A SEASON OF MURDER (The Darling Deli Series Book 29) Read online

  “You did everything you could,” she said. “I know you, David. You wouldn't have missed anything.”

  He pushed his chair away from the table with uncharacteristic violence and stood up, pacing across the room. “Obviously I did, because otherwise, he wouldn't be dead. I did everything I said I would, but the entire time I was doing it – the entire time I was watching his house, or following his wife, taking photos of every building she went in, I was doing it with the thought that he was insane. I never considered the possibility that he was telling the truth, and that must have made me miss something… something important.”

  “Maybe he was crazy,” she said. “We still don’t know how he died. You said you saw blood on his shirt – maybe he just had a bloody nose. For all we know, he was out there in the woods ranting and raving and talking to ghosts before he died. Don't blame yourself for this, David. I hate to see you this way.”

  He let out a breath of air, looking at her from across the room with an unreadable expression on his face. Just then, the computer screen lit up. The old computer had finally booted, and was ready for him to log in. She paced around the office while he scrolled through the photos. When she heard the printer hum to life, she jumped. The sound had been surprising in the silence of the building.

  “What are you doing?” she asked.

  “Printing out a couple to take home,” he said.

  “Did you find something?” she asked, hurrying around to the other side of the desk to peer over his shoulder.

  “No, there are just a couple of things I want to look at more closely.” He sighed. “I'm sorry for the way I acted earlier, Moira,” he said. “I didn't mean to lose my temper. It's just… it's always hard losing people. You know that. I know it's not logical, but I feel like I was responsible for this man. For my own peace of mind, I need to reassure myself that I didn't miss anything.”

  “I understand,” she said. “I'll help you, if you need it. We’ll pore over these photos together, if that's what you want.”

  He looked up at her and smiled, squeezing her hand. “Thank you, Moira,” he said. “You're a good wife, and a good friend.”

  They drove home mostly in silence, with Moira holding the files full of photos for David on her lap. She gazed out the window. The snow no longer looked beautiful; it looked bleak. Yet another death. How much more could this town take?

  And so close to the holiday season, too. Of course, a man's murder would be sad any time, but somehow the holidays made it all the more poignant. His wife – if she hadn't been the one trying to kill him, of course – would never be able to look at this time of year the same way again. Did he have children? She didn't know. She had never asked David, and now didn't seem like the time. He didn't need another reason to feel guilty about what had happened.

  She wished desperately that her husband wouldn't blame himself. Yes, he had accepted the case, but by the sound of it, he had done everything that he had been supposed to do. Even if he hadn't believed Nowak, that didn't mean that he had shirked his duties at all. She knew David, and he wouldn't do something halfway just because he doubted his client. His job was to get to the truth of things, not to follow his own bias.

  “Are you okay?” he asked her as he pulled into the driveway.

  “I'm fine,” she said. “I'm the one that should be asking you that.”

  He parked the SUV next to his own car, and the two of them got out together. She handed him the file as she dug through her purse for the house keys. It had been a long day, and she was glad that she had worked the morning shift. She couldn’t imagine going into work later this evening.

  She heard the dogs barking as they approached the house. She was glad that they didn’t have any close neighbors; Keeva and Maverick both had a bad habit of barking whenever someone pulled up the driveway.

  “What's that?” David asked, putting a hand on her arm to stop her.

  “I don't know,” she said, frowning.

  Sitting on the porch, right by the front door was a box wrapped with red and silver wrapping paper. A Christmas gift, but from whom?

  “One of my friends must have stopped by and dropped it off,” she said, moving forward again. “Or maybe Karissa did.”

  David followed her up the steps. She bent down to pick the gift up, burning with curiosity. It wasn't very heavy, or very large. She shook it. There was definitely something inside.

  “Be careful,” her husband said.

  “Don't worry, I won't break anything,” she said.

  “That’s not what I mean,” he said. “We don't know who left it here.”

  “You don’t think it was one of our friends?” she asked.

  “There's no note on it,” he said. “If it was Denise, Martha, or my sister, don’t you think they would've left a note?”

  She frowned again. He had a point.

  But who would want to leave a present for them anonymously? Curious, but not yet worried, she went inside, with David right behind her. The dogs circled them, whining happily. She petted both of them, then asked them to back up so she and David could have more space.

  “Let's go check it out,” he said, pausing only to stomp the snow off of his boots before heading down the hallway toward the kitchen.

  She put her coat in the closet, then followed her husband to the kitchen, where she put the box on the table.

  “Do you think we should wait until Christmas to open it?”

  “No,” he said firmly. “I want to figure out what's in there now.”

  She and David sat at the table together with the wrapped box between them. She pulled it toward her, and David made a motion as if he was going to reach for it. She glanced at him, and he leaned back, obviously tense but trying not to crowd her. She wondered why he was so worried. The box wasn't heavy enough to contain anything dangerous. Even if it had been, there was no good reason that he should put himself in danger and she shouldn't. She wasn’t some damsel in distress that needed protecting. Taking a deep breath, she turned her attention back to the box and began to unwrap it.

  Once the plain, white, cardboard box had been exposed, she opened the top and took in a sharp breath. There was a single paper – a photo – and on it was an image of her and David walking into his office in Lake Marion. It only took a moment for her to realize that the image had been taken earlier that day.

  “What is this?” she asked. “Who did this? Why?”

  David took the photograph and stared at it for a long moment. “I don't know,” he said. “But I promise you, I'm going to find out.”

  CHAPTER SIX

  * * *

  Even with everything that was going on, there was one inescapable fact about the holiday season. Gift shopping. Moira had been putting it off for as long as possible, because she simply had no idea what to get for her loved ones.

  David, she knew, was focused on the brewery. However, she didn't know enough about that industry to get him something that might be useful. Candice, of course, no longer had the candy shop, and Moira wasn't sure how long it would be if her daughter reopened it, if she ever did. Now, her daughter was working for a chain candy store in another town, and she couldn't think of any gift that her daughter might enjoy.

  Of course, she also had to get gifts for Eli, and her friends, Denise and Martha. She had already picked up something for Reggie, who would be joining them for Christmas dinner. She wasn’t sure if she should get something for Allison or not. Candice’s half-sister was also her employee, and she wasn’t getting anything for the others. Would they feel left out if she got a gift and they didn’t? It was a conundrum that she knew she had to solve sooner rather than later. She was running out of time.

  “A day out on the town,” Martha said from the back seat. “This is just what I needed. I've got to find something for Dominic. What do you think he would like?”

  “I have no idea,” Moira replied honestly. “I hardly know the guy.”

  “I don't think Julian and I are doing gifts this
year,” Denise said. “At least, I hope we aren't. I told him not to. Spending Christmas with you guys and Logan is enough for me. I don't want more to worry about. It's always so much pressure to get a gift for someone that you’re dating, especially the first year. I don't need the stress.”

  “I know how you feel,” Moira said. She thought back to when she and David were just beginning to get to know each other. “Of course, David is still hard to shop for, even though we’re married now.”

  “It's difficult enough getting a gift for Logan,” Denise said. “I mean, there are plenty of things I could get that kid, but I want to get him something that's really gonna matter, you know? He's been through so much, and I want to make this a special year.”

  “I can understand that,” Moira said. “While Candice’s situation is different, I feel the same about her. This year has meant a lot of changes for all of us, and everyone deserves something nice.”

  She fell silent, remembering the mysterious box she and David had found on their front porch couple of days beforehand. They still hadn’t found out who had delivered it, or what it meant. She had asked David if he thought it had something to do with Mr. Nowak’s death, but he hadn’t seemed certain either way. She was on the fence about it herself. It seemed like a rather large coincidence for the photo to appear only hours after they had found the man, but at the same time, no one but the police had known about the body at that point. Whoever had sent the photo would have had no idea that Nowak had been found, let alone by whom.

  “Moira?” Martha asked, “are you alright?”

  “Sorry, I was just lost in thought,” she said.

  “I heard about the body you found,” Denise said. “Word travels quickly, especially when you're one of the most well-known restaurant owners in town. I’m pretty sure at least half of the town knows you by name, so when you pop up in a newspaper, everyone talks about it.”

  “It was horrible,” Moira admitted. “When I saw his leg sticking out of the snow… it was like something out of a horror movie. And after all of that, we still don't have a tree. We were supposed to go get it today, but then David had to work on a case of his, and I decided to go shopping with you guys. Maybe we'll go this afternoon, I don't know. The poor man. I met him on Sunday, did you know that? I didn't even recognize his body at first. It's so hard to come to terms with the fact that someone who was alive and vibrant a couple of days beforehand, is now just gone forever.”

  “I'm sorry,” Denise said. “You know, if you ever need to talk about anything you can come to me. I may be busy, but I’ll always make time for you.”

  “Me too,” Martha said. “I’ve always got time if you need to talk to someone.”

  “Thanks, guys,” Moira said. “Let's focus on the task at hand for now, though. I don’t really want to talk about this during our Christmas shopping. Plus, this subject needs our full focus. What in the world are we going to get everyone?”

  The three of them made their way through town. They didn’t visit shops in any particular order, instead just stopping wherever they felt like it. As they drove by the remains of the candy shop, Moira felt the familiar cloud of sadness drift over her. She hated seeing the building so empty and forlorn looking. It was almost worse than when her own home had burnt down. At least then, the house had been almost unrecognizable.

  “Oh, pull over!” Martha said suddenly. “I want to stop at that pet shop. I need to get Diamond something.”

  “All right, I need to get something for my dogs, too,” Moira said. “I might as well also pick up something for Candice's cat.”

  “I know I've said it before, but I'll say it again. You pet people are crazy.”

  “Hey, watch it,” Martha said to Denise. “Dogs are more loyal than any human ever will be. Diamond has earned every penny of whatever present I get her, and more.”

  “I'm not saying anything bad about your pets,” Denise said, smiling over at them as she pulled into the spot beside the store. “I said you're crazy. I'm sure they're wonderful and all, but they really aren't going to know whether it's Christmas or Easter or some other holiday. You do know that they don’t understand what gifts are?”

  “They may not know the difference,” Moira said, “but we do. It’s not really that odd. Little children don’t necessarily understand what the holiday means, but you would still buy a baby a gift.”

  “I guess that’s a good point,” her friend said. “Still, I’m glad I don’t have pets. I like visiting with yours, but it seems like a whole lot of work to actually care for a dog, and not that much in return.”

  Moira shook her head, understanding that this was one of the differences between her and Denise. It was something she would never understand. Her friend just didn’t see the draw of owning a pet. Instead, she saw the added responsibility and loss of freedom. Moira supposed that might be why her friend had never had children of her own, either. She simply didn’t want to be responsible for another living being. Of course, she had really stepped up to the plate when Logan needed her.

  She could somewhat understand why Denise didn’t want a dog or a cat at this point in her life, since she was so busy. Still, no matter how busy she got, Moira knew that she would always enjoy the companionship that her dogs gave her. It didn’t matter to them what clothes she was wearing or whether or not she had done her hair. They loved her with a simple purity that she adored. Sharing her life with the dogs was easily worth all of the extra work and responsibility that they brought her.

  She and Martha took a while in the pet store. Moira settled on a couple of puzzle toys for Keeva and Maverick, in the hopes that the toys would occupy their curious noses for longer than the plastic bones that she usually got them did. It would be good for them to work for their treats for once.

  She also picked up a couple of fake mice and a fluffy bed for Felix, Candice’s calico cat. Glad that she had at least managed to cross a couple of names off of her list, even if they were the names of pets, Moira left the store in high spirits. Just as she was about to remind her friend to unlock the car, Denise frowned.

  “That lady’s been following us for the past couple of hours,” she said, gesturing to someone across the street. “I’m sure I saw her take our photo just now. She was watching us while we were in the antique store, and the tourist shop. Do either of you know her?”

  Moira followed her friend’s gaze. She saw, across the street from them, a woman about their own age with curly, light brown hair. The woman was looking at her cell phone, not at them, but Moira trusted Denise when she said that she had taken a photo of them. The deli owner frowned. She remembered the picture of her and David that they had found the porch.

  “I don't know her,” Moira said. “But I think I might know who she is.”

  She hurriedly got in the car with the others and told Denise to drive away. She had to call David. This had gone on for long enough. Now that she had finally seen the woman, she could confirm that she was who she suspected.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  * * *

  “It’s definitely her,” Moira told David a couple of hours later.

  They had met at home, him coming from the brewery and her coming straight from her shopping trip. Moira wished that that she had thought to take a picture of the woman, but it had all happened so fast, and she had been so unsettled by it, that it hadn't even occurred to her until they had already been on their way out of town. However, she had been able to compare the mental image of her with one of the photos that David had taken before.

  “Why is she stalking us?” Moira asked. “What do we do?”

  “We’ve got to go to Detective Jefferson with this,” David said. “We'll give him the photo we found on the porch, and you can tell him what you saw today. This is the last straw. He needs to know about it. It might help him solve poor Mr. Nowak’s death, too.”

  “Do you think this means that she killed him?” she asked.

  “I don't know,” David said. “None of this makes any
sense. If she did kill him, then why is she coming after us now? Why take photos of us, when her husband is already dead? If she did kill him, I’d think that she would want to be laying low. She’s already their prime suspect. This is just making it worse.”

  “Do you think she's crazy?” Moira asked. “I don't mean just upset over her husband's death, but legitimately insane?”

  “I don't know. I hope not. I don't want you to be in danger because of this case.”

  “I'm more mad than scared,” Moira said. It was mostly true. The thought of someone stalking her and taking her photo did frighten her, but it also made her angry. This woman had no right to terrorize her.

  They gathered up all the evidence and left the house, heading straight to the police department. Moira and David both went in to see Detective Jefferson. She waited while David explained the details of his case to the detective once again, then the two of them left with nothing more than a promise from the detective that he would bring her in for questioning.