Hand Tossed Murder (The Papa Pacelli's Pizzeria Series Book 8) Read online

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  HAND TOSSED MURDER

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  EPILOGUE

  Hand Tossed

  Murder

  Book Eight

  in

  Papa Pacelli’s

  Pizzeria Series

  By

  Patti Benning

  Copyright 2017 Summer Prescott Books

  All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication nor any of the information herein may be quoted from, nor reproduced, in any form, including but not limited to: printing, scanning, photocopying or any other printed, digital, or audio formats, without prior express written consent of the copyright holder.

  **This book is a work of fiction. Any similarities to persons, living or dead, places of business, or situations past or present, is completely unintentional.

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  HAND TOSSED

  MURDER

  Book Eight in Papa Pacelli’s Pizzeria Series

  CHAPTER ONE

  * * *

  “One classic round with double cheese, double sauce, half mushrooms, half pepperoni, and a butter crust,” said Eleanora Pacelli as she handed the pizza box through the pickup window. “Have a nice evening. Thanks for choosing Papa Pacelli’s.”

  She smiled when she saw the children in the back of the car reach forward for the pizza box as the vehicle pulled away. She was certain that the family would enjoy their dinner; Papa Pacelli’s was easily the best pizza joint around, and she didn’t just think that because she owned the place. When she was hungry, nothing compared to biting into a piece of her favorite Chicago style deep dish pizza made with dough from her grandfather’s original recipe.

  Ellie locked the window after the car pulled away and walked across the kitchen to tell Iris to shut off the sign out front. She was eager to clean up and go home; it had been a long, busy day. She wasn’t complaining — a busy day meant lots of customers, which was always good for the restaurant, but it would be nice to get home and relax with a glass of wine and a good book for a few hours before going to bed.

  It was odd to think that at this time last year, she had been living in the middle of busy Chicago, working at a job that she had no passion for, and engaged to a man that could hardly speak without telling a lie. She had never expected her life to change so completely, and in such a short period of time, not at her age. After leaving her fiancé and losing her job, she had been ready for something different, but her grandfather’s tragic death had been the real catalyst for the changes she had made in her life.

  Moving across the country to a small town called Kittiport on the coast of Maine had been a somewhat drastic reaction to her life’s changing circumstances, but she didn’t regret it in the slightest. Not only had she inherited the pizzeria — a restaurant that had twenty years of strong history in the small town — but she had also been enjoying the chance to get to know her grandmother, Ann Pacelli. The elderly woman was still sharp and intelligent, though she tended to overestimate what she could do. Ellie would always be thankful that she had been there to call an ambulance after her nonna’s fall down the basement stairs. The resulting broken arm had been bad enough. She shuddered to think about what could have happened if she hadn’t been there at the time.

  Covering her mouth to hide a yawn, Ellie reached for the radio that they kept on the small round table in the kitchen where the employees ate lunch and turned the volume up. She propped open the door between the kitchen and the dining area so she and Iris could move back and forth between the two rooms freely, and grabbed a broom. Cleaning up after a long day at the pizzeria wasn’t something she exactly looked forward to, but that didn’t mean it couldn’t be fun.

  When Ellie got home an hour later, her little black and white papillon, Bunny, was the first to greet her at the door. She smiled and crouched down to give the dog a quick pat before removing her outerwear and hanging her purse on a hook by the door. She was glad for the dog’s sake that her grandmother spent most of her time at home. She had always felt bad leaving Bunny alone for hours at a time back when she lived and worked in Chicago. Now, the dog spent her days keeping the older woman company. It was a situation that benefited them all.

  A loud squawk alerted Ellie to the fact that Marlowe, the green-winged macaw that her grandfather had bought nearly twenty years ago, knew she was home. The parrot had been devastated by Arthur Pacelli’s death, but had begun to form a new bond with Ellie in the past few months. Keeping the bird as a pet was very different from keeping a dog. For one thing, the macaw’s large beak was strong enough to crack bone; but perhaps most disconcertingly, the bird could talk.

  “Hi!” Marlowe managed to shout the word nearly as loudly as she had squawked the moment before. Ellie couldn’t help but chuckle. The parrot definitely wasn’t an apartment pet, but despite her noisy nature and destructive abilities, she was a loved part of the family — and she knew it.

  “I’m coming, silly bird,” Ellie said. “Just let me take my shoes off.”

  Only after letting the bird out of her cage for a quick kiss on the beak and giving her an almond still in the shell to entertain her for a few minutes was Ellie able to go into the kitchen and say hello to her grandmother. The older woman was in the middle of pouring tea when she came in.

  “Oh, hi, dear. I heard the bird when you came in so I got an extra cup down for you. How was your day?”

  “Thanks, Nonna,” Ellie said, taking the mug. “My day was good. The pizzeria was busy, which is always a good thing, and the warmer weather had everybody in a good mood.”

  “Winter isn’t over yet,” the older woman said with a sigh. “The weather man said we can expect snow again at the end of the week.”

  “Bummer.” Ellie sat down at the table and stirred a spoonful of sugar into her tea before sipping it. “I’m really ready for summer. The weather has been just miserable this winter.”

  “I’ve gone through OVER eighty years of Maine winters,” her gr
andmother said with a chuckle. “This one was pretty average. Art always did love the snow. I used to wish we could move somewhere warm. Now, of course, I don’t want to leave. Moving would mean leaving behind all of the memories of our life together, and I want to hold onto those for as long as possible.”

  “I can see why Papa loved it. It can be beautiful… as long as you’re looking out from inside.”

  The older woman smiled. “You’re like me, Ellie; we were born for a warmer climate.” She put down her cup of tea and sighed. “Well, that’s probably enough chitchat. I should get back to cleaning. Saturday will be on us before you know it, and I want everything to be just perfect.”

  “Saturday?” Ellie asked, wracking her brain for something she may have forgotten. “What’s happening Saturday?”

  “Kat and Chuck Norman are coming over. Oh my, did I forget to pass their message on? I thought I told you last week.”

  “I think I would have remembered.” The names sounded familiar, but she couldn’t place them. “Are they relatives of ours?”

  “They are dear friends of Art and mine. They used to live in Kittiport, but moved away when their first grandchild was born. I think you were around ten at the time. They’ve been wonderful about keeping up with us, and visit every few years. They made it here for your grandfather’s funeral. This will be their first visit since.”

  “I think I sort of remember them. Didn’t Kat always bring over cookies?”

  “She’ll be thrilled that you remember that,” Nonna said. “You be sure to tell her.”

  “Well, it’s nice that they’re coming for a visit, but how long are they staying?”

  “Oh, maybe a week. They’re flying in. You don’t mind picking them up from the airport, do you? I can’t believe I forgot to ask you sooner.”

  “They’re flying into Portland, right? I can do it. Don’t worry about it, Nonna, I’ve still got a few days to prepare. I’ll take Friday evening off and spend the day cleaning; you shouldn’t tire yourself out.”

  Just a few months ago, Ellie might have been annoyed by the unexpected intrusion into her daily life, but now she was too worried about her grandmother’s apparent forgetfulness to think about anything else. The older woman’s body might not be spry anymore, but her mind had always seemed bright and strong. She could only hope that this was a standalone incident, and not indicative of a more serious problem.

  CHAPTER TWO

  * * *

  After dropping her grandmother off at the salon Friday afternoon, Ellie swung by Papa Pacelli’s to pick up a pizza for lunch, and to check in on how the restaurant was doing without her. She trusted her employees and knew they were perfectly capable of running the place on their own — some of them had been working there even longer than she had — but it always felt odd to see the pizzeria functioning so smoothly without her. She wondered how she would ever let go when it was time to retire. Maybe she wouldn’t; if she remained as healthy as her grandmother had as she aged, she could keep running the pizzeria for many years to come. The thought made her happy; if she didn’t have Papa Pacelli’s to occupy her, she didn’t know what she would do.

  “Here you go, Ms. P. Bacon, sausage, and extra cheddar on the original thin crust.”

  “Perfect, Rose, thank you. Sorry for asking you to come in on your day off.”

  “No problem, I didn’t have any other plans and I like getting more hours. Enjoy your day off.”

  Even though she was going to spend the afternoon cleaning, Ellie thought that she probably would. Her boyfriend, Russell Ward, would be coming over to help her. The sheriff always had interesting stories to tell, and was surprisingly handy around the house. The hours spent cleaning and tidying the large house would go by quickly with him by her side.

  The first thing Ellie did when she got home was move Marlowe’s cage from its central spot near the bottom of the stairs to the more reclusive office. The bird didn’t do well with visitors, or anything that didn’t fit into the usual schedule, and it was going to be less stressful for everyone to have her in the other room. She didn’t seem to mind; her cage had been in the office for most of the time Arthur Pacelli had been alive, and she felt very at home in the room.

  Just as she was rolling the parrot’s cage into the corner by the large office window, she heard a knock at the door. She hurried back to the front room and opened it to find Russell waiting on the front stoop.

  “Hey,” he said, smiling when he saw her. “How are you?”

  “Good,” she said, standing aside so he could come in. “I’ve been enjoying the weather. It’s a pity we’ve got to spend the afternoon cleaning, but Nonna wants the house to be spotless when her friends get here, and I couldn’t let her do it herself.”

  “It looks nice out, but you aren’t missing much. All of that snow didn’t just disappear when it melted; I think there’s at least three inches of mud on the ground. I had to stop and change my boots before I came over. I’ll be glad to spend the rest of the day somewhere dry and warm.”

  Ellie raised an eyebrow. “Now I’m curious. What was the sheriff of Kittiport doing stomping around outside all morning?”

  “Nothing heroic,” he said. “Some cattle got loose between Kittiport and Benton Harbor, and Liam and I offered to help round them up. It wasn’t technically in our jurisdiction, but they needed the help and it’s been slow around here for the past few weeks.”

  “That’s nice of you,” she said. She meant it. She didn’t know many people who would be willing to spend all morning rounding up cows when it wasn’t even in their job description. Much like her and the pizzeria, she couldn’t imagine Russell doing anything other than being a sheriff.

  The early spring cleaning was almost fun with Russell by her side. Beyond the routine sweeping and mopping, the two of them took the time to shine the wooden floors — after locking Bunny in the upstairs bedroom — cover up worn out spots on the walls and along the molding with paint, and take down the heavy curtains to be washed. The project would have taken Ellie all evening to do by herself, and she couldn’t even imagine her grandmother trying to tackle it on her own. It scared her to think that the older woman probably would have tried to do if Ellie hadn’t stepped up.

  “So, who exactly are your house guests?” Russell asked as they rehung the cleaned and starched curtains. “Anyone I would know?”

  “I don’t think so,” she said. The sheriff was older than her by a few years, but if her grandmother was remembering correctly, he would have still been in school when the older couple moved away. “Their names are Kat and Chuck Norman. They’re friends of my grandparents. They were here for the funeral, so you may have seen them there.”

  “It’s nice for your grandmother that her friends still keep in touch with her, though I’m sure it will be difficult to share the house with people you hardly know.”

  “At least I’ll have the pizzeria to escape to. Thanks for agreeing to come to dinner, by the way. I’ll be glad to have you there. Besides, I’m sure they’re dying to meet you. Nonna tells everyone how proud she is that her granddaughter is dating the sheriff.”

  “It’s really quite the glamorous job,” he said jokingly. “I spend my days rounding up cattle and doing paperwork.”

  “Kittiport isn’t always so quiet,” she said. “I’m sure you’ll be able to come up with a few good stories to tell them. Though nothing with me in it, please, or I’m sure I’ll never hear the end of it.”

  He just grinned. Ellie made a face. She hoped he didn’t tell them about the time she fell off a roof and knocked herself unconscious, or got herself locked in the pantry while the pizzeria burned around her. It was embarrassing enough to have to relive some of those memories on her own; she certainly didn’t want her grandmother’s friends bringing them up every time they visited.

  CHAPTER THREE

  * * *

  “Poor Marlowe. You silly birdie. Don’t look so sad.”

  The red parrot pressed her face against the b
ars of the cage and stared at Ellie beseechingly. The woman knew what the bird wanted, but it wouldn’t be safe to have her in the kitchen with her while she cooked.

  “There’s no reason you can’t spend some time by yourself in here. You can look out the window and watch the birds outside, and I’ll put Bunny in here, too, pretty soon. I’ve got to get started on dinner, sweetie.”

  She slipped an almond through the cage bars to occupy the bird before she walked away. She whistled, and heard Bunny run towards her from the other side of the house. She let the little dog out the back door to do her business, then scooped her up before she could track mud across the floor. After wiping her paws off, Ellie carried her into the office and deposited her on the dog bed next to the desk, handing her a treat and giving her a quick pat on the head.

  “You two keep each other company. Marlowe, don’t throw food out of your cage for Bunny. She’s on a diet. I’ll pop in before I go pick up the Normans from the airport.”

  Feeling harried, she shut the door behind her and headed to the kitchen. She pulled on an old apron, tied her hair back, washed her hands, then surveyed her surroundings with her hands on her hips, trying to decide where to start. Her grandmother had offered to cook, but Ellie had seen how tired the older woman had been getting just doing normal day-to-day activities. A three-course meal, plus drinks and dessert, would be too much for her. She wanted her nonna to be able to enjoy the dinner, and not be too exhausted to keep her head up straight.