Grilled Rye Murder: Book 16 in The Darling Deli Series Read Online Free PDF Page B

work.”
    “Of course! Here’s my card. Call me any time of the day or night to set up an interview. The sooner the better. How about tonight? Tomorrow morning? I could do lunch—”
    “I don’t know when yet,” she told him, cutting him off. “I still need to wrap my brain around everything that’s going on. Thank you for the card. I’ll call you when I’m ready.”
    With that she stepped around him, quickly unlocked the deli’s front door, and hurried inside. She was completely shaken by what had happened—how had news about her arrest gotten out already?—but thought that considering the situation, she had handled the news team’s ambush well.
    She got the breakfast cookies and mini quiches in the oven with time to spare, and spent the last few minutes before the deli officially opened getting the ingredients ready for the lunch selection: a creamy chicken and gnocchi soup and bean sprout salad sandwiches on rye. One thing she loved about owning her own restaurant was the freedom to play with new dishes whenever she wanted. She enjoyed making something new almost every single day, and her customers seemed to enjoy the variety as well. Of course, some of her soups did so well that people would ask for them specifically when they came in. She made extra of her most popular soups and sold it in small frozen containers.
    That’s what’s so nice about being a small business , she thought as she pulled the tray of cranberry and white chocolate breakfast cookies out of the oven. I can work with my customers individually, instead of being forced to stick to some corporate policy.
    She was just putting the finishing touches on a platter of quiches when she heard the bell on the deli’s front door jingle, signaling the arrival of one of her employees. She assumed it was Meg, who was scheduled to work with her that morning, so was surprised when Jenny walked in.
    “Oh dear, what’s wrong?” Moira asked, the sight of the woman’s red puffy eyes and tear-streaked face making her forget all about the quiches.
    “I—I just heard about Zander,” Jenny said. Her voice was tremulous, and Moira realized she must have been crying all night.
    “Did you know him very well?” the deli owner asked, guiding the young woman over to a stool. She understood how shocking it could be when someone you knew died suddenly, but Jenny’s reaction seemed over the top. As far as she knew, they had only met a few times when Zander dropped off last-minute deliveries for some of their catering jobs.
    “Yeah, I dated him for a couple of months,” Jenny said, sniffling. Moira, though surprised by this news, just patted the girl on the back. “We had just started really talking and spending time together again. I thought it was weird when he didn’t answer my calls yesterday… but I never imagined he was dead.”
    “How did you find out?”
    “There was a news story. I just caught the end of it.” Her eyes filled with tears. “I didn’t want to believe it, but the same story was online too.”
    “I’m so sorry, Jenny. That must have been horrible.”
    “They were saying that you killed him, Ms. D! I don’t believe them, of course, but I had to come over here and ask… what really happened?”
    Moira told her everything, not leaving out even the smallest detail in case the young woman, as Zander’s friend, recognized something that she, David, and the police had overlooked. She was still surprised at the revelation that the two had dated, but the more she thought about it, the more sense that it made. Zander was only about five years older than Jenny, after all, and Jenny’s family had a winery in the lower part of the state. They must have had a fair amount in common.
    “What did they say about me?” the deli owner asked at last. “How do they even know that I was arrested? What station was this?”
    “Um, I don’t know. I was just flipping through channels. It might have been called Beyond News or something? Not one