A Saucy Taste of Murder Read online

  Ellie took a moment to take off her apron and freshen up in the pizzeria's bathroom. She slipped on her light jacket – it might be warmer than usual, but it still wasn't warm – and double checked that they had the folding tables, the paper plates and napkins, and the tablecloth packed away in the car.

  She and Nonna made the short drive to the park and got out of the car, looking around. There were already a few people there, setting up. There were a couple of other tables, and a large temporary stage for the local cover band that was going to come out and play a few songs. The sun was out, there was a gentle breeze, and the day only promised to get warmer. Ellie couldn't imagine a better day than this for the fundraising event.

  She had no trouble setting up the tables, taping down the tablecloths so that they wouldn’t blow away in the breeze. Ellie had asked Rose to design the posters that they were going to hang on front of the tables, and she was happy with the final product. It featured the Papa Pacelli's Pizzeria name on the front, along with an artistic rendering of the new park. They were going to be selling the pizzas for a dollar per slice – twice that for the weekly special – and donating all funds to the parks department.

  The others arrived shortly before the fundraiser was due to begin. They unpacked the pizzas and set up the warming stands, running an extension cord all the way from the generator the city had provided. Jacob and Rose got everything set up while Ellie and Nonna stood in front of the tables handing out business cards and menus from the pizzeria. Ellie spotted Russell and waved at him. He waved back, gesturing that it would be just a moment, and finished up the conversation he was having. Then he headed over to the table where she and Nonna were waiting.

  “Fancy seeing you here,” he said, giving her a smile. He looked handsome in his sheriff’s uniform.

  “We've become quite the philanthropists,” Ellie said, leaning back against the table. “Any trouble so far?” She had told Russell about the conversation she had overheard at the pizzeria. He didn't think anything would come of it, but experience told him that he could never be too safe. She knew that he took his job very seriously and he would be on alert all day long, just in case someone did try to disrupt the fundraiser.

  “Nothing yet,” he said. “I'll keep an eye out, though. I hope you sell a lot of pizza today. The weather is perfect for it.”

  “The weather is great,” Ellie agreed. “I'm sure a lot of people will come out. This park really seems like it will be lovely once it gets built.”

  “I know. I know you're looking forward to the dog park, too.”

  She grinned at him, because he was right. Having a dog park in town was going to be fun. It would give Sawyer and Bunny a chance to run off some energy and make new friends.

  She heard a tapping sound over the loudspeakers that had been set up by the stage and saw Jessica, the woman from City Hall, standing in front of a mic. Russell nodded to her and moved away, getting into a position where he could see everything better, and she turned her attention fully to the stage.

  “Thank you all for coming today,” the woman said, her voice staticky over the speakers. “We have a few different booths set up, all of which will be donating a portion or all of their profits today to the park. In about an hour, the band will begin playing. We've also got a raffle for a couple of items. Cherish,” she turned to gesture to the woman standing next to her, “will be walking around, selling raffle tickets. The drawing will happen at four PM. Please write your phone number on the back of your ticket in case you have to leave early. You do not need to be present to win. Thank you all for coming, and I hope everyone enjoys themselves.”

  She got off the stage. The small crowd that had gathered clapped, then people began milling about. Someone put on music, which blasted through the speakers. Ellie smiled, then felt a tug of guilt as she glanced over at the neighboring houses. There were a few houses on the street, but only one was right next to the park. It was a single story ranch type house, with a large, fenced in backyard and a somewhat overgrown front garden. There was a car in the driveway, and the blinds were all shut. She thought she saw one of them twitch, but she wasn't sure. She was almost certain that was where the man she'd overheard at the pizzeria lived. She had been rather upset at his words the other day, thinking him selfish and mean-spirited, but now she could almost see where he was coming from. Of course, loud music wouldn't be playing at the park every day, but he did live right next door to it, and the sounds of shouting children and barking dogs would likely disturb him.

  She sighed and gave herself a mental shake. Even if she felt bad for him, there wasn't exactly anything she could do about it. The man had certainly known that there was a park in the works for the city owned lot before he moved into the house.

  If the plans for the park got started after he moved, he likely would have had a chance to appeal the decision at City Hall. Besides, the number of people who would enjoy the park would far outnumber him. Maybe they could plant some evergreens to help block sounds, she thought. Then she was forced to turn her attention back to the fundraiser. People were beginning to line up at the pizzeria's booth and she had to help the others serve slices.

  “Can I get two slices of the pepperoni?” asked a woman. “My husband’s meeting me here, and he's going to be starved. I don’t want him to have to wait in line.”

  “Of course,” Ellie said. “That will be two dollars.”

  “Can you break a twenty?”

  Ellie nodded, and the woman handed her a bill. She glanced down at it and noticed a blue W scribbled in the corner. She barely had time to register it before a large man shoved his way through the line and grabbed the woman by the shoulder.

  “Erika, I just looked in the checkbook. You donated five thousand dollars? Five thousand? I can’t believe –” He broke off, noticing Ellie staring at him. Biting her lip, she gave the woman her change and her slices of pizza. The woman quickly dragged the man away. Ellie stared after them for a moment, then decided not to let the event bother her for the rest of the afternoon. Russell was there to catch any trouble, after all.

  It was shaping up to be a lovely day, and Ellie had completely forgotten to be worried about trouble. When it did happen, Nonna was the first to spot it. She nudged Ellie and gestured to what was obviously a very emotional argument between two people who were standing behind the stage, just visible from where their booth was. Ellie frowned, and her grip on the paper plate she was holding tightened. She looked around for Russell, and saw him standing across the grassy area on the opposite side of the stage. He wouldn’t be able to see the argument, and from the way the people were talking she could tell they were on the verge of getting violent. Most concerningly, she recognized one of them as the man who had been complaining at the pizzeria the other day.

  “Can you guys watch the booth for a while?” she asked her employees. Jacob assured her that they would handle it, and she stepped out from behind the booth, making her way toward Russell. She caught his gaze as she approached and he excused himself from the conversation he was having, walking forward to meet her part way.

  “That guy from the pizzeria is having an argument with the head of the parks department,” she told him, slightly out of breath from her rush over. “They’re behind the stage. It looks like it might get ugly.”

  He nodded, thanking her quickly before speaking into his walkie-talkie. She made her way back to the booth as he hurried toward where she had seen the argument. The two people were still standing just in sight, and she was able to see her husband confront the man who was instigating the troubles. The man raised his hands, immediately backing down when he saw the sheriff. Ellie felt a rush of relief. It looked like that situation had been diffused. Feeling more confident now that no troubles would arise, she let herself relax and get back to enjoying the day. Quite a few people had shown up to the fundraiser. Things were going better than she had hoped, and it looked like the park – and the dog park – would have the money it needed to open on time.
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  Chapter Four

  Sunday passed in a lazy haze as Ellie and Russell enjoyed having the time off work together. Since Russell had taken the shift during the fundraiser on Saturday, Liam, his deputy, had offered to work Monday morning for him so, now, he and Ellie had time to eat a nice breakfast together.

  Usually, Russell left at the crack of dawn, so it was nice to be able to make a big breakfast together and eat it with the windows cracked open, letting in the cool breeze. Bunny and Sawyer waited under the table for the scraps that they knew Russell would slip them. Ellie had made an extra-large batch of blueberry muffins, and had given part of one to the green wing macaw, Marlowe, who she knew would be happily munching on it now in her cage in the hallway. The rest of the muffins she was going to bring over to her grandmother's house later that day before she left for work.

  The breakfast was interrupted halfway through when Russell’s cell phone rang. He answered it, and she could tell from the way his face tightened and his voice got a bit harsher that it wasn't good news.

  “What is it?” Ellie asked as he stood up.

  “Trouble at City Hall,” he said. “I've got to go. I'm sorry to cut this short. Rain check?”

  “Of course.” She rose, befuddled, and he kissed her on the cheek before hurrying to the front closet where his boots and jacket were. She followed him. “Is everyone all right?”

  “I don't know,” he said after a slight hesitation. “According to Liam, there have been conflicting reports. I'll let you know when I know for sure what's going on.”

  She nodded, but part of her knew that whatever had happened, it was bad. He wouldn’t have been called in on a morning off if it wasn't. Liam was more than capable of handling most situations. He was Russell's right hand man, after all.

  Ellie’s appetite left her when Russell left, so she cleaned up the rest of the breakfast, then took the remaining muffins over to her grandmother's house. She spent a few minutes chatting with the older woman, telling her about Russell's sudden departure, then gave her a hug and promised to see her again soon.

  She headed into town, keeping her cell phone in reach just in case Russell called. He didn't, and soon she saw why. Her normal route to the pizzeria was usually the fastest one; taking Main Street down to the smaller street that the pizzeria was on. She took the same route today, but soon realized it hadn’t been a good choice, because the entire intersection was blocked off and there was a crumpled looking sedan next to a power pole. She inched closer to the police officer who was letting cars through one at a time. She slowed down as she passed City Hall, recognizing Russell's truck. What she hadn’t been expecting to see was an ambulance and a shrouded form being wheeled out of the building by a team of paramedics. She felt her stomach clench as the officer in charge of the roadblock waved her on.

  The bad feeling in the pit of her stomach only increased as time went on. She spent the twenty minutes prior to opening the pizzeria wondering just what had happened, and her mind kept coming up with worse and worse answers. Someone had died, but how? Was it an accident, or…? She shuddered, remembering the man who had been so upset about the park being built. Had he snapped? Was the victim someone she knew?

  Rose came in a few minutes late, full of bumbling apologies. “I wasn't expecting the intersection to be almost completely blocked off,” she said. “There is quite a traffic backup.”

  “Don't worry about it,” Ellie told the young woman. “You're almost always on time, if not early, Rose. I'm not going to be upset about one or two minutes, especially when you have a great reason. Besides, I was here to open. No harm done.”

  Her employee gave her a relieved smile. “I know. You’ve never been an unfair boss. I just feel really bad about being late for opening.”

  “I would've been late myself, if I had been aiming to get here at exactly eleven,” Ellie said. “I wasn't expecting the blockage either. We've only had one customer so far, anyway. I think it's going to be a slow morning. No one's going to want to try to get past the police.”

  “Do you have any idea what happened?” Rose asked as she scrubbed her hands and tied on her apron.

  “I don't know,” Ellie said truthfully. “I'll let you know soon as I know, if I can,” she promised Rose.

  “Thanks,” the other woman said. “I hope nothing too bad happened.”

  Ellie thought about the shrouded form she had seen being wheeled out of City Hall, but decided not to say anything. After all, she could have been mistaken about what she saw, though she didn't think she was. There was no need to go spreading rumors unless she was absolutely certain what had happened.

  Ellie’s prediction came true, and they only got a couple of orders that morning. They didn't start taking deliveries until the afternoon, and thanks to the roadblock there wasn’t as much auto or pedestrian traffic. People were still getting through, but slowly.

  Russell finally called her shortly before one. She tucked the phone under her ear as she sprinkled toppings on a large round pizza.

  “I can't talk for long,” he said. “I just wanted to let you know what happened.”

  She heard a hesitancy in his tone that told her she wouldn't like what was coming very much. “What is it, Russell?” she asked, her voice quiet.

  “It's the head of the parks department,” he said. “She was found in her office this morning by one of her coworkers. It was a homicide, no question about it. The scene was quite gruesome.”

  “Oh.” Ellie felt her stomach twist, but no real sense of surprise. She had feared the worst, and she hadn’t been wrong. “Do you have any suspects?”

  “Liam is bringing in the man who caused a scene at the fundraiser on Saturday,” Russell said. “We’re going to question him, see if we can't get a confession. The forensics team is still combing over the office.”

  “Why was the road blocked off this morning?” Ellie asked.

  “A car ran off the road and into a utility pole. The woman who found the body panicked and fled the scene. She ran out into the road and the car swerved to avoid hitting her. It clipped her, but she wasn’t seriously injured. The vehicle knocked out the power to the traffic light, though, and we couldn’t have their repair crew out until the body was moved, in case they blocked the intersection. It was all a bit of a mess, but it's cleared up now, and the intersection will be back to normal soon.”

  “Can I tell Rose or the others about this? Rose was very curious when she passed the intersection this morning.”

  “You can tell them the basics, that there was a suspected homicide and also a minor car accident this morning. Please don’t release the name of the victim yet. We’ve already contacted her husband, but she has other relatives living in town according to him, and we don’t want them to find out what happened from the rumor mill.”

  “Okay, I'll keep it vague,” Ellie promised. She knew how fast the rumor mill in Kittiport could be. Russell’s concern was a valid one. The poor woman’s family was already going to be suffering enough. They didn’t need anything to make it worse.

  “One more thing,” Russell said. “Whoever killed her also stole the drop box with all of the donations in it.”

  Ellie shook her head. “Who would steal money from a fundraiser?”

  “I don't know,” Russell said. “But I'm going to find out.”

  Chapter Five

  Ellie's mind was on the murder the entire day. She felt terrible for Jessica and her family, but was also worried about Russell. She was always concerned when he was going after someone with a history of violence. She also knew that realistically, she might be a target for anyone who wished him harm. It was all just part and parcel of being married to a sheriff. It was something she had come to terms with a long time ago, but that didn’t mean that she wasn’t extra jumpy as she worked.

  The pizzeria was a hotspot for gossip, and Ellie always made sure to keep an ear out whenever Russell was working on an important case. People often seemed to forget that she could hear conversations
when she was around. Sometimes it was a little bit disconcerting, but being practically invisible could sometimes be a benefit of working in the service industry. She didn’t hear anything interesting today, even though everyone was talking about what had happened at City Hall. Everyone seemed to know the vague details about what had happened, but no one had information that they shouldn’t.

  It was dark by the time she closed the pizzeria and headed home. She didn't always stay for a full day, but when she didn't have anything pressing to do and she had plenty of energy, she saw no reason to go home early. The pizzeria was a major part of her life, pretty much the only major part other than Russell, Nonna, and her pets. If she wasn’t married and didn’t have animals, she would be in danger of being a true workaholic. It was hard to tear herself away from the pizzeria even at the best of times.

  Russell called her while she was driving home. She connected her phone to the car’s wireless system so that she could safely answer the call hands-free.

  “Hey,” she said softly. His voice came loud through the speakers and she turned the volume down.