Cold Cut Murder: Book Three in The Darling Deli Series Read Online Free PDF Page B

needed to do what was necessary to feel safe. The motion detector she decided to put in the kitchen, where she hoped it would pick up the movement of anyone coming in the door. It would send an alert to her phone if it detected motion during the hours that the deli was closed.
    “Hello, Ms. Darling. Thanks for calling us,” said Detective Jefferson when she unlocked the front door for him. The deli was supposed to open in less than an hour, and she sincerely hoped that the police business would be finished by then. He gave David a nod in greeting, and then turned his attention back to her.
    “Here’s the tape we found.” She handed him the bag. “I don’t know how long it was on there. I hate to say it, but I never really checked to see if the door was locked. I just assumed it was, and we only use it for deliveries, so it could have gone unnoticed for a long time.”
    “If you don’t mind, Detective Fitzgerald would like to take a look around. While he does that, do you mind if I ask you some questions?” he asked. She nodded and followed the detective over to one of the small tables while his partner slipped into the kitchen.
    “We’ve been looking into the murder victim’s past, to see who might have a motive,” he told her. “And we found his review of your deli. It was pretty bad.”
    “Yeah.” Moira grimaced. “It was totally unfair. He was rude the entire time, and ended up throwing out most of his meal. I know Darling’s DELIcious Delights isn’t a five-star, award-winning sort of place, but we do have good food, good employees, and a nice atmosphere. All of which he basically said were terrible.”
    “So is it safe to say that you disliked Jason Platte?” he asked.
    “Well…” She frowned, trying to choose her words carefully so that they would be honest, but wouldn’t sound like she was still unduly upset with the man. He had died in the deli, after all. She must at least be a person of interest in the case. “I don’t like the way he treated me or my employees, and I don’t like that he barely even gave my food a chance,” she began. “But I didn’t know him personally. For all I know, he might have just had a really bad day. His review didn’t really effect the deli much, anyway. My regulars are smart enough not to listen to him, and most of the tourists just kind of stop in when they’re driving through; they don’t bother to look up reviews.” The detective nodded and leaned back in his chair.
    “Do you have any idea who put the tape on your door so it wouldn’t lock shut?” he asked.
    “I don’t have a clue,” she told him honestly. “The employees all have keys, and we don’t allow customers in the back. Someone could have snuck back there and done it, I guess. Or maybe one of the delivery guys did it, but I really don’t see why they would.”
    “Has anything gone missing lately? Even things too small for you to bother reporting, like food, or small appliances.”
    “Nothing that I can think of,” she said. “Why? Do you think someone has been stealing from us?”
    “Possibly. If an unknown person had access to you store, they could have been doing anything,” he pointed out.
    “It’s bad enough that someone was killed here; the fact that some creepy killer has had a way into my store for who knows how long makes it even worse.” She shuddered. “I don’t know if I’ll ever feel completely comfortable here again.”
    “Actually…” Jefferson darted his gaze towards the back to make sure that David wasn’t listening in, and then he leaned towards Moira and lowered his voice. “The victim wasn’t killed here; he was killed elsewhere and then moved here. I don’t know if that makes you feel any better, but at least your restaurant wasn’t the scene of a murder.”
    “Thanks for telling me,” she said. “Last night, I kept imagining what must have happened. It was terrible. I barely slept.”
    A moment later, Fitzgerald came back out of the