said. “I feel so bad for the woman and her parents. I don’t know what to do now. I wouldn’t feel right going to the beach or taking the boat out, knowing what happened just a few hundred feet away.”

  “I think we all need to get out of the house,” David said. “Let’s head into town. I want to see if I can find out what sort of trouble the Dunkers had before they moved away, and the two of you should get some sunshine. No one is going to benefit from the three of us sitting in this house for the next few days. If we want to help find out who did this, we should get out there and do something.”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  * * *

  David drove them to the small library in the center of town, where he got out with his laptop. The building was tiny and ancient, but the sign on the window promised that it had Wi-Fi.

  “Do you want to come in? I’m not sure how long this will take. I may not even find anything — it depends on if the person that they had trouble with was ever charged with anything.”

  “I think we’ll just take a look around town,” Moira said. “You’ll call us when you’re done here?”

  “Yes. If you want to pick something up for lunch, I’ll grill it when we get back.”

  The deli owner realized that none of them had eaten breakfast. The bacon had been burnt to a crisp by the time she and David had gotten back inside, and none of them had had much of an appetite after watching the paramedics carry out the shrouded body.

  “Shopping it is,” Moira said.

  Candice and Moira left David standing in front of the library. The two of them drove the few blocks
to the little country store they had stopped at the day before.

  "Well, what you want for lunch?" Moira asked her daughter.

  "Honestly, I have no idea, Mom. I'm not very hungry."

  "I don't blame you," Moira said. “If I’m being honest, I’m not either.”

  "It must've been even worse for you. I didn't actually see the body. You did."

  "Yes… I'm trying to think about it too much, though I’m sure it will all come back very clearly when I try to sleep tonight. Regardless, we have to eat.”

  “I guess you’re right.” Candice sighed and looked around the little store. “How about bratwurst, pasta salad, and some sort of dessert?"

  "Like s’mores?" Her mother asked, giving her a small smile. When Candice was little, she had absolutely loved the gooey, chocolaty treats.

  “S’mores sound good,” Candice said, sounding interested in food for the first time that morning.

  They walked up and down the unfamiliar aisles, grabbing a few additional items that looked good. Moira didn’t want to buy too much; they didn’t have much room in the cooler, and it would be a shame to have to throw away good food when it was time to go home.

  Moira had just tossed a package of bratwurst into the cart when someone that she recognized from the day before nearly collided with them. It was Linette, one of the women that they had competed against at the pie contest. Even though it had just been yesterday, the whole thing felt so far away to Moira.

  “Whoops. I’m so sorry —” She broke off in surprise when she saw who she had almost run into. “You’re…” She cleared her throat. “I know you, you’re the ladies who won the contest, aren’t you?”

  “That’s us. My name is Moira, and this is my daughter Candice.”

  “The Darling women.” The woman gave them a quick smile. “I remember that. Sorry for the near collision. I should watch where I’m going.”

  “Don’t worry about it, we’re all fine. It’s partially my fault; I wasn’t paying any attention either.”

  “How is your trip so far? Are you enjoying yourselves?”

  “Not anymore,” Candice said.

  The woman looked between the two of them, puzzled, and Moira sighed. She would have preferred not to talk about the murder, but she supposed the woman would find out soon enough anyway. In a town this small, nothing stayed quiet for long.

  She gave the woman a shortened version of the story, leaving out the details. Linette had her hand to her mouth and had gone pale by the time she finished.

  “Oh, my goodness,” she breathed. “That’s… that’s horrible.”

  “It was one of the worst things I’ve ever seen,” Moira said grimly. “And that’s saying something.”

  “Wait, you said their last name was Dunker? Why does that sound so familiar?”

  “When they introduced themselves, they mentioned that they used to live in town. Maybe you knew them.”

  “I don’t think so, or if I did, then I didn’t know them well, but the name is definitely familiar. You know what, I think one of the kids that used to do yard work for my husband and I knew their daughter. Was her name Jillian?”

  “Yes,” Moira said. “They mentioned that they left because they had some sort of trouble with one of the young men in town. Is there any chance that you might remember who that was?”

  “It must have been Austin,” she said. “That’s the kid who used to work for me. He actually works here now, as a bagger. I guess he isn’t really a kid anymore either — he graduated last year. Anyway, he was completely in love with Jillian, but I don’t think she ever felt the same way. I know because I let him cut some of our roses for her for Valentine’s day. I noticed them in the back of his truck a few days later, and he told me that she had thrown them out when she thought his back was turned.”

  “That must have upset him quite a bit,” Moira said.

  “Yes, but it was a couple of years ago.” Linette gasped. “You don’t think that he…?”

  “I have no idea,” Moira said. “I’m just thinking out loud.”

  “He’s working here today,” the other woman said. “I said hi to him on my way in.” She pulled her cart backward a few steps so she could look down an aisle. “That’s him at the first register. See?”

  Moira looked at the young man that Linette was gesturing to. He wasn’t tall, but he was stocky. He had medium length blond hair, and was wearing a broad smile on his face as he spoke to the customer whose items he was bagging. He also had a large, purple bruise on his face.

  “What happened to him?” she asked

  “I have no idea,” Linette said. “I was going to ask him on my way out. I really hope he didn’t do it. He always seemed like a nice boy, he just didn’t have any luck with love.” She shook her head. “That poor family. And poor you. I’m sorry the three of you had to be there. Listen, why don’t you come over for dinner one of these nights? Maybe we can talk more about the Dunkers then. I’m sure you must be curious about them. They were an… interesting family.”

  “I’d have to talk to my husband about it,” Moira said. “I’m not sure how long we’re going to end up staying.”

  “How about Saturday night? If you’re still in town, of course. Here’s my number. Give me a call either way. I promise, Bearpaw is a good town. I want you to leave with good memories of it, not with all of this on your mind.”

  Moira let the woman enter her number in her cell phone, then gave her hers in return before they parted ways.

  Moira watched the bagger boy closely while she and Candice checked out at the cash register. She wasn’t an expert by any means, but she thought that the bruise on his face looked fresh. Was it possible the girl had fought back when he attacked her? Other than the bruise, he didn’t look like she would have expected such a violent killer to look. He was polite and soft spoken, and it was hard to imagine him attacking an eighteen-year-old woman in the dead of night.

  "What happened?" she asked as he packed up the last of their groceries, gesturing his face.

  She thought he hesitated for a second before saying, “Car crash. People keep telling me I was lucky, but the car was totaled and I look like I was in a fistfight. And before you ask, no, it doesn’t hurt much.”

  She realized that people must have been commenting on it all day. She nodded and filed the information away. Maybe David could check into his story of a car accident. If he was lying, then they could take their information to the police.

  They returned to the library to pick up David. He had a satisfied look on his face. Once he got into the vehicle, Moira asked, "Did you find anything?"

  "I sure did. Their daughter, Jillian, had some issues with a young man that she been dating. He got arrested when he physically assaulted her father after he was asked to leave. He got charged, but only got community service, because he was the mayor’s nephew."

  "Let me guess, his name was Austin?” Moira said

  David looked at her in surprise. "No. His name is Theodore. And, according to the gossip I overheard in the library, he was arrested this morning. Who is Austin?"

  Moira told him about her encounter with Linette at the store. "So, it sounds like Jillian had trouble with a couple of young men.”

  "Interesting. It sounds like the police have their work cut out for them."

  "Should we tell them about Austin? They might not know about him."

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  * * *

  After eating lunch, all three of them felt a little bit better. Moira just wished that they could do something. Her heart ached for the family that had lost their daughter’s life to such horrible violence. By now, the police would have called them. They would know that their lives had changed forever. She couldn’t even begin to imagine what they were going through. She hadn’t known them well, but she couldn’t help but to draw parallels between them and her own family. The daughter had only been a few years younger than Candice… she forced the thought out of her head. There was no reason to belie
ve her own family was in danger. According to David, the house had been ransacked – something that she had failed to notice in her horror at discovering Jillian’s body. That made her think that it had likely been some sort of burglary gone wrong. The driveway had been empty, after all. It would have looked like no one was home.

  That afternoon, the three of them went out on the pontoon boat with the dogs. There was a frightening moment when Maverick, who loved the water, jumped off the boat, but after they managed to heave him back on board, things went smoothly. David found a nice, shaded spot near some trees on the other side of the bay and dropped the anchor. Moira accepted the pole that he handed her, and the three of them spent the next few hours fishing. They only caught a couple of small bluegill, but the deli owner didn’t mind. She was happy to release them back into the water and watch them swim away. There had already been more than enough death on this trip, and she didn’t think that she would be able to stomach the killing and cleaning of the fish.