Halloween Pizza Murder (Papa Pacelli's Pizzeria Series Book 18) Read online

“Yes,” she said. “I just wanted to have you help me pick out a wedding date. I just stopped by the community center and spoke to Dan, who gave me a few dates in February that might work.”

  “Go ahead and sit down,” he said. “I just got back, sorry everything is a mess. I decided to take a break from sitting in my office and do some field work.”

  “Did you find anything new pertaining to the case?” she asked. She took the same seat she had had that morning and pried open the container with the muffins, which she had accidentally left there.

  “Possibly,” he said. He hesitated, and for a moment she thought he was about to continue, but then he said, “So, what are the possible dates?”

  She showed him the photos she had taken of the schedule, and they discussed which date they wanted for a few minutes. Eventually, they settled on two different days that they liked. He promised to call his parents and see which one would be better for them.

  “I’ll have to call my mom, too,” she said. “She might want to stay for a couple of days. She did grow up here, after all.”

  “It will be nice to meet her,” Russell said.

  “Yeah… I suppose it will be nice to see her again, too. We’ve never really been the best about communicating with each other, to be honest. I’m a little bit worried about telling her about our engagement.”

  “You haven’t told her yet?” he asked, looking surprised.

  “I haven’t had a chance,” she said. “I’ve been focused on getting the second pizzeria opened, and I didn’t want any distractions.”

  “I hope it goes well when you tell her,” he said. “My parents were happy for us. My mom’s really come around since she met you.”

  Ellie smiled. His mother hadn’t been her greatest fan when they had first met, but they had patched things up towards the end of her visit. She was glad to his parents were happy that he was remarrying. She liked his family, and would be proud to be a part of it.

  Taking her phone back from him, she remembered the photo that she had snapped earlier. “Oh, there’s something else I need to show you,” she said.

  She found the photo and zoomed in. Handing phone over to him, she said, “While I was walking Bunny earlier today, I saw that woman again. At least, I’m pretty sure it was her. I managed to snap a photo. It’s not great, but it shows that someone was there.”

  “When was this?” he asked.

  “Maybe around three-thirty?” she said.

  “I wish you would have called me,” he said. “I would have been in the area around then.”

  “She was already gone by the time I got done snapping the photo,” she replied. “I told you, I saw her. This is proof. Something odd is going on.”

  “Well, it can’t be the woman who died,” he said. “I don’t have an explanation for this, Ellie. Are you sure this is the same person you saw last night?”

  “I’m not,” she admitted. “It could have been anyone.”

  “I’ll drive the area again later today,” he said. “If you see anyone wandering around again, call me immediately, okay?”

  She nodded. “I will,” she promised. She was frustrated. No, she couldn’t swear that this was the same person she had seen, but it was too much of a coincidence for her to believe it wasn’t related. There was a woman in white wandering the woods near her house. Who was she? Had Ellie seen a ghost?

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  * * *

  Ellie kept the outdoor lights on all night. With Bunny sleeping on the pillow beside her head, she felt secure. Both times the mysterious woman had been around, the dog had alerted her, and tonight the papillon slept through the night without twitching once.

  In the morning, she went through the normal routine of feeding the animals and making breakfast for herself. When her food was done, she sat down at the kitchen table and called her grandmother. It was wonderful to hear the older woman’s voice when she answered.

  “Hi, Nonna,” she said. “How is Florida?”

  “It’s wonderful,” her grandmother said. “I love it here. How is everything in Maine? How are you settling in?”

  “It’s been a crazy couple of days,” Ellie admitted. She told her grandmother about the murder, and about the woman that she had seen. “I don’t know if I’m going crazy or what, I know she’s the woman I saw on the patio.”

  “Now, you know I’m not usually superstitious, but it definitely sounds like those woods are haunted. I’m sorry you’re there alone. It must have been so frightening to see her on the patio.”

  “It was, but not as frightening as it was to realize that she had already been dead for forty-eight hours first. I don’t know what to do. I don’t think I’m crazy, but at the same time, I know what I saw, and what I saw is impossible.”

  “What can you do to keep ghosts away? Isn’t salt supposed to do it? My own grandmother believed in those sorts of things, and every year around Halloween time she would sprinkle salt at the entrances of the house to keep the evil spirits out. I always thought she was a little bit crazy, but it might be worth a try.”

  “Maybe…” Ellie wasn’t sure that she wanted to go that far just yet. Surely there was a rational explanation somewhere. “Anyway, it’s been good talking to you. I’m glad you’re enjoying Florida. I miss you, but it’s good to know you’re having a good time.”

  “I really am,” her grandmother said. “Oh, I haven’t told you yet, but the condo association wants to use my photo in one of their pamphlets. I’ll send you one when they get printed. I’m going to be on the front page.”

  “I can’t wait to see it,” Ellie said. “I’ll show everyone up here in Kittiport.”

  After talking for another few minutes, they said their goodbyes and Ellie hung up. Just hearing her grandmother’s voice had made her feel better. She glanced to the saltshaker as she began eating her breakfast, then shook her head. No, she wouldn’t resort to superstitions… not yet, anyway.

  She got into work early enough to begin making their special of the week, which would be premiering the day before Halloween. She wanted to make a test pizza first. That way, she would have time to tweak the recipe if needed before serving it to her customers.

  She started by preheating the oven, giving it ample time to heat up as she prepared the ingredients. She cut the butternut squash and eggplant into cubes before peeling the skin off of the fresh garlic cloves. After tossing all of the of the ingredients into a glass bowl, she drizzled olive oil and sprinkled in some dried rosemary, then tossed the vegetables until they were well-coated.

  Then she spread the vegetables onto a pan and put it into the oven to roast them. While she waited, she cleaned up the mess that she had made. Just before the vegetables were ready to come out, she took one of the balls of the classic Papa Pacelli’s thin crust dough out of the refrigerator and rolled it into the correct shape. She put the pizza pan into the oven so the crust could begin to pre-bake.

  A few minutes later, she took both the vegetables and the pizza crust out of the oven and spread marinara sauce over the crest before placing the vegetables on top. She added crumbs of feta cheese over the toppings, then put the entire dish back into the oven.

  Once the pizza was done cooking, it was difficult for her to wait for it to cool before eating it. It looked and smelled amazing, and reminded her why she enjoyed cooking so much. It was fun to be creative in the kitchen.

  She wasn’t disappointed when she finally tasted it. The butternut squash added just a bit of sweetness, which the sharp taste of the feta cheese complemented nicely. It was a time-consuming pizza to make, but the special would only run for a week, and she was certain that her customers would enjoy it.

  By then, it was time to open the restaurant for the day. She put the rest of the pizza in the fridge for herself and her employees to snack on, then headed out to the front to unlock the doors. She was ready to start working.

  It was a Friday, and one of the busier days at the pizzeria, so both Jacob and Rose were working with her
that evening. Jacob had been spending more time at the restaurant then doing deliveries lately, but since they didn’t have a dedicated delivery driver currently, he and Rose were back to taking turns delivering the pizzas. Ever since Sabrina’s death, she had been anxious whenever one of her employees went on a delivery. She wished that there was something she could do to help ensure their safety, but other than warning them to keep a close eye on their surroundings, she was almost helpless. About half of the pizzeria’s business came from deliveries. She couldn’t very well stop them completely, though she would never ask employees to make a delivery if they didn’t feel safe.

  With Halloween only a few days away, her customers were in high spirits. Both children and adults seem to love the holiday. She was looking forward to next Tuesday, when she would get to dress up and hand out candy at work.

  She was pleasantly surprised later in the day by a visit from Joanna and her husband. She took a short break to sit with them while their order was cooking.

  “So, about the small business club, I have a friend in Benton Harbor that owns a bakery. Would it be okay if I asked her to come, or is only for people who live in Kittiport?”

  “Go ahead and tell her about it,” Ellie said. “I’m happy for anyone who lives nearby to come. Benton Harbor is pretty close by, and I think it would be nice to get to know people from there too.”

  “Okay, I’m sure she will be glad to hear about it. Just let me know when you have thought more about it. I might know a couple of other people that would be interested as well.”

  “I will,” Ellie said.

  “How is your wedding planning coming along?” her friend asked. “I didn’t get a chance to ask you before.”

  “It’s going well,” she said. “I already spoke to Dan at the community center about using it as a venue for the wedding, and he gave me a couple of dates that might work.”

  “Dan Asado?” Steve asked. “I know him. We went to college together. It’s been nice to catch up with him.”

  “It’s a small world,” Ellie said, smiling. “You’ll get used to it soon enough living in this town. Everyone knows everyone else.”

  “You are engaged to the local sheriff, aren’t you?” Steve asked. She nodded. “Do you know if he ever confirmed the identity of the dead woman they found? I know it’s only been a day, but I want to know if it’s Melanie. If it is, I feel terrible for her family. She was close with her sister and her mother, and they will be devastated.”

  “I don’t know, but I can check for you,” she said. She frowned, remembering that Steve was possibly a suspect in the case. If it was Melanie, Russell would probably bring him in for questioning. She didn’t know if she should even be talking to him, but she didn’t know how she could remove herself from the conversation without seeming rude.

  “Oh, I really hope it wasn’t her,” Joanna said. “I only met her once, but she seemed nice. Maybe that’s a weird thing to say about my husband’s ex-girlfriend, but they dated before I even met him. I can’t hold that against her.”

  “I hope it’s not her, too,” Ellie said. She really did. She liked Joanna a lot, but if Russell ended up arresting her husband, she didn’t know if their friendship could survive that. She hoped for all of their sakes that the murder victim wasn’t Steve’s ex.

  After a couple of minutes, Rose signaled that their food was ready and Ellie rose with relief to bring it out. She would call Russell as soon as possible to figure out if he had confirmed the identity of the murder victim yet. If they hadn’t, then that would be good news for Steve and Joanna, but bad news for the victim’s family. Finding out her identity would be the first step to figuring out who had killed her.

  CHAPTER NINE

  * * *

  The next day was Saturday, which Ellie had completely off from work. She enjoyed the opportunity to sleep in, glad that she didn’t have anything scheduled for that day. The house was oddly silent without her grandmother moving around downstairs, at least until Marlowe began to call for attention.

  Ellie sat up in bed, yawning, while Bunny stretched on the pillow beside her. The sun was shining through her sheer curtains, and she felt pleasantly well rested. It was a good start to what she hoped would be a relaxing weekend.

  After going downstairs to care for the animals, she took a cup of coffee to the back patio while Bunny explored the yard. It wasn’t until she heard her phone ring inside that she forced herself to get up and really start her day.

  The call was from Russell, who had news that she wasn’t happy to hear. “We finally got the call back,” he said. “The deceased woman is Melanie. Liam is heading out to bring Steve in for questioning right now.”

  Ellie sighed. It was bad news. It would be even worse if Steve had really been the one to kill her. Did Joanna know? She couldn’t imagine her friend being okay with a murder, but there was no telling what someone would do for their spouse.

  “Thank you for letting me know,” she said. “I really hope it’s not him.”

  “Me too,” her fiancé said. “Could you do me a favor and not mention this to Joanna or Shannon? I trust Shannon, but I don’t want to put her in a position where she might have to lie to one of her friends.”

  “Of course. Will you call me when you know more?”

  “I will,” he promised. “I should get going now. I just wanted to let you know.”

  She said goodbye and hung up, feeling conflicted. If the killer wasn’t Steve, then that meant that they would have no leads. At least now that they knew for sure who the dead woman was, they could begin exploring who else might have had a possible motive.

  She spent most of the morning cooking and cleaning, even pulling Marlowe’s cage outside – without the bird in it – to spray it down before it got too cold out. A little bit after noon, when she had eaten a pleasant lunch alone outside, she got another call, this time from Shannon. She answered, expecting her friend to want to talk about Steve’s trip to the sheriff’s department. She was surprised when Shannon didn’t seem to know about it at all. While she had promised Russell not to tell her friend about it, Shannon usually had a pretty good grasp on the town’s grapevine of gossip. It was rare for Ellie to know something that she didn’t.

  “Do you want to get together this evening?” her friend asked. “James is going to be out of town, so I thought I could come over and we could spend some time together. We haven’t really had much of a chance to talk since you got back.”

  “Sure,” Ellie said. “That sounds nice. What time do you think you’ll be here?”

  “Would around three work? I’ll bring some stuff for us to make for dinner, as well as a couple of movies, if you want. We’ll just have a nice girl’s night in.”

  “I would love that,” Ellie said. “I’ll see you then.”

  Shannon arrived shortly after three, loaded down with grocery bags and DVDs. Ellie let her inside and help her carry everything into the kitchen. While her friend gave Bunny a couple of dog treats, Ellie began unpacking the bags. Her friend had brought the ingredients to make a cake, some sort of chicken dish, and alcohol-free margaritas. Ellie smiled. Being pregnant had given her friend some limitations, but she always seemed to find ways to get around them. She was glad that she was able to be a part of Shannon’s journey. It was odd to think that her friend would soon be a mother.

  Ellie took the liberty of cutting up all of the ingredients needed for the creamy chicken casserole while her friend read through the directions and pulled out the spices, sauces, and seasonings that they would need.

  Once the main dish was in the oven, they prepared the cake mix. They filled the two round pans with the batter, then placed them in the oven underneath the casserole dish. The hard part done, they cleaned the kitchen together, then retreated to the living room to start their movie.

  It was one of the most pleasant afternoons Ellie had had for a long time. It was nice to simply sit with her friend and talk about inconsequential matters. They avoided the topic of the m
urder, for which Ellie was grateful. She had spent enough time thinking about it over the past few days. Until Russell called her back to tell her whether or not he thought Steve was guilty, there wasn’t any point in dwelling on the matter.

  When the food was done, they took the cakes out and left them on the counter to cool while they dug into the casserole. Bunny waited under the table, begging. Ellie smiled at the little dog, but otherwise ignored her. Her grandmother had been the one to begin the bad habit of feeding her table scraps. Now that the older woman was living in Florida, Ellie thought that it was time to break the habit.

  “Did you have any problems with her while you were watching her?” she asked her friend.

  “None,” Shannon said. “She was an angel. If I wasn’t going to have a baby soon, I might even think about getting a dog myself. I don’t really want to deal with an infant and the dog at the same time, though.”