Smoked Gouda Murder: Book 5 in Papa Pacelli's Pizzeria Series

by Patti Benning

  “No idea. Russell didn’t mention it, and I didn’t think to ask.”

  “Why does it matter?” Karen asked. Both women turned to look at her. “Well, I mean, it’s the job of the police to figure all of this stuff out, isn’t it?”

  “Yeah,” Ellie said. “But I’m still curious. I guess I feel connected to her, somehow. I had her blood on my hands…” She looked down at her fingers and shivered. She would never forget how it had felt to try so desperately to save someone’s life, and fail.

  “There’s nothing wrong with being proactive,” Shannon said. “The case does effect both of us.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, the killer saw both of us, didn’t he?” her friend said. “What if he wants to get rid of the witnesses?”

  Ellie blinked. She hadn’t thought of that. Her interest in the case had been nothing but a morbid sort of curiosity up until now, but Shannon had a point. The two of them had been the only ones to see the murder happen.

  “I don’t know,” she said slowly. “It’s not like we can identify him. You said yourself that he was wearing a ski mask and you couldn’t see anything to identify him. Killing more people would just make it more likely that he’s get caught, wouldn’t it?”

  “Well, yeah, but this person stabbed a lady in the middle of your store. He’s not exactly a rational thinker. Someone who was that worried about getting caught wouldn’t have committed a murder in the first place.”

  “He may not have gotten more than a glance at either of us. What are the chances he would know who we are?”

  “Well, it’s your family’s store, for one. He probably didn’t see you, though – he was already on his way out the door when you came in. But I was just standing out in the open. There’s no way he didn’t get a good look at me.”

  Ellie realized that her friend was right. If the killer was a local, there was every chance that he could have recognized her. Shannon wrote for the local paper, and her picture had been in the paper a few times.

  “You two lead exciting lives,” Karen said into the silence, looking between them. “And I don’t mean that as a compliment.”

  “You just met us at a bad time,” Shannon said. “Life around here is usually pretty quiet.”

  “Just don’t go leading any more killers into my office, okay?”

  “We’ll do our best.”

  They kept the conversation away from the murder for the rest of their meal, though Shannon still seemed distracted. Ellie was worried about her; if her friend was right and the killer had recognized her, then she could very well be in danger.

  The women were just standing up to leave when something happened that made all three of them jump. Another patron, a large, balding man, leapt out of his seat and shouted “Hey, that’s my car!”

  He was looking out the window, and Ellie turned reflexively to follow his gaze just as the car’s alarm went off. She caught a glimpse of someone running away from a red sports car that now boasted a broken rear window and what looked like two flat tires.

  “I wonder if that’s the same person that did my car,” Shannon muttered as the balding man ran outside and looked around for the vandal.

  “Someone slashed Jacob’s tires, too,” Ellie said. “What in the world has come over this town?”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  * * *

  Jacob was eager to tell his story at work the next day; not only had someone slashed his tires on Monday, but he had also been questioned by the sheriff. It had been an exciting week for the young man. After her conversation with Shannon at the bistro the day before, Ellie was more eager than ever to hear good news about the case. She hovered behind her employee as clocked in and began pelting him with questions.

  “What all did the sheriff ask you?”

  “Just, like, if I’d seen anyone else there, and if she seemed worried about anything.”

  “Well, did she? Was anyone else there?”

  “She didn’t seem worried, and yeah, there was someone else there. I heard a guy’s voice. I didn’t see him, though.”

  Ellie bit her lower lip and tried to think. It didn’t seem like Russell had gotten anything useful from Jacob, which meant that he probably wasn’t any closer to solving the case. Before her lunch with Shannon and Karen, she had wanted the case solved on behalf of the woman who died, but now it felt more personal. She didn’t like the thought of Shannon being in danger. If only she had been the one to go out and tell the woman the pizzeria was closed, then at least her friend wouldn’t have to worry about all of this.

  “She actually seemed really happy,” Jacob went on. “I can’t believe she was killed just a day later.”

  “I know,” Ellie said, brought back to the present. “It’s terrible. I wish I had been able to do more to help her at the end.”

  “Well, at least she wasn’t alone when she, you know… passed.”

  The pizzeria manager nodded slowly. She knew she would never forget sitting with the woman for the last moments of her life. It was something that would haunt her forever. Suddenly she wanted to change the subject.

  “So, how’s your car doing?” she asked, reaching into the fridge for dough. Their first order of the day was their new special; a thin crust pizza with smoked Gouda sauce, caramelized onions, spinach, and garlic. She was convinced that it was one of the best pizzas to ever pass through their doors, and was very impressed with Iris, the newest employee, for coming up with it. She was even considering making it a permanent addition to their menu.

  “It’s fine, now. I had to get four new tires though. I’m glad we got paid Monday.”

  “Do you have any idea who did it?” Ellie asked.

  “No clue,” Jacob said with a shrug. “Probably just some random person, right? I mean, it wasn’t a very well-lit part of town. That sort of thing just happens sometimes, doesn’t it?”

  “I suppose,” Ellie said. “Though Kittiport doesn’t seem like quite the setting for that sort of vandalism.”

  Just because it’s a small town, doesn’t mean everyone’s a good person, she reminded herself. Just look at what happened to Celestine.

  They worked in silence for a while, Ellie putting together the smoked Gouda pizza while Jacob made a new batch of dough. Even with the addition of Iris, she sometimes felt like the staff at the pizzeria was stretched too thinly, especially with Clara out of town until the end of the week and Iris not being fully trained yet. I could hire someone else in addition to Iris, she thought. But that might not give everybody enough hours. Right now, the hours were split pretty evenly between her employees, with everyone getting two days off a week. If she added someone else to the mix and still tried to keep the hours as even as possible, that would mean smaller paychecks for the whole crew.

  Since none of her employees had complained about how busy they were, she thought she would let it be for now. If they were happy and the pizzeria was running smoothly, she saw no reason to change anything. Besides, she was sure Nonna would insist on continuing to help out once she was fully healed from her broken arm. The older woman was doing well — almost too well, in fact — and kept pushing the limits of what Ellie felt she could safely do.

  I went from having to take care of only myself and Bunny, to being responsible for my grandmother, a macaw, and four employees, she thought as she pulled the pizza out of the oven. It really was amazing how different her life here was than her life in Chicago. The amazing thing was, was that she was so much happier here even though none of this was a part of her life plan. She hadn’t been miserable, exactly, back in Chicago, but she had never once felt the deep peace that she felt here in Kittiport.

  She got the smoked Gouda pizza into a box and handed it over to Jacob for delivery. He slid it into an insulated bag and grabbed his keys off the counter, pausing to check the order receipt before leaving.

  “Right. See ya in a bit, Ms. Pacelli.”

  With that he was gone. Iris would be coming in later, but for now Ellie was a
lone in the pizzeria. It was a nice feeling. She turned up the radio’s volume a couple of notches and got to work on the next order; a chicken and broccoli pizza with white sauce.

  Once the chicken pizza was out of the oven, Ellie set it on the warming rack and went out front to keep an eye on the register. She browsed the internet on her phone, feeling a bit guilty with the knowledge that she had asked her employees to refrain from doing the same while they were working. Still, no one was there, there wasn’t any cleaning that needed to be done and besides, she was the boss.

  The bell over the door jingled and she looked up. Two men had walked in, one slightly taller than the other. He had dark hair, and the shorter one was blond, but the build of their faces looked similar. They were deep in conversation, but tapered off into silence as they drew nearer the register.

  “Welcome to Papa Pacelli’s,” she said. “How can I help you?”

  “We’re picking a pizza up,” the taller of the two men said. “It should be under Christopher Gaines.”

  “The chicken and broccoli?”

  “Yep.”

  “Great. I’ll go and get that for you.”

  She slid off the stool and pushed through the swinging door to the kitchen, turning the volume down on the radio as she walked by. The pizza was toasty warm when she grabbed it off the rack. She double checked the receipt, then walked back out to the front. The two men had resumed their conversation, and barely glanced up when she reappeared.

  “Thanks for this, man,” the shorter of the two was saying. “I know it might seem weird, but this was her favorite pizza. I feel like we’re honoring her memory by getting it. Today would have been our six-month anniversary.”

  “No problem. I know how you’re feeling. It still doesn’t seem real that she’s gone.”

  Ellie made a connection between the pizza in her hands and the men’s words. She was almost certain that Celestine had ordered a chicken pizza that day she had come in while Karen was there. Her mouth opened before her brain fully registered what she was doing.

  “Are you talking about the girl that was murdered on Sunday?” she asked. “Celestine?”

  Both men stared at her in surprise. “Yeah,” the taller of the two said at last. “Why? Did you know her?”

  “I remember her from when she stopped in a while ago,” Ellie said. “Not just that, though, I was also the one that sat with her after she was attacked.”

  The shorter of the two took a step backwards, his eyes going wide. “Wait, are you saying… did you see the person who killed her?”

  She nodded.

  “Who was it? Did you see their face? Did she seem to know him?” He stepped forward to grip the counter for balance, his face as white as a sheet now. “Who killed my Celestine?”

  “Alex,” the taller of the two men said, reaching for his friend’s shoulder. “Calm down. Don’t scare the poor lady.”

  “Get off me, Chris. I need to know if she saw who killed Celestine. I’ve got to know. You don’t understand, you’ve never lost someone like her.”

  His friend backed off, looking hurt. “Just don’t scare her, man.”

  “It’s all right,” Ellie said, somewhat shaken. “I’m sorry, but whoever attacked her was wearing a mask. I’ve got no idea who it was, and I’ve already told everything I know to the police. How did you know her?”

  “She was my girlfriend,” Alex said, looking pained. “More than that. She was the love of my life. We were going to get married.”

  Chris made a sound, but covered it up with a cough when Alex glanced back at him.

  “Okay, so we had our problems,” he admitted, turning back to Ellie. “But we were working on them. If I ever find out who killed her…” He trailed off, frowning angrily and looking down at the counter. Chris cleared his throat and stepped forward.

  “I think we’d better pay for that pizza and go,” he said. “My little bro’s not exactly in a social mood, as you can see.”

  “Right, sorry,” Ellie said. “I didn’t mean to bring it up. I’m very sorry for your loss.”

  She took their money and handed the pizza over, her mind working overtime as she watched the two brothers go.

  CHAPTER NINE

  * * *

  Ellie decided that Russell should probably hear about her conversation with the two brothers who had known Celestine. She could just call him, she knew, but it had been a while since she’d seen him and now that he was working on this new case, he would be even busier than usual until it was solved or the trail went cold. The sheriff’s department wasn’t far from the pizzeria, anyway, and she could easily stop there after closing. She would grab some coffee for them both on the way — the brew at the sheriff’s department always seemed to have a slightly burnt taste, no matter how recently it had been made.

  She refrained from saying anything to Jacob or Iris when she got there about the brothers. She knew how quickly word could spread in such a small town, and she didn’t want to be responsible for starting any gossip about Celestine or her boyfriend. She couldn’t imagine how hard it must be on Alex to have lost someone that he so obviously cared deeply about. It just made her feel even worse about her failure to help the woman, and she felt a strong surge of anger towards whoever had killed Celestine.

  It was long since dark by the time the pizzeria closed for the day. Ellie locked up and waved goodbye to her employees as they got into their vehicles and drove away. It was another unseasonably warm evening, and for a moment she considered walking over to the sheriff’s department. Then she remembered exactly why she was going over there, and realized just how stupid that would be of her to do. Walking alone through town at night after having witnessed a murder, and with the killer still on the loose, she thought, shaking her head. Is something wrong with my instinct of self-preservation?

  She buckled herself into her car and drove the short distance to the coffee shop, where she ordered a pumpkin spice latte for herself, and a double mocha espresso for Russell. She didn’t know him well enough to be able to guess his favorite flavor right off the bat, but somehow she didn’t see him as a pumpkin spice sort of guy. Mocha seemed like a safe choice, and she already knew how much he loved his caffeine.

  She started her car up again and made the second short hop over to the sheriff’s department. A drink in each hand, she pushed the door open with her hip and walked inside. There was a new secretary at the desk. Well, new to Ellie. The woman looked to be nearly as old Nonna.

  “Can I help you?” she asked, peering over the rim of her glasses, the lenses of which were as thick as the bottom of a beer bottle.

  “Um, yes, I’m here to see Sheriff Ward.”

  “Name?”

  “Ellie. Eleanora Pacelli.”

  “Pacelli, Pacelli…” The woman pushed the glasses farther up her nose and squinted at the computer. “Did he ask you to come in, dear?”

  “No, I’m a friend of his. I’m just dropping by.” She raised the coffees in her hands. “I brought him a mocha.”

  “Okay, well you’ll have to wait. He’s talking to someone else right now.”

  Feeling a bit put out, Ellie went to go sit down in the uncomfortable plastic chairs. She put the coffees down and picked up a magazine that was nearly a year out of date. She looked at the golden-brown turkey on the cover, and wondered vaguely if there was any way to put turkey on a pizza without making it look like Papa Pacelli’s was trying too hard. She loved Thanksgiving as much as the next person, but turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce didn’t generally make people think of pizzas.

  The door across the room opened and she looked up. A gaggle of young women was being ushered through by Russell, who looked tired. The woman in front looked sad, but the other two were talking animatedly, almost angrily.

  “I can’t believe you’re going to let that creep get away with it,” one of them was saying. “You should go out and arrest him right now.”

  “She told us that she was going to leave him, and now she’s d
ead. What do you think happened?” the other said. “I don’t understand why he’s not in jail already. Does anyone at this police station actually do anything?”

  “I’m going to have to ask you ladies to leave,” Russell said. “Thank you very much for the information. I assure you we’re doing everything we can to find the person responsible for your friend’s death.”

  He ushered them towards the exit. When his eyes landed on Ellie, relief flashed through them.

  “But sheriff —”

  “Sorry, ma’am, I have someone else here to see me. I promise, we’re doing everything we can.”