Pastrami Murder: Book One in The Darling Deli Series (2 page)

“I’m sorry, Danielle. I know it’s a shock. Did Darrin manage to get in touch with you, or did you see it on the news?” Moira asked.

“On… on the news.” Danielle’s voice was shaky.

“I know it must be hard for you, since you worked for him for so long. Do you want to take the day off? I can ask Candice to come in and help if it gets busy,” Moira suggested. She wondered if she should close down the store completely today, out of respect for Henry Devou. It was a small enough town that everyone would know what had happened soon enough.

“No, please just let me work like normal today. I need something to take my mind off what happened,” the girl said.

“Alright, if that’s what you need. You can work in the back today so you won’t have to talk to the customers. We have to make a new batch of the Cheesy Herb Bread. I’d like to make enough of it to freeze, so that should keep you busy.” Moira gave Danielle an encouraging smile. She appreciated the young woman’s attitude. She added, “Just let me make the Soup of the Day, then I’ll be out of your hair.”

Today’s soup was a tomato and herb bisque with quinoa instead of rice. Pretty soon the scents of tomato, garlic, curry, and basil had filled the kitchen. Once the soup was simmering, Moira chopped up some fresh cilantro to use as a garnish, and then stepped back into the main part of the store to write out the day’s specials on the small chalkboard.
Quinoa Tomato Soup and Garlic Grilled Cheese
would be today’s sandwich and soup pair. The familiar food with a special twist should be a hit with her customers, and Moira found her own stomach growling as she imagined biting into a grilled cheese sandwich with Amish-made sharp cheddar and sautéed garlic chunks. She realized that she hadn’t eaten breakfast yet; a quick glance at the clock showed her that she had just enough time to grab a bowl of soup before the deli opened.

It turned out to be a busier day than Moira had expected. It seemed like every single one of her customers had heard the news about her competitor’s death. For some reason, people stared at her for a few seconds longer than usual before ordering.
Do they think it’s rude of me to have opened the store today?
she wondered.
Maybe I should have kept it closed out of respect after all. But then Danielle wouldn’t have had anything to distract her from being upset.
She couldn’t close now anyway, not with a big pot of soup simmering away in the back.

Mary-Lou, one of the more prolific gossips in town, approached the counter with a bottle of sparkling water from the refrigerated section in her hand. She placed the bottle on the counter with more force than necessary, and narrowed her eyes at Moira suspiciously. Not sure what she had done to upset the other woman, Moira decided that being polite was the best course of action.

“Is that all?” she asked. “Are you sure you wouldn’t like a bowl of soup or a fresh sandwich to go with your drink?”

“No, thank you,” Mary-Lou said in an icy voice. “I don’t want anything made
in house.
” Confused, Moira just blinked and rang up the bottle of sparkling water. Why had Mary-Lou even come in if all she wanted was a drink? The deli wasn’t anywhere near her house, or near the church that Mary-Lou went to.

“Well, have a nice day.” Moira handed the other woman her receipt, and then watched, somewhat hurt, as Mary-Lou walked away without another word. What on earth had gotten into people today?

She was just about to close up for the evening when the door opened. The first customer was a man about her age, with a younger guy following him. Both were bundled up against the cold weather outside. Moira bit her lip, wondering if she had enough soup left for both of them if they were to order some.

“Mrs. Darling?” the older man asked as he approached the counter.

“Ms. Darling,” she corrected. “I’m not married. Sorry, do I know you?” She thought that the man looked familiar, but pretty much everyone in town looked familiar, even if she didn’t know them by name. He definitely wasn’t one of her regulars, though. His eyes were narrowed as he looked around the deli, taking in the fridge humming in the corner, stocked with artisan drinks and a few containers of prepackaged soup. The clear glass cases contained various breads, some she’d made in the deli and some she’d bought from local businesses. The cheeses and cold cuts were in the refrigerated trough in front of the glass cases. Moira was proud that everything she sold was organic and came from local farms and businesses.

“If you have any questions about anything we sell, I’d be happy to answer them. All of the cheese is made by our local Amish community.” Moira couldn’t help but smile as she recited her usual line. Her business was thriving, and she loved knowing that she could be certain of the quality of what she sold.

“I do have a few questions for you,
Ms.
Darling.” The man reached into his jacket and pulled out a worn leather wallet. He let it drop open, showing his badge. “I’m Detective Fitzgerald with the Maple Creek police department. This is Detective Jefferson.” He nodded at the younger man who stood slightly behind him. “Are you the owner of this establishment?”

“Yes.” Moira bit her lip. What was going on? She was certain that all of the licensing for Darling’s DELIcious Delights was up to date. She always made sure that the deli was in tip-top shape, and couldn’t imagine what could have happened to get her in trouble with the police department. The sheriff had come in just last week to pick up some more of his wife’s favorite cheese.

“How well did you know Mr. Devou?” The detective had taken a pad of paper out of his pocket and made a quick note on it before looking up at her expectantly. The younger detective was walking around the shop, occasionally bending over to take a closer look at something.

“Not very well,” Moira told him. “I’d spoken with him a couple of times. It’s a small town, and we’re both business owners. You know how it is.” Detective Fitzgerald scrawled something on the note pad before speaking again.

“Is the Soup Shoppe direct competition to your store?” he asked.

“Well, only sort of,” Moira began. “The Soup Shoppe is more of a restaurant, the sit down and eat type. I’m a deli, so while I do offer fresh sandwiches, salads, and soup, I also sell a lot of prepackaged foods. Quite a few of my customers come here mainly to buy the locally sourced cheeses, meats, and bread that I sell.” She offered the detective a tentative smile. “So even if someone eats lunch at the Soup Shoppe, they can still stop here to pick up something for later.”

“But it is true that you would likely see an increase in the number of customers that you have if the Soup Shoppe were to close?” The detective tapped the end of his pen against his lips as he waited for her to answer. Moira was beginning to feel uncomfortable with the way he was talking to her. His expression was cold, and he was looking at her with suspicion.

“Yes, a slight increase, but I don’t see what that has to do with anything.” Moira pursed her lips. “What is this all about?”

“It’s just routine, ma’am,” the other detective, Jefferson, chimed in. “We just need to ask a few questions any time there is a suspicious death.” Detective Fitzgerald shot a glare at the younger detective, but Moira spoke before he could say anything.

“Are you saying you think someone
murdered
Mr. Devou?” She was shocked. She had assumed that the man had suffered some sort of accident, or maybe had a heart attack or something similar. She hadn’t had a chance to see the local news, which she was now regretting.

“We’re just looking into all of the possibilities, ma’am.” Detective Fitzgerald made another note on his pad. Moira was beginning to feel that the situation was slipping out of her control. Did these detectives really think that she might have had a hand in a man’s death?

“If he was murdered… well, that’s terrible. I would never wish that on anyone, even if he
was
putting me out of business. Which he wasn’t.” She felt tongue tied and confused. She honestly did feel bad that Henry Devou was dead, and hoped the detectives could see that.

“Don’t worry, Ms. Darling,” Fitzgerald said. “This is just a preliminary investigation. We won’t know anything concrete until after we’ve run a few tests. The only reason we’re here is because we found something tying your restaurant to the crime scene.”

“Well, I hope you find whoever’s responsible. Let me know if I can be of any more help,” she said.

“Thank you. Here’s my card. If you think of anything else, please call me. And please let me know if you’re going to be leaving the area. We’ll be in touch.” He gave her a nod then turned on his heel. His companion, Detective Jefferson, smiled apologetically, then followed Fitzgerald.

Once they were both out of the store Moira hurried over to lock the front doors, then collapsed into a chair. What had just happened? They couldn’t seriously think that she could have had anything to do with Henry Devou’s death, could they? And… why had the owner of the Soup Shoppe had soup from Darling’s DELIcious Delights at his house? He had never stopped in for something to eat before, at least not while she was at the counter. Danielle’s dark curls appeared in the doorway to the kitchen. She took one look at her boss slouching in the chair and rushed over.

“Are you alright, Ms. D?” Danielle asked.

“Don’t worry, I’m fine,” Moira assured her. “I’m just a bit overwhelmed. Two detectives just questioned me. Apparently Mr. Devou’s death was suspicious, and they think I might have had something to do with it.”

“Oh.” Danielle’s face paled. “I’m sure they don’t really think that. I mean, they must question lots of people.”

“The older detective, Mr. Fitzgerald, seemed to think that the fact that we were competitors gives me motive.” Moira shook her head. “It’s just ridiculous. I wouldn’t even dream of hurting someone.”

“I know, Ms. D.” Danielle patted her arm gently. “It will be alright.”

Despite Danielle’s assurances, Moira couldn’t help feeling shaken by the incident. It was bad enough that a man might have been murdered. Moira couldn’t believe that she was a possible suspect in the eyes of the police. She hoped that they would realize that she was innocent as soon as possible. She suddenly remembered how Mary-Lou had behaved earlier, and how even her regular customers had looked at her warily before ordering. Could it be that they had seen the report of Henry Devou’s death on the news, and had come to the same conclusion that the police had? The thought of her customers suspecting that she might have had something to do with Mr. Devou’s death stung.

What she needed to do now was to catch up on the news. She now wished that she’d asked Darrin more questions when he had called that morning, but she had been too worried about Candice to think of it.

When she got home, the first thing she did was switch on the television. She had hoped that there would be a rerun of the story that Darrin had seen that morning, but she had no such luck. Moira wasn’t usually one to record the news, so she had no way of viewing any programs from earlier in the day. It looked like the Internet would be her only hope of figuring out what was going on.

A few minutes later, she had pulled up a local news website. She clicked on a link that had Henry Devou’s name in it, and began to read. Just as her employee had told her, Henry had been found dead by his sister in the early hours of the morning. Moira had never met the man’s sister, but she immediately felt terrible for her.
What a horrible thing to have happen
, she thought.

The site reported that police investigations were still pending. There was no information about cause of death, but the reporter did state that an officer had leaked information that led her to believe that the death was suspicious.
So why do people think that I had something to do with it?
Moira wondered. She found her answer in a small blurb at the bottom of the page.

Henry Devou gained local fame last year when his local restaurant, the
Soup Shoppe
, became a franchise, with various locations opening all over the state in just a few short months. Reports state that his success came at a price to his competitors. At least two local restaurants,
Darling’s DELIcious Delights,
and
Arlo’s Diner
, have reported a loss of customers since the
Soup Shoppe
gained state-wide popularity. A take-home bowl of soup from
Darling’s
was found at the scene of the crime, a suspicious find at the house of the deli’s competition. Could Henry Devou’s death have been a last-ditch ploy to save a dying business? Is there a murderer walking the sleepy streets of Maple Creek? Subscribe to our email list to keep up to date with the latest news about the death of Henry Devou.

Moira stared at the screen for a moment, her eyes narrowed. Who had told the Maple Creek News that her deli was losing customers? While she had been getting in slightly fewer customers than usual, the difference hadn’t been enough to affect business much. As she had told the detective, her deli was more than just a soup and sandwich shop, and it was doing just fine, thank you very much. This article made it sound like she was being put out of business by the Soup Shoppe, which was just not true.

In addition to manipulating the facts to make it sound like the deli was in trouble, the website also seemed to imply that she and Arlo were possible murder suspects. Moira was fuming. As far as she could tell, the police hadn’t even released any official reports about Devou’s death. All the reporters were doing right now was fear mongering, which wasn’t fair to her
or
to Arlo—a sixty-year-old man who had owned the small diner on Main Street for over half his life.
Maybe I should call them and complain,
Moira thought.