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  Spooky Pizza Murder

  The Papa Pacelli’s Pizzeria Series, Book 38

  Patti Benning

  Summer Prescott Books Publishing

  Copyright 2019 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.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Epilogue

  Also by Patti Benning

  Author’s Note

  Contact Summer Prescott Books Publishing

  Chapter One

  Eleanora Pacelli took one look at her dog and burst out laughing. The sunflower costume the little dog was wearing was just a hair too big for her, and the flower part insisted on falling forward over her eyes. The papillon, however, was too focused on the treats in Ellie’s hand to care very much, and kept lifting her muzzle higher and higher in an effort to see her owner.

  “Oh, Bunny. Let’s get that off you. I’ll see if Nonna can fix it.” She crouched down, giving her one of the treats before undoing the velcro closures on the costume. “It’s a good thing we tried this on before the festival. I’d better try Sawyer’s on too.”

  Thankfully, the Labrador’s costume fit perfectly, though Ellie got a good laugh from that as well. Sawyer was the typical bouncy black lab, and with the foam saddle and jockey on his back, he looked every inch the bucking bronco he was supposed to be.

  “I think Sawyer’s got you beat,” she told Bunny as she took the costume off of the lab and folded it. “At least in the costume department.”

  She walked into the kitchen, checking the time above the stove before opening the pantry door. Tomorrow was the Haunted Halloween Festival in the park, and she had a lot to prepare before then. Her mind was on her to-do list as she folded Sawyer’s costume and put it on the top shelf, next to the dog food and bags of treats. She made a mental note to bring some of those treats to hand out to the other pooches at the festival, along with a couple of the giant bags of candy she had bought the week before for the kids.

  She turned around to see both dogs standing at the pantry’s entrance, looking at her expectantly. She waggled a finger. “No. No treats for either of you. I saw how much food James and Russell slipped the two of you at dinner last night.”

  She brushed by the still-hopeful dogs and put Bunny’s costume on the counter, right next to the plate of cinnamon apple muffins she was going to bring over to her grandmother’s house later that day. Ellie could probably fix Bunny’s costume herself in a pinch, but there was no guarantee it would turn out well. Nonna was a much better seamstress, and a plate of muffins should be more than enough payment for a quick fix — not that her grandmother would ever ask for payment.

  The dogs’ costumes figured out, she turned her attention to the harder part; her own costume. She had considered going as the same thing she had gone as in a previous year — a witch — but in the spirit of things she had decided to dress as an Italian chef instead. It would, she thought, be a much better fit for this year’s festival. She had even ordered a custom chef’s hat with the Papa Pacelli’s logo on it. All that was left was making sure everything fit.

  Russell walked into the master bedroom just as she was straightening her hat in front of the mirror. “Looking good,” he said, standing back to take it all in. “Are you sure you don’t want a prop?”

  “I’m going to be working the food cart, making pizza. I’m pretty sure that will do as a prop.”

  “What about for the contest, though?”

  She turned around to look at him, raising an eyebrow. “Russell, for the last time, I’m not entering that costume contest. For one thing, I’ll be busy at the food cart the entire time. For another, you’re a judge. It wouldn’t be fair.”

  He affected a hurt expression. “Do you think I’d cheat?”

  “No, I think you’d be so opposed to people thinking you’re cheating that you’d give me a lower score on purpose.” She wrinkled her nose, but smiled at him to show that she was joking. “Plus, someone needs to keep an eye on the dogs.”

  “True,” he said. “Hey, maybe Liam could sub for me while you’re on stage if you participate in the contest. He’s my substitute for when I have to take the dogs up there for the canine version.”

  “I’ll think about it,” she said, turning back to the mirror. “I’m still not sure I’d want to ask Joanna to handle the food cart on her own. We launched it later than we expected to, you know. It’s still pretty new to both of us.”

  “It’s been going well, though?” he asked, walking over to the closet and pulling out a button-up shirt.

  “Very,” she said. “We took it down to the marina last weekend. The weather was lovely on Saturday, and it seemed like everyone was out and about. We had to leave earlier than we planned because we got so much business, we ran out of food. I think it’s going to really be profitable next summer, and once we train up a couple of employees to run it themselves, we’ll be able to have it at the park or the marina every nice day for the whole season.”

  “Good. I’m glad it’s working well for you,” he said. He finished buttoning up his shirt, then came over to her to give her a quick hug and kiss. “I’m going to head out. I’ll see you tonight. Do we have any dinner plans with anyone?”

  “Nope,” she said. “And sorry again for forgetting to tell you about Shannon and James coming over until they were already here.”

  He gave a huff of laughter. “Don’t worry about it. I’m used to my brother barging into my life whenever he wants as it is, and you know Shannon is always welcome here. I just wanted to know if you were planning on putting something together tonight, or if I should pick up Chinese on my way home.”

  “Definitely get the Chinese. And don’t forget to double check that they put the extra rangoons in this time.”

  “I won’t,” he promised. They shared another quick goodbye kiss, then Russell had to hurry away. Ellie turned back to the mirror and smiled to herself. Life was busy, but she didn’t have a single complaint.

  Chapter Two

  Late October in Maine was always chilly, but every year the townsfolk braved the cold weather and ventured out in costumes that looked to Ellie like they would be more comfortable to wear in eighty degree weather. Still, as she and Joanna set up their food cart along one of the winding pathways of Kittiport’s main park, she found herself slipping off her jacket and stuffing it into the oversized purse she had brought along. It was a Halloween festival, after all, and the jacket didn’t exactly match her costume.

  Joanna, who was wearing a pirate’s costume that happened to include a warm looking jacket, just raised an eyebrow and continued setting hotdog buns in the warming rack. Ellie forced herself very consciously not to shiver — she didn’t want to give her friend the satisfaction — and focused instead on making sure that the small, gas powered pizza oven was hooked up properly.

  The food cart was a joint effort between Papa Pacelli’s Pizzeria and Joanna’s hotdog specialty restaurant, Hot Diggity Dawg. It had been a pricey endeavor; they had to not only have enough equipme
nt to properly cook both hotdogs and pizza, but they also had to have enough refrigerated space to keep all of the toppings for both food groups cool… and enough free surface area to prepare the food. The result was a bit ungainly, and required a good amount of setup each time they used it, but it worked. The front of the cart was split evenly between the pizzeria’s logo and the hotdog shop’s, and it had a hitch so Ellie or Joanna could tow it where it needed to go.

  She was glad that it had turned out to be such a hit in the small town. The cart was already starting to pay for itself, and she hoped that by midsummer next year they might even start making some profit off of it. Plus, it was fun. Taking the food cart down to the marina or out to the park and spending the day in the fresh air instead of cooped up in the kitchen was a nice change of pace for both of them.

  “Who’s that?” Joanna asked a moment later. She was looking at a man who was setting up another food cart. This one had a large sticker on the front that read Tim’s Taco Treasures.

  “I don’t know,” Ellie said. “I haven’t seen him around here before. Maybe he’s from Benton Harbor.”

  “Hmm. Maybe I’ll head over there for lunch and see if the food’s any good. We don’t have any good Mexican restaurants in town. I’ve been craving a good taco.”

  They finished setting up their food cart and were starting to get some of the food prepared when another man walked up to the taco cart. Ellie saw him start gesticulating out of the corner of her eye. She carefully eased the thin crust pepperoni pizza out of the portable oven and set it on the warming plate, then turned her full attention to the scene that was unfolding just a few yards away.

  “I told you to set it up under the tree, Ethan!” the newcomer said, his words almost loud enough to be a shout. “Does this look like it’s under the tree to you?”

  “But, boss, if it’s under the tree it will be right across from them.” He glanced over to where Ellie and Joanna were set up. His eyes met hers for a split second, and she saw the annoyance in them. “That’s just rude, and it will plug up the sidewalk once people start lining up for food.”

  “I don’t care. If the other food cart doesn’t like it, they can move. And why weren’t you here first? I told you to get here early and make sure we got the spot!”

  “I got here when you told me to. It’s not my fault someone else got here earlier.”

  “Well, it’s going to be your fault if you don’t fix this problem. Move the cart, Ethan. Now. It had better be set up properly by the time I get back.” He turned, and his glare fixed on Joanna and Ellie. The pizzeria owner raised her hands in a placating gesture.

  “Hey, it’s fine by us if you move your cart closer.”

  “I wasn’t asking your opinion,” he snapped. “I’m just disgusted that you had the gall to show up early and claim the best spot.”

  She decided not to point out that that was exactly what he had been planning on doing. “There are plenty of other great spots. Somewhere closer to the festival might actually be better. We just didn’t want to drag all of our equipment that far.”

  He just glared at her, then turned and walked away in a huff. The first man, Ethan, closed his eyes and took a deep breath, then crouched down to begin releasing the brakes on the food cart’s wheels. He started pushing it down the sidewalk until he was directly opposite Ellie and Joanna.

  “Sorry,” he muttered, not meeting their eyes as he resumed setting up.

  “It’s all right,” Ellie said. She hesitated, considering offering to move their cart, but they were already set up, cooking food, and plugged into their portable generator. It just wasn’t feasible. “We can ask people to line up to the side of the carts, on the grass, so we don’t block the path too much. It’ll be fine.”

  He shot her a grateful look, then went back to prepping.

  The park slowly began to get more crowded. Sawyer and Bunny, who were in a pen behind the food cart, were thrilled when people began coming over to say hi to them. Ellie had left a small bucket of treats hooked onto the outside of the pen, with a sign that said Please Only Give Us One Each. She knew that the dogs’ well practiced puppy eyes would manage to beg a few extra treats out of some people, but she decided not to worry about it too much. A good romp in the forest behind their house would help shave off any extra pounds, and the dogs deserved to have some fun at the festival too.

  By the time the festival’s official start rolled around, Ellie and Joanna had already made over twenty sales. The taco truck seemed to be doing just as well, though Ethan kept shooting nervous glances over his shoulder. Ellie guessed he was on the lookout for the other man, who she assumed was his boss. She winced at the thought of one of her own employees behaving like that. If she was ever such a bad employer that the people working for her were afraid of her, then she would throw in her hat and quit. She had a feeling that Ethan wouldn’t be working for Tim’s Taco Treasures that much longer, not if this was how he was usually treated.

  When someone who wasn’t blatantly a customer did finally approach him, it was two women; one about Ellie’s age, and one who looked old enough to be her mother.

  “Hi, Ethan,” the younger of the two said. “Where’s Tim?”

  “I don’t know. He stopped by a little bit ago, but then left shortly after. He told me he was planning on coming back, though.”

  “Do you know which direction he went? I need to talk to him about something, and he’s not answering his phone.”

  “He went somewhere over there.” Ethan waved his hand toward where the haunted house had been set up. Atmospheric music was playing from the structure, loud enough that they could hear it even on the other side of the festival.

  “All right, I’ll go see if I can find him. Are you holding down the fort on your own okay?”

  He hesitated, then nodded. “I’m doing fine, Ms. Nelson. My break’s coming up pretty soon.”

  “Ethan, how many times have I told you? Call me Rosa.” She gave him a quick smile. “And don’t worry, I’ll remind Tim about your break. I know how he gets about these things. Reliability isn’t exactly his strong suit, is it?”

  “What is?” the older woman muttered from beside her.

  “Ma, stop that,” Rosa chided gently. “See you later, Ethan. Keep up the good work.”

  With that, the two women took their leave, talking quietly together in Spanish. Ellie didn’t speak enough of the language to be able to tell what the subject was, but it had the sound of an old argument.

  “Ellie!”

  She looked over at her friend’s concerned voice and realized she had a customer waiting for her. “Sorry about that, my mind was wandering,” she said, quickly smiling at the woman who was waiting to place her order. “What can I get you?”

  Chapter Three

  Half an hour later, Rosa returned alone. Her mother was nowhere to be seen, and neither was Tim. Ellie half-listened as she cut another pizza into slices. The rush for food had slowed down a bit, thanks to the fact that the children’s costume contest was about to start.

  “Sorry, we couldn’t find him anywhere,” Rosa said with a sigh as she approached the taco cart. “You should go ahead and take your break, though. I’ll manage until you get back. Get yourself some lunch and stretch your legs.”

  “Are you sure, Mrs. Nelson?”

  She waved him away. “Go on. I am perfectly capable of managing tacos, you know. I ran this cart for months when he first opened it.”

  “I know you can manage it,” Ethan said quickly, looking chagrined. “It’s just, it might get busy again once that costume contest is over.”

  “I’ll be fine,” she said, giving him a reassuring smile. “Now go. Enjoy the festival. And if you see my husband, let him know his wife is looking for him.” She got a sly grin on her face. “Better yet, let him know his mother-in-law is looking for him. That should get him over here nice and quick.”

  Ethan seemed to be torn between wanting to laugh, and not wanting to look like he was disrespectin
g his boss. He settled on a lopsided smile, then thanked Rosa before heading over to Ellie and Joanna’s food cart.

  “Had enough of tacos?” Joanna asked him, smiling.

  He chuckled. “Yeah, I guess I have.” He looked over their menus for a moment. “Can I get one of the mushroom swiss hot dogs on a pretzel bun? That sounds good. Oh, and some fries and a bottle of soda.”

  “Of course. It’ll be ready in just a second.”

  Ellie took his money and counted out his change while Joanna got his food ready. He took it gratefully.

  “This looks amazing. Thanks. Oh, and sorry again about the whole moving the cart over thing.”