Curried Lobster Murder: Book 14 in The Darling Deli Series Read online

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  CURRIED LOBSTER 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

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Curried Lobster Murder

  Book Fourteen in the Darling Deli Series

  By

  Patti Benning

  Copyright 2016 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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  Curried Lobster Murder

  BOOK FOURTEEN IN THE DARLING DELI SERIES

  CHAPTER ONE

  For what must have been the hundredth time since she’d received it six weeks ago, Moira Darling pulled up the email congratulating her on being chosen as one of the lucky seven contestants in the Grand Cruise Chef War. In just two more days, she would be boarding a plane for Florida, where the cruise ship would leave port, and she was feeling completely overwhelmed.

  “The first order from Zander Marsh is coming today, isn’t it?” Meg Brownell, one of Moira’s employees, asked from the kitchen doorway.

  “Yes, it is. It should be here by four,” she told the young woman, putting away her phone and turning her attention back to the present for the time being.

  “Good, because we’re almost out of milk, and Dante’s worried because he needs it to make the quiches tomorrow morning.”

  “You can promise him that in just a few short hours, he’ll have all of the fresh, organic milk that he could dream of.”

  The deli owner smiled, easily able to imagine the young man’s concern over his precious quiches. Though he had only been working for her at Darling’s DELIcious Delights for a little over six months, Dante was one of her most valuable employees. He was a natural chef, and needed very little direction in the kitchen. Though he wasn’t quite as confident with the customers as her manager Darrin, he was worth his weight in gold as a valued member of her team.

  Meg was his girlfriend, and had begun working at the deli even more recently than Dante. She seemed his opposite in many ways; she was naturally outgoing and talkative, and preferred to follow recipes than to improvise her own creations, but despite their differences, the two of them made a strong couple. Moira was glad that their relationship seemed to be going strong, and was happy to let them share shifts as long as they continued to focus on work while they were at the deli.

  Allison, her newest employee, was currently in the next town over helping Moira’s daughter, Candice, figure out a new business plan for her store, Candice’s Candies, before the cruise. Just a few weeks ago, the young woman had begun offering homemade, custom-shaped chocolates and candies for sale online, and her sales had been through the roof ever since. Moira wasn’t surprised—her daughter was as skilled at making sweets as she herself was at making soup, and her prices were unbeatable.

  All in all, things were going smoothly and it was a great time for Moira to be gone for a while. However, even though she knew that her employees could handle pretty much anything that happened at the deli, she was still anxious at the thought of being out of reach for so long. To make matters worse, she was also going to be leaving her two dogs, Maverick and Keeva, at home.

  Normally Candice would watch the dogs for her, but the free cruise included a spot for each contestant to bring a guest, so Moira had jumped at the chance to spend ten days in the Caribbean with her daughter. Luckily, David Morris, the private detective that she had been dating since the winter before, had agreed to stay at her place and watch the dogs, but she knew she’d still miss the furry company of Maverick and Keeva.

  I can’t believe my name actually got drawn, she thought. When I entered the drawing, I didn’t think there was a chance that I would get chosen. What did I get myself into? The cruise wasn’t just a cruise—it was also a competition between chefs, and the prizes were high stakes. The winner would receive ten thousand dollars, and be featured on a segment of a celebrity cooking show. Moira doubted the challenges would be easy, and she was certain that the other chefs would be far more skilled than she was. In an effort not to stress herself out, she was determined to focus on enjoying the cruise over winning the competition, though of course she would still try her hardest when the time came. She was a Darling, after all.

  When the delivery finally arrived a few hours later, Moira hurried out back with her employees to greet the truck driver. It was Zander Marsh himself; a tall, bald man in his thirties whose passions included brewing beer and seeking more efficient and modern methods of farming. At first, his personality had rubbed the deli owner the wrong way, but after a few meetings—and the realization that he wasn’t a murderer—she had realized that he was actually a good guy at heart. It was rare to find someone as passionate about their line of work as he was, and even more rare to find someone willing to work with small businesses like hers on an individual basis.

  This is why it’s important to have a good relationship with the people you do business with, she thought as she watched him carefully back up the rest of the way to the deli’s side door. When you treat people well, they tend to treat you well in return.

  “It’s so nice of you to drive this over yourself,” she said once the truck had been shut off and Zander had hopped down to greet them.

  “I thought it would be the only way to make sure that everything was perfect for the first delivery,” he said. “You’re officially my first customer, now that old Mr. Samwell’s farm is mine.”

  “Well, it’s an honor,” she said. “And I’m sure everything will be perfect.”

  “Did you reconsider what I asked you at our last meeting?” he asked a
s he unlatched the truck’s loading door and heaved it open.

  Moira frowned and thought about her reply as she watched her employees begin unloading the truck. Zander wanted to know if she was interested in selling some of the beer and ale that he brewed himself, at the deli. She wasn’t sure yet if she wanted to deal with the hassle of getting a license to sell liquor, or even if the sales would be worth the extra time and money it would take to get the project rolling.

  “I need some more time to think about it,” she told him as she stepped forward to take a box from Dante, who was making sure the refrigerated goods got out of the truck first.

  “Okay, just know that the offer still stands,” he replied. “I really want to start getting my name out there, even if I’m just selling locally at first.”

  She nodded, deciding to do some research on what it would take. She enjoyed supporting local brands, and had always been grateful when other local businesses supported her. As soon as I get home, she thought, I’ll get on the computer and look up what it would take to get a liquor license for this place—if I even can. Suddenly she remembered a very important delivery that she had promised to make tonight, and realized that Zander would just have to wait a little while longer to get an answer. Tonight was the night that the last puppy was going home.

  Two months ago, a very pregnant Labrador retriever had been abandoned behind Darling’s DELIcious Delights. Moira had taken her in, and before she knew it, she had six chubby little puppies in her mudroom. She had spent the last few weeks trying desperately to find forever homes for all six of them. Zander had taken one, and between her and all of her friends asking the people they knew, homes had been found for the other five. Thankfully David’s sister had fallen in love with their mother, Hazel, and the older dog had gone home with Karissa a few days ago. This evening would mark the bittersweet departure of the last puppy, and the first time in weeks that Moira would be able to get a good night’s rest.

  “How is Flower doing?” she asked Zander once the last of the food had been brought inside. He had taken the littlest puppy, the only yellow one in the litter. He had named her Sunflower, which had quickly gotten shortened to Flower.

  “She’s great,” he said with a genuine smile. “Even though it’s only been a few days, she seems perfectly happy at the farm with me. She’s the sweetest little thing.”

  “I’m happy that you decided to take her,” Moira admitted. “She’s my favorite puppy, and I’m looking forward to hearing your updates about her.”

  It had been hard to resist the urge to keep any of the puppies for herself, but she knew that between her work schedule and her other two dogs, it would be hard to give the puppy the time, attention, and training it deserved. Not to mention the cruise I’m about to go on, she thought. It wouldn’t be fair to ask David to watch a little puppy in addition to Maverick and Keeva.

  “I’ll email you pictures every week,” he promised. “I bet she’ll be growing like a weed soon. It won’t be long before she’s a real farm dog.”

  Once Zander left, Moira and her employees spent the next few hours putting away the newly delivered food, serving customers, and going over last-minute instructions for the deli while she was away. There seemed to be an endless number of instructions; most of the time everything went smoothly, but occasional disasters, both major and minor, did happen. The deli owner knew that with her luck, the second she boarded that plane, the deli would begin to suffer under Murphy’s law. So, knowing that it was probably overkill, but deciding that it was better to be over-prepared than under- she went over all of the emergency procedures again. She reminded them what the security cameras covered, and how to access the footage if they needed it, and also left them numbers for both David and Detective Jefferson. Given the deli’s track record, she wasn’t prepared to risk anything.

  When it was time to close down and leave for the day, Moira took a deep breath and looked around. This was the last time she would be in the deli for over a week. Tomorrow would be spent packing, doing some last-minute shopping—if she was going to be in the Caribbean, she needed at least one good bathing suit—and getting David settled in at her house since he would be staying there with the dogs until she got back. The next morning, they would be leaving bright and early so he could drop her and Candice off at the airport… and then they would be on their way at last.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Moira’s alarm went off hours before sunrise. She had only gotten a few hours’ worth of sleep, and she knew she would probably pay for it later, but she could always sleep on the three-hour flight to Miami.

  Quickly pulling on the clothes that she had laid out the night before—shorts and a tee shirt in expectation of the warmer weather in Florida—she shushed the excited dogs.

  “David’s still sleeping downstairs,” she told them in a whisper. “We have to be quiet. He doesn’t need to wake up until right before we leave, and I’m sure he’ll appreciate the extra sleep.”

  Even though the dogs couldn’t comprehend what she had said, they seemed to respond to her low tones, and their whining quieted. The deli owner slowly opened the bedroom door and made the dogs follow her out into the hallway instead of dashing forward and racing down the stairs like they usually did.

  Once downstairs in the kitchen with the dogs safely outside—it felt weird not to have to maneuver around the baby gate that had kept the puppies contained in the mudroom—she turned the coffee maker on and pulled out the list that she had made for herself yesterday.

  “Well, all of my clothes are packed,” she muttered to herself, reading the list. “And I’ll finish packing the other stuff soon.”

  Her big suitcase was already waiting for her by the front door, but she had yet to pack her carry on or figure out what she would need in her purse. All of that would have to wait until after she had finished her first cup of coffee. She let the dogs back in, and went upstairs.

  Next on the list was a reminder to leave the emergency credit card on the counter for David, which she did. The account was strictly for emergency vet trips. After two separate middle-of-the-night trips that had unexpectedly cost her a few thousand dollars, she had decided that a backup plan wasn’t only smart; it was necessary. On the off chance that one of the dogs got hurt or sick while she was gone, she wanted David to have access to the card. Since nearly everything on the cruise was already paid for by the company hosting the competition, she doubted she would even need to access her bank account.

  The last item on the list was a reminder to eat something. She made a face, but couldn’t very well be annoyed at herself for thinking ahead. It was true that she wasn’t hungry right now, but by the time the plane was in the air, and certainly by the time they had landed, she would be starved. Wishing that they had time to stop at the deli for one of Dante’s famous quiches, she got up and made herself a bowl of oatmeal instead.

  By the time she had finished her last-minute packing, fed the dogs, and wolfed down her quick breakfast, David was up as well. He looked tired, but gave her a smile as he sat down at the kitchen table across from her.

  “Excited?” he asked.

  “Definitely. I don’t get away enough; this week should be fun.”

  “Are you nervous about the competition at all?”

  “If I let myself think about it, I am,” she admitted. “I don’t really know what to expect, and I’m sure a lot of the other people there will be more experienced than I am. I just like making soup, putting together sandwiches, and whipping up the occasional pot roast. The other contestants are probably all people with actual sit-down restaurants, with full menus and more variety than my little deli could ever offer.”

  “I think you’ll do just fine against them,” he said confidently. “You seriously have a gift when it comes to food. You can take just about any bunch of ingredients and mix them together to make something delicious.”

  “I think you’re a little bit biased,” she said, but she was smiling. It was always nice to hear a
compliment, especially from someone who she cared so much about, like David.

  “That I am.” He grinned, then covered her hand with his. “But I’m being honest when I say you don’t have anything to worry about.”

  “Thank you,” she said, blushing now. “That means a lot.”

  She cleared her throat and looked down at the dogs, about to ask him if he needed her to go over anything else when she saw first Maverick’s and then Keeva’s ears perk up. A moment later, both the German shepherd and Irish wolfhound were stampeding down the hall toward the front door.

  “I’m guessing Candice is here,” she said with a laugh, rising. She was always amazed by how sensitive the dogs’ senses were, and how they seemed to be able to tell the different cars apart just by sound. In her opinion they were a better alarm system than anything technology could offer, and they were great companions to boot.

  She opened the door and greeted her daughter and Eli. Candice gave a big yawn before stepping inside.

  “This is way too early to be up,” she said.

  “You know I’m not a morning person either, but it’s worth it for the cruise,” her mother pointed out. “Just think, by this evening we’ll be sitting on a cruise ship gradually making our way into the tropics. Then you can sleep in as late as you want.”

  “As if,” the young woman said with a laugh. “I’m not going to miss any of this trip due to sleep if I can help it. I’ll just have to catch up when we get back.”

  Moira smiled, glad that her daughter was so excited for the trip. It would be wonderful to spend some time relaxing together. Since Candice had quit working at the deli in favor of opening her own shop, the two of them hadn’t been able to spend as much time together. She was sure her daughter enjoyed the independence that came with supporting herself, but that didn’t stop the deli owner from missing her.