Classic Crust Murder Read online

  She didn't have time to talk to Russell about any of it when they got home. She noticed the red light blinking on her answering machine and listened to the message with a grin on her face.

  “Russell,” she called out. “Come quickly. It's about the house.”

  Russell hurried into the room, still wearing his shoes. No, she realized, he had changed; he was now wearing the heavy boots that he usually wore to work.

  “What is it?” he asked.

  “He's accepted our offer,” Ellie breathed. “The owner. He's accepted our offer on the house.”

  Russell stared at her for a second, then pulled her into a tight hug. “We are really going to buy it,” he said, grinning widely. “I wish I could stay and celebrate. Can you call the agent back and let him know that we are thrilled?”

  “Where are you going?” Ellie asked.

  “I got a call from Bethany. There is an issue at one of the apartment complexes. The landowner is trying to evict a tenant, and he's not going without a struggle. I've got to go and help out.”

  “Oh, okay,” Ellie said, disappointed. She wanted to celebrate the new house with her husband, but she knew that working came first. “We'll do something nice tonight,” she promised.

  “Okay.” He gave her another kiss, then said goodbye.

  Alone in the house, Ellie was still too thrilled about the news to do anything besides pick up the phone and call the agent back as quickly as possible. She told him that she and Russell were overjoyed that the offer had been accepted. He promised to set things up with the owner as quickly as possible, so they could sign on the house. Ellie still wanted to share her news with other people when she hung up the phone, so next, she dialed Shannon.

  “Did you leave something here?” her friend asked, audibly fighting back a yawn. “You’ll have to pick it up, I’m too tired to drive.

  “Shannon, we got the house!”

  “Really?” The tiredness seemed to leave her friend’s voice. “Oh, Ellie, that's amazing. When do you sign on it? When will you move in? I can't wait to see it. It's going to be amazing for both of you.”

  “We still have to set up a time to sign and all of that, but hopefully it will be soon. I can hardly wait.”

  “Congratulations,” Shannon said. “We'll do something to celebrate, the four of us.” From Shannon's end of the phone, Ellie heard the sound of Andrew wailing. Shannon sighed. “I'd better go. Let me know when you have more details. I’ll tell James when he gets home.”

  There was still one more call that Ellie had to make. She picked up the phone again and dialed her grandmother's number. She was glad when Nonna answered.

  “Hi, Ellie, dear,” the older woman said. “I can hardly wait to see you. How's everything going there?”

  She wanted to tell her grandmother about the house but remembered at the last moment that she and Russell had decided it would be a surprise for the older woman. And what a surprise it would be.

  “Wonderful,” Ellie said, grinning. “How are things there?”

  “It's been a busy week,” Nonna said. “I've been making the rounds, saying goodbye to some people who are leaving early. Of course, quite a few of my acquaintances are staying here year-round. I'm eager to get back, though. I miss Kittiport, and I miss you, of course. It's going to be a wonderful summer, isn't it?”

  “It really is,” Ellie said. “I'm looking forward to it.”

  “I promise I'll stay out of your way as much as I can,” the older woman said. “I know you and Russell will want your space.”

  Ellie grinned. “Don't worry about that, Nonna. We'll be just fine.”

  “You just tell me if you want time alone, okay? I'm so happy for the two of you. My friends all loved the pictures of your wedding.”

  They continued speaking for the next few minutes, and Ellie fought down the temptation to tell her grandmother. The older woman would discover the surprise soon enough. It wouldn't be long now before Ellie and Russell flew down to Florida to spend a week there before coming back to Kittiport with the older woman. It would be good to have her back, and she hoped that this summer in Kittiport would be like all of the previous ones, with her closest family and friends all together.

  With the pizzeria closed temporarily, Ellie found herself with a lot of free time that afternoon. Russell was still off dealing with the uncooperative eviction tenant, and Shannon, she knew, was dead tired on her feet and was probably napping by then. She was about to put the dogs in the car and drive down to the park to take a walk with them when her cell phone rang. It was the number from the sheriff's department and, assuming it would be Russell, she answered it.

  “Hey,” she said.

  “Ellie?”

  It wasn't Russell's voice. She felt her heart almost stop. “Who is this?” she asked. “Is Russell okay?” She lived in fear of the day when she would get a call from the police saying that her husband had been injured or worse in the line of duty.

  “He's fine,” the man said. “It's Liam. I'm sorry to have frightened you.”

  “Oh,” she breathed. “It's okay. What do you need?”

  “Well, we need to get into the pizzeria. I need to take prints from the security equipment. I'm sure Russell told you that some footage is missing?”

  Her stomach clenched. “Yes, he did.”

  “Right. We need to investigate and see if we can figure out who did it. Whoever shut off the cameras might have been aware of what was going to happen later on.”

  “Of course. Do you need me to be there?”

  “We need someone to be there to unlock the door, and I wanted to make sure we had your permission. I'd rather not have to get a warrant.”

  She chuckled. “Don't worry. You know you don't need to get a warrant for this. I'll drive down and meet you. I have nothing better to do, anyway.”

  “Okay. I’ll meet you there in, let's say, half an hour?”

  “Sure. I'll see you in a bit.”

  CHAPTER SIX

  * * *

  It felt odd to see the pizzeria so dark and empty during the day. Ellie felt her heart twist as she remembered what had happened the last time she had seen the place. She hoped desperately that Andy would wake up soon and give them some sort of information that would help them solve the case.

  Liam was already there, waiting in a police cruiser for her. He got out of his car as she parked and met her at the door. “I hope I'm not inconveniencing you too badly,” he said.

  “Well, Russell is off dealing with another case, and my best friend is trying to sneak a few hours of sleep while her baby is napping, so I didn't have much else to do,” she assured him with a smile.

  “Oh, yes, I forgot James had a kid. I should really send a card or something. How is the baby doing?”

  “He’s adorable,” Ellie said. “And loud.”

  The deputy chuckled as she sorted through her keys and found the right one for the pizzeria. She unlocked the front door and held it open for Liam, who went through first.

  “What can I do to help?” she asked.

  “Not much,” Liam said. “For now, how about you just take a seat? I'm just going to poke around a little bit. If I need anything, I'll come find you.”

  Ellie sat down in one of the booths and watched as Liam began examining the security cameras. She sighed, feeling miserable again despite the good news about the house. She didn't want to think any of her employees might be guilty of something like planning a premeditated attack, but unless there was a glitch somewhere in the security system, she had a feeling that was what Liam suspected.

  It had to have been someone at the pizza making class, she thought as Liam moved into the kitchen. One of them must have done it. It doesn't make any sense for it to be Rose. Just because she was upset with me, doesn't mean she would have had any reason to attack Andy. If she was going to attack someone, it would have been me or Jacob.

  Ellie froze, suddenly wondering for the first time if maybe Andy hadn't been the real target. She did have short hair; from behind, she might have looked a little bit like Jacob. What if she hadn't been the real target, and someone had merely mistaken her for someone else? If it was Jacob lying in the hospital bed right now, Ellie knew that Rose would be the number one suspect. What if he had been the target all along?

  After a while, Liam came out and found her sitting where he had left her. “Is the schedule that you gave me correct?” he asked. “No one substituted for another shift without marking it down?”

  “No, not that I remember, anyway,” she told him.

  “I’d like to speak to your employees…” He looked at the list. “Rose, and Jacob, it looks like. You were there the evening before the incident as well, weren’t you?”

  “For part of it,” she said.

  “Could you call and see if they can meet us here? If not, I will have them meet me at the station later. I want to walk through some stuff.”

  “Okay,” she said, pulling out her cell phone and bringing up her employees’ phone numbers.

  Jacob answered almost immediately, and promised to be right over, but the call that she put through to Rose went right to her voicemail. Liam didn’t seem too bothered by it and told Ellie that he would get in contact with her himself later on.

  True to his word, it wasn’t long before Jacob arrived. He shook Liam’s hand confidently and promised to help however he could.

  “Thank you,” Liam said. “I know that we already questioned you right after the incident occurred, but some new evidence has come to light.”

  “I don’t know how I can be of any help,” Jacob said. “I’ve already told you everything I know, but I’ll try.”

  Liam nodded, and Ellie realized that he was probably testing to see whether or not Jacob acted nervously about
anything.

  “That’s good, thank you. Were you there for the entire shift the evening before the victim was attacked?”

  “I was,” Jacob said. “Well, other than leaving for deliveries.”

  “Did you fiddle with the security system for any reason?”

  “No, I didn’t,” Jacob said. “Why, is something wrong with it?”

  “In just a minute,” Liam said. “First, I want you to tell me in your own words everything that you remember the other employee did that night.”

  “Rose?” Jacob asked, sounding surprised. “Well, she just did the normal stuff, I guess. She made some pizzas, she watched the register while I was gone, nothing out of the ordinary. She cleaned a bit, I suppose. It was a pretty slow evening.”

  “Did she go by the master control for the security cameras at all?” Liam asked.

  “No, I don’t think so,” Jacob said. “But, like I said, I did go out on deliveries a few times.”

  “And how was she acting that evening?”

  “Um, normal, I guess,” Jacob said. “I mean, she’s been a bit shorter with me than usual ever since I became assistant manager, but I think she’s been warming up.”

  “Do you think she wanted the position herself?” Liam asked.

  “I know she did,” Jacob said. “We have been here a long time. I know it was difficult for Ms. P. to choose, and I’m sure Rose does too, but it’s been hard for her.”

  “Do you know if Rose knew the victim at all?”

  “I don’t think so,” Jacob said. He blinked. “What are you saying?”

  “I’m just making sure that all of my bases are covered,” the deputy said.

  “The morning of the class, she was acting kind of weird,” Jacob admitted. “She hardly talked to me when she came in, and I saw her ignoring Ms. P. too.”

  “Do you know where she was all morning?”

  “No, I didn’t see her after she went into the kitchen. I was too busy helping clean up after the class.”

  “Thank you,” the deputy said. “You’ve been very helpful. You can get going now. I have your number, and I will call you if we need to ask any more questions. If you can think of anything else, just give the sheriff’s department a call and ask for me.”

  After Jacob left, Liam turned toward Ellie. She had watched the exchange with a feeling of foreboding and felt that she knew what was coming next.

  “Just how bad are things between you, Jacob, and Rose?” he asked, sounding concerned.

  “I don’t know,” Ellie admitted. “Sometimes she seems perfectly fine, but other times I can tell that she is still hurt.”

  “Why did you choose Jacob for the position over her?” he asked, curious.

  “Because I know that Jacob wants to stay in the food business in the future, but Rose has expressed an interest in other things. I know she likes art, and she has considered being a teacher in the past. I thought it would help Jacob more in his career to have this on his resume than it would help her.”

  Liam nodded. “That’s sounds reasonable. Have you told her all of that?”

  “Not in so many words,” Ellie admitted. “But I have told her bits and pieces of it. She has actually worked here a couple of months longer than Jacob, and I think that she assumed that because she has seniority, she would be the first one up for promotion. I think I should have probably talked to her about it first. The whole thing was a surprise to both of them, and that might not have been the best way to do it.”

  “It was a simple mistake,” he said. “I’m more concerned with how Rose is dealing with it now.”

  “Me too,” Ellie admitted. “I couldn’t help but wonder if maybe Jacob was the intended victim, and she somehow mistook Andy for him from the back.”

  “It’s a possibility,” he said.

  His phone buzzed, and he stepped away from her to take the call. Ellie fidgeted, looking around, uncomfortable at the new direction that the investigation had taken. When Liam returned to the table, he had a dark look on his face.

  “I’m going to have to turn the case over to Russell,” he said.

  “What? Why?”

  “Because Andy passed away in the hospital just a few minutes ago. This is now a homicide case.”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  * * *

  Ellie was speechless. The words took a moment to sink in, and when they did, she felt her stomach clench. Andy was dead? Just a couple of days ago, the woman had been in this very restaurant, vibrant and alive. She remembered seeing Andy's fiancé at the prayer service and felt suddenly sick. Whatever had happened, it wasn't fair. Andy still had so much of her life left to live. She couldn't be dead. She just couldn't.

  “Ellie? Are you okay?” Liam asked.

  “How did she die?” Ellie asked.

  “Complications from the head injuries,” Liam said. “I have to go call Russell. We need to go to the hospital and talk to the doctors. We also need to start looking at this case as a murder. You should go home. Are you going to be okay to drive?”

  “I'll be fine,” Ellie said. “Go. Find out who did this to her. If there's anything you need, anything at all, I'll be there to help.”

  Liam nodded. “I'm sure Russell will tell you if we find anything. I'm sorry, Ellie. I wish that something like this hadn't happened here.”

  Ellie had to force herself to take slow, deep breaths as she got into her car and started the engine. It had been bad enough when Andy was lying in the hospital, recovering and in a coma, but now that she was dead, Ellie had to face the very possible reality that one of her employees was a killer. What little evidence they had seemed to point toward Rose. Ellie didn't understand how she could have worked beside the girl for nearly two years and misjudged her so deeply. How could she have been harboring a killer under the restaurant's roof all this time?

  She drove home slowly, aware that she was in some sort of shock, and wasn't as alert as she usually was. She heard the dogs barking as she pulled into the driveway and walked up the door automatically unlocking it and bending down to pet them. Sawyer licked her face, and she realized that she was crying.

  “I just can't believe that she died,” she murmured, sitting down on the floor with her back against the door and the dogs crawling into her lap. “She was so nice. How can she be gone, just like that?”

  She held Bunny close to her, feeling very alone. Andy's death was a frightening reminder that violence could happen to anyone. Life was so fleeting. Now, all because of one person's decision and a split second in the alley beside the pizzeria, Andy's whole future was gone, and her fiancé and parents’ futures were changed forever.

  “Whoever killed her had no right,” she said quietly. “No right at all.”