Pastrami Murder: Book One in The Darling Deli Series Read Online Free PDF Page B

earlier. Go on and head home. We’ll manage from here.” She was never one to make her employees work if they were sick, and this wasn’t even a day that Danielle was scheduled. Moira felt bad for being so involved in her story that she hadn’t noticed how ill the young woman looked.
    Danielle nodded and rose. She gathered her purse and coat, and a moment later was out the door and walking towards her small blue car. Darrin was watching her go with a slight frown on his face, but his expression cleared when Candice spoke again.
    “Don’t worry, Mom. We’ll figure this out.” She gave her mother a reassuring smile. “I’m going to go make sure everything is ready for the day. We’re supposed to open in ten minutes.” Moira glanced at the clock, shocked to see how much time had passed. It was indeed almost time for the deli to open, and she hadn’t even written the special down on the chalkboard yet.
    “Well, we’d better get to work,” she said. “I’ll take care of the register. I want our customers to see that we have nothing to hide.”
     

CHAPTER 9
    At first, Moira wasn’t worried when no customers came in. It was a chilly, gray day with occasional snow flurries. The roads were bad, and she didn’t blame her customers for wanting to stay home. But when four o’clock came and their only customers had been an elderly man who stopped in every week for a fresh log of salami and a wedge of smoked cheddar cheese and a couple driving through Maple Creek on their way to the Mackinac Bridge, she began to wonder if something else was going on.
    “Hey, Darrin,” she said when he stepped out of the kitchen for his break. “You can head home if you want to. It doesn’t make sense to have all three of us here when it’s so slow.”
    “Alright, Ms. D. Thanks. Oh, here’s that guy’s number, the private investigator that I was telling you about.” He took a folded piece of paper out of his pocket and set it on the counter next to her. “His name is David Morris. He taught criminal justice at my college for a semester.”
    “I’ll think about it.” She gave a small laugh. “I’m going to feel pretty silly if it turns out that I’m overreacting. They could catch the real murderer tomorrow.”
    Darrin had only been gone for a few minutes when Candice poked her head out of the kitchen. “Hey, Mom, you should see this.” She had her phone out, and a worried expression on her face.
    “What is it?” Moira moved next to her daughter so she could look over her shoulder. The phone’s screen showed an article from the local news website. Local Deli Serves Up More Than Soup, read the headline.
    “I think I know why no one’s coming in today,” her daughter said.
    “How do they know all of this?” Moira asked after reading through the article, which detailed how a bowl of soup from Darling’s DELIcious Delights had been the last thing that Henry Devou had eaten before he died. While the article didn’t directly say that Moira had poisoned him, the implication was obvious. “Aren’t the police supposed to keep this sort of information secret, at least until they have proof?”
    “No idea,” Candice said. “But if people think you poisoned someone, no one’s going to come in.”
    “I think that maybe you and Darrin are right,” she told her daughter at last. “We do need outside help. The sooner this gets solved the better. The store can’t survive many more days like this.” The dull day was interrupted only once. Moira was sitting at the counter when the front door slammed open, and an angry woman strode in. She was maybe a decade older than Moira, with long hair that had gone mostly gray, and a stern face that looked slightly familiar, although she couldn’t place it.
    “Hello,” she began. “Welcome to-“
    “How dare you?” the woman cut her off. “You murderer! How can you sit there with a smile on your face while my brother is dead by your hand?” Her voice was high and loud