Boldly Basil Murder

by Patti Benning

  “I'm going to keep looking for a motive,” he said. “Other than that, I'm not sure that there is anything I can do. It's a waiting game right now. Hopefully once Susie wakes up, we’ll be able to get more answers.”

  They finished eating breakfast together, moving the topic away from the murders. Once they had finished, Ellie said goodbye to Russell, who was taking the morning off, and left. She was going into town a bit early, since she wanted to make a stop before work.

  Hot Diggity Dawg opened a couple of hours before the pizzeria did, which meant that it was already hopping with business when she got there. She skipped the line and went right up to the counter, where Clara, a previous employee of her own who had gone to work for Joanna when the shop first opened, was taking orders.

  “Hey, Clara. Is Joanna in?”

  “She's in the back,” she said. “Do you want me to go get her for you?”

  “Do you mind if I just go back there myself? It looks like you're pretty busy.”

  Clara nodded and waved her back. Ellie pushed through the door to the kitchen, where Joanna was busy making an order. She glanced back when she heard the door open and got a resigned look on her face when she saw Ellie.

  “Hey,” she said.

  “Hey,” Ellie said. “I hope it's all right that I’m back here. I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I haven't heard from you for a while.”

  “It's fine,” she said. “I was going to call you later today anyway. Let me just get this order plated, then we can talk.”

  Ellie waited for a few minutes while her friend finished the order she was currently working on. At last, Joanna put it on the counter next to the window where Clara could grab it. She took her apron off with a sigh and sat down next to Ellie. “Before you say anything, let me say something.” She took a deep breath. “I’ve decided to sell Hot Diggity Dawg.”

  Ellie just stared at her in shock. She couldn’t imagine selling the pizzeria, not for anything. It wasn’t just a job she was doing until she got enough money to retire. It was her passion. Her career and hobby and second home all in one. She thought Joanna felt the same way about her restaurant.

  She must have heard her friend wrong. “What?”

  “I’m selling it,” Joanna said. She didn’t quite meet Ellie’s eyes. She looked embarrassed, as if she knew how stunned the other woman was. “I’ve got a buyer lined up already. He’s offering me a good amount of money. You know I don’t need to work anyway; Steve makes enough for the both of us. I think… I think I’d rather have the extra time to live my life, you know? I can travel and stuff.” She took a deep breath. “This place has been more stress than it’s worth, lately.”

  Ellie blinked, still trying to get over her shock. She didn’t know whether the shock was more about the actual news, or the fact that Joanna hadn’t told her sooner. Surely she would have been thinking this decision over for a while. The shock gave way to a twinge of hurt. Did she really know her friends as well as she thought she did?

  Chapter Seven

  Still reeling in shock from her friend’s revelation, Ellie arrived at the pizzeria early and went through the opening routine like a sleepwalker. She just couldn’t understand it. She thought Joanna loved Hot Diggity Dawg just as much a she loved Papa Pacelli’s.

  Mixed in with the shock was that niggling hurt. Why hadn’t Joanna trusted her enough to talk to her about the decision she had been struggling with making? Had she thought that Ellie would be mad, or that she would try to talk her out of it? Well, Ellie probably would have tried to talk her out of it. Still, she couldn’t understand why her friend wouldn’t have opened up to her. The two of them were weeks away from opening a food cart together, for goodness sakes.

  By the time she opened the pizzeria, she had calmed down a bit. She could tell that this was a difficult decision for Joanna, and decided to do her best to simply support her friend regardless of her own feelings about her choice. She may not understand, but she valued their friendship enough that it didn’t really matter.

  It was still cloudy out, but the rain was finally letting up and the wind had died down. Ellie wasn’t expecting it to be a particularly busy day, but at least they wouldn’t have to shut things down for the storm. The temperature had dropped, and it was a harsh reminder that summer was almost over. Within a month or two, the leaves would begin to change colors, and shortly after that, the ground would be covered in snow once again.

  Her first customer of the day was a reedy man in overly large glasses. Ellie smiled at him and greeted him with her normal, “Hello, and welcome to Papa Pacelli’s. How can I help you?”

  “I’m not buying anything,” the man said. “I just wanted to look around.”

  Ellie raised an eyebrow, but simply said, “Of course. Let me know if you change your mind.”

  He walked around for a few more moments, frowning, then turned his attention to the menu. Ellie was beginning to get the feeling that she knew who this was.

  “We sell pizza by the slice, if you just want to try something,” she said after a moment, when he just kept staring at the menu.

  “I don’t eat at my competitors’ restaurants,” he said simply. “What would you say your busiest hours are? Do you make a profit through the winter, are you barely keeping afloat? I’m sure you depend on the summer tourists a lot.”

  Ellie knew her guess had been right. “We usually start getting busy right around lunchtime, then it drops off for a couple of hours, then we pick up again around five or so when dinner starts. We do make a small profit during the winter. We’re the only pizza place that delivers in Kittiport, and everyone loves a nice hot slice of pizza when it’s cold outside. The summer tourists do help, though.”

  “I’m surprised you’re able to stay afloat with prices like these,” he said. “It looks very overpriced to me. It’s a wonder that a chain restaurant hasn’t popped up and stolen your customers away.”

  “There’s only one pizza chain restaurant anywhere nearby, and they don’t deliver here. They’re a good half hour drive out of town. Besides, the quality of my food speaks for itself. Everything is made fresh, never frozen, and we have weekly specials that bring new flavors to the restaurant every Monday. We buy local whenever we can, and pay our employees a very fair wage. I’ve very rarely heard anyone complain about our prices, which are fair for what they’re getting.”

  “Well,” he said with a smirk. “It sounds like you’ve been lucky. You might want to look into getting those prices cut down a bit. There is a new player in town, and we’re going to blow you out of the water. The people who live here are finally going to get a chance to see what real food at a reasonable price can do for them.”

  He turned to leave, but Ellie called out to stop him. “I’m guessing you run that new buffet that is about to open? Jason, wasn’t it?”

  “That’s Mr. Hanks to you. And own? No,” he said, turning back to face her. “Manage? Yes. You might’ve noticed that the buffet is called Ms. Maine’s. I’m not a Ms. My mother’s the one who opened it. She’s getting up there in years and doesn’t have a wink of knowledge about business, but she’s got all the skill in the kitchen you could ever want, and her face looks good on the billboards. People would rather buy from a friendly looking old woman than me.”

  “Well, it’s nice to meet you,” Ellie said dryly.

  He looked at her for a moment. “I know I come across as aggressive, and that’s because I am. It’s nothing personal. Let me tell you something. My mom’s restaurant was on its knees, on the brink of failure, before I took over. After just a year, it went from being about to close its doors for good to being profitable enough that we decided to open a second location. My mom may not have any business sense, but I do, and I’m not playing around. Ms. Maine’s will be a national name within five years. I’m not letting any small town, overpriced restaurant cut into my profits. I’m not here to make friends, Ms. Pacelli. I’m here to make a fortune.”

  With that, he stepped out of
the pizzeria, letting the door swing shut behind him. Ellie watched him go, torn between being irritated and feeling slightly amused. The man was not a nice person, and she had no doubt that he would do his best to run her and the other smaller restaurants out of town, but he wouldn’t make much progress, she was sure. If he was involved in anything at the restaurant besides just making behind-the-scenes decisions, word would get out quickly enough about his temperament, and next to no one would buy from them. The people of Kittiport were a tightly knit group. Newcomers, and new businesses, had a hard enough time getting on their feet as it was. Someone with that sort of attitude wouldn’t get very far at all before the townsfolk put them in their place.

  Chapter Eight

  Shannon called her as she was closing later that evening. Ellie answered the phone, holding it between her ear and shoulder as she continued to scrub one of the pans.

  “Hey,” she said. “What’s up?”

  “I just wanted to see if you wanted to go to the memorial for Blake and Colin tomorrow,” Shannon asked. “It’s doubling as a fundraiser for Susie. You know that Italian restaurant she owns? Well, her employees are trying to raise some funds for her hospital stay. I thought it would be nice to drop by. Plus, I’m doing a story on it. It’s this Saturday.”

  “I’d love to go,” Ellie said. “Do you want to drive together?”

  “If you’d like to. I’ll have Andrew, though. I was actually going to ask if you wouldn’t mind watching him for a bit at the event while I work. It won’t take very long. I just need to take some pictures and do a couple of short interviews.”

  “I’d love to. You know I treasure spending time with him.”

  “Thanks, Ellie. I really appreciate this. It will be nice to go there and see what we can do to help with Susie’s fundraiser too.”

  They said their goodbyes and Ellie hung up the phone, smiling. She was already looking forward to spending time with her sister-in-law and nephew this weekend. She didn’t have any children, and likely wouldn’t ever have any, but that didn’t mean that she didn’t like them. Andrew wasn’t related to her by blood, but that didn’t matter to her in the slightest. She had married into that family, and felt every inch as though she belonged. Even if she hadn’t married Russell, she was sure she would still have been involved in Andrew’s life. Shannon had been her best friend since high school, and the two of them had picked back up where they left off when she moved home.

  She hadn’t been close with her own family growing up, and she was determined that Andrew wouldn’t have that experience. He would always be surrounded by people who loved him.

  She was in the middle of mopping when the phone rang again. This time it was Russell. She put the phone on speakerphone when she answered.

  “Hey,” she said. “Are you headed home?”

  “I just left the Sheriff’s Department, but not to head back to the house. We got a call from the hospital. Susie woke up.”

  “She’s awake?” Ellie put the mop down and grabbed up the phone eagerly. “Russell, that’s amazing news. How is she doing? Does she remember anything?”

  “I don’t know yet. The doctor said she’s awake and coherent, and wants answers to her questions. I’m going to go see her and try to give her some answers and see if she can return the favor.”

  “I’m so glad that she’s okay,” Ellie said. She bit her lip. “Do you think it would be all right if I went to visit her tomorrow? I know that she doesn’t actually know me at all, but I’ve been so worried about her and it would be nice to see her looking a bit better.”

  “Actually, that’s why I’m calling. The doctor said she is still very shaken up. She doesn’t have any family nearby, other than her brother, and we can’t let any of her friends through to see her since we still don’t know who attacked her. Chances are, it was someone that she knew, and the police detail on her room has been informed not to let anyone through unless they have a badge. Would you be interested in coming with me to the hospital tonight? I think having a familiar face there might help make her feel safer, and after all, you’re the one who saved her.”

  “Of course, I’d love to come.”

  “Are you still at the pizzeria? I’m about two blocks away. I can pick you up.”

  “Yes. I’ll be ready to go in two minutes,” Ellie said.

  The hospital was in Benton Harbor, and the half hour it took to get there seemed to last an eternity to Ellie. She was excited to see Susie, but also worried. How was the other woman holding up after what happened? Had Susie been told what happened to her brother? She couldn’t imagine what the other woman was going through. She supposed that Susie was lucky to be alive, but somehow she didn’t think that the other woman would feel that way. She had lost too much too recently to have any sort of perspective on it.

  It was late by the time they got to the hospital, probably past visiting hours, but a flash of Russell’s badge got them through. Ellie didn’t mind the special treatment; they were there on official business, after all. Susie’s statement could help solve the case, and the sooner Russell managed to hear from her what had happened, the better.

  Ellie hardly recognized the woman when they walked into the hospital room. She was in bed, her leg propped up and in a cast. One of her arms was in a sling, and her head was wrapped in bandages. Her bruises had colored in over the past few days, making her look almost worse than she had on the boat.

  “Hi, Susie,” she said softly as she walked into the room. Russell had elected to stay outside for the moment, and was speaking to the police officer who was stationed at the door.

  Susie looked up and Ellie saw a flash of recognition on her face. “I remember you,” the other woman said softly, thinking. “You’re one of the women who rescued me, aren’t you? And the other was Joanna, the lady who sells hot dogs. I remember flashes of talking to the two of you.”

  Ellie nodded. “I’m here with my husband. He’s the sheriff in Kittiport. He wanted to talk to you about what happened, but first I wanted to visit you to make sure you’re doing okay. Is now a good time?”

  Susie shrugged, returning her gaze to stare blankly at the bedsheet that was covering her one good leg. “Now’s as good a time as any,” she said after a moment.

  “Do you mind if I sit?”

  “Go ahead.”

  Ellie sat down on the chair next to the woman’s hospital bed. She hesitated for a moment, not quite sure how to start. “Well, I’m glad to see you up and awake,” she said at last. “I was so relieved when Russell told me that you had woken up. I was worried about you.”

  “The doctor said I’ll be fine. I might suffer from headaches for a couple of months, and it will be a while before I can walk on both my feet again, but I got off lucky.” She said that last word with a certain bitterness in her voice, and Ellie felt her heart go out to the other woman.

  “It doesn’t feel that way, does it?” she asked quietly. Susie looked at her in surprise, then shook her head.

  “No, it really doesn’t. You’re the first person who understands that. I didn’t get lucky. None of this is lucky. I don’t understand how people can look at what happened to me and what happened to my brother and my friend and say I was lucky. None of this had anything to do with good luck. This is all just… bad.”

  “I know,” Ellie said. “And I’m so sorry. None of this should have happened to any of you in the first place.”

  “Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad you rescued me,” the other woman replied. “I was so terrified down there on my own. I… I thought I was blind. I knew I had a head injury, and I couldn’t see anything, and I had only the vaguest sense of where I was –” She broke off, her breath hitching. She took a moment to breathe deeply. “When I saw you, I thought everything was going to be okay.”

  “I’m glad that we were able to help you,” Ellie said. She winced slightly as she thought about how close they had been to leaving the boat and just waiting for the Coast Guard to get there. “Do you mind if my hus
band comes in now? He just wants to ask you a few questions about what happened. He’s trying as hard as he can to put whoever did this to you behind bars.”

  “I don’t think I’ll be much help, but you can tell him to come in,” the other woman said.

  Ellie got up and walked over to the door, gesturing Russell inside. He followed her in and introduced himself to Susie.

  “I’m glad to see you awake now,” he said. “You had us all worried for a bit there. How are you feeling?”

  “Definitely not my best,” Susie said. “Ellie said that you had some questions?”

  “I do. As you know, I’m investigating this case. You’re the only witness to what happened. If you’re feeling up to it, can you tell me what you remember about what happened on the boat?”

  “I’m afraid I don’t remember anything,” Susie said. “The last thing I remember before waking up in that closet was going to bed the night before. The doctor told me that short-term amnesia like this is pretty common with head injuries and traumatic events.”