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

  “What now?” Moira asked. “I hate this, but I don't want to let it wreck my day.”

  “Let's go back to the Christmas tree farm and get a tree,” David said. “Candice will be here in just a couple of days. I know you want to have it set up by then.”

  Even though it had been her own idea to return to the same Christmas tree farm to buy their tree, she found herself regretting her decision as David turned into the driveway. She was already unsettled from what had happened earlier in the day, and returning to the same place where she had found a body didn’t improve matters. It was too late, however. They were there.

  “You two again,” Chris said, coming out of the tent after they parked. “Go ahead and pick out whatever tree you want. It's on me.”

  “No, no,” Moira said. “We can’t do that.”

  “Last year, a little girl sprained her ankle when she slipped on a patch of ice here. I gave her family whatever Christmas tree they wanted, for free. The two of you found a corpse. In my book, that's a lot worse. I won't accept any money from you two either.”

  “Thank you,” David said. “However, I don't think we would be comfortable taking a tree without paying.”

  “Well, if you insist, you can drop the money in the charity box,” he said. “It's for a group that supplies toys to underprivileged children on Christmas. I won't complain about that.”

  Moira thought that was probably the best compromise. David was right; she wouldn’t feel right taking a tree for free, but it was obvious that Chris wouldn’t feel right about charging them, either.

  “I think I know which one I want,” she said to David. “It’s one of the ones we passed yesterday. I probably should have settled for it when we were here before. I don’t know why I kept looking for something different.”

  It took her a while to find the right tree. They had looked at so many the day before, but this one had stuck in her mind. It was a beautiful Douglas fir, full and green, and the perfect height for the living room. She took some of the orange twine that Chris had given them and tied it around a branch, then she and David walked back to the tent.

  It didn't take long for Chris to cut down their tree, put it in a shaker, and net it for them. He helped David secure it on top of the SUV. “Would you two like a cup of hot chocolate and a tour of the reindeer farm before you go?” he asked, hopping down from the back bumper and brushing the loose needles off of his jacket.

  She and David exchanged a glance. “Sure,” Moira said after confirming it was all right with her husband. “I'd love to see the reindeer.”

  “Just follow me up the driveway a bit. Park in front of the barn. I'll call my wife and tell her to make sure there's some hot chocolate ready to go.”

  They got back into their vehicle and followed the man up the driveway. He pulled his truck up in front of an old barn, and they parked next to him.

  “I’ll go fetch your hot chocolates from the house. Feel free to take a peek at the reindeer,” he said. “They’re outside, in a pen around the other side of the barn.”

  She and David made their way around the barn, and sure enough, saw a pasture with a small herd of reindeer in it.

  “They're adorable,” she said. “I’ve got to take pictures of them.”

  She had just finished snapping some photos with her cell phone when Chris reappeared with two steaming hot chocolates in his hands.

  “They’re pretty different from the whitetail deer we have down here,” he said. “They aren’t native to Michigan, of course. They’re real sweethearts when you raise them right. Now, these guys are pretty sleepy right now, but I think I’ll be able to call that white doe over. She loves attention almost as much as she loves food.”

  He hung over the fence, calling out to the deer and tempting her over with a handful of grain. Moira watched, enthralled, as the white reindeer trotted toward the fence. At last, she stuck her head over it and began to eat grain out of the man's hand.

  “Go on and pet her,” he said. She reached out and stroked the deer's soft neck.

  “David, you've got to feel her. She's so soft.”

  David came up and patted the doe’s side. “This is a pretty nice set up you have,” he told Chris. “I bet kids love it.”

  “Oh, they do,” he said. “We attend a couple of different events with them every year. I think the reindeer enjoy the attention too.”

  “Why do you have so many chains on all the gates?” David asked. Moira noticed it for the first time. The gate had a heavy chain with a padlock on it, and there was also a padlock on the barn door.

  “We’ve had a few people come here and try to let the deer go,” Chris said. “They think that they're being exploited, when we use them for events. The truth is, these reindeer wouldn't survive in the wild. They wouldn't have any idea what to do. They are just too used to dogs, people, and cars. They’ve never had to forage for food in the middle of winter, or break through ice to get water. Yeah, we make some money off of them, but most of it goes right back in to feed and repairs for the pastures. They’re pretty spoiled, really. I got ‘em originally because my wife, Tillie, wanted them, but they’ve grown on me over the years. There really isn’t much that’s cuter than a two-day-old baby reindeer.”

  “I’m sure,” Moira said. “The adults are pretty cute themselves. Thanks for letting us see them. And thanks for the tree. Sorry for all the trouble before.”

  “You didn't cause it,” he said. “All you did was find the body. Gotta say, I'm glad you did. I don’t usually go out that far. Not during the winter, anyway. Better it was found now, than a few weeks into spring after the first big thaw.”

  The deli owner shuddered. It was definitely better that the body had been found sooner rather than later. She just wished that she and David hadn't been the ones to stumble across it.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  * * *

  “Remember, we won’t be open again until the twenty-seventh. Have a nice holiday.”

  Moira watched the customer leave, feeling tired but happy. Tomorrow, Candice and Eli would be arriving, and then she would have four days completely off from work to spend with her family. It was hard to imagine not going to the deli for that long, but she was sure that it was the right choice. Everyone needed some time off once in a while, and the holidays were the perfect time to do it.

  She and David had gotten the tree set up after they got home the evening before. It had been wonderful to walk downstairs that morning and be greeted by the warm glow of the Christmas tree’s lights. Everything was ready for Candice's arrival. She had tidied up the guest bedroom, and had put fresh bedding on the bed. The fridge was stocked with food, and she had meal plans for each day. She hadn't been this excited about anything in a long time.

  Even better, she hadn't seen Nowak’s wife at all that day. She had been half expecting the woman to show up at the deli, but there had been no sign of her. Whether or not Detective Jefferson had been able to charge her with something, she didn't know, but it seemed that he had at least convinced her to quit stalking them.

  She still wondered what that had been about. If it hadn’t been the holiday season, she might have been more inclined to get involved in the case, but right now, she just wanted to focus on her family. This was the biggest holiday of the year, and she wanted everything to be perfect – that meant not worrying about murderers and crazy wives if she could help it.

  “Hello, welcome to Darling’s DELIcious Delights. How can I help you?” she asked the next customer in line.

  “I would like a bowl of the duck and quinoa soup, please,” he said. “Merry Christmas, by the way.”

  “Merry Christmas to you too,” she said. “Your food’s coming right up.”

  She ducked into the kitchen to give the order to Allison. The young woman, her daughter's half-sister, looked a lot better than she had even two weeks before. She had been making great strides in coming to terms with what her relation to the Darling family meant, and Moira was glad to see a smil
e back on her face.

  The kitchen smelled heavenly. The special of the day was duck and quinoa soup, with a rich beef broth, onions, peas, and garlic. It was served with a French baguette for dipping, and had been one of their most popular specials of the week. It was a delicious recipe, and one that she knew she would serve at home in the coming days.

  She served the next couple of customers, fighting back a yawn as the clock ticked on. She had been there since early that morning, and was planning on staying until closing. She wasn't a fan of doing twelve-hour days, but it was their last day before the holidays, and she had known it was bound to be busy. It was beautiful outside; sunny, and warmer than it had been for most of the week. Some of the snow was even melting, and everything outside seemed to glitter. She knew that tonight it would probably all freeze again, leaving the roads a slippery mess, but right now she thought that she would have enjoyed being outside.

  As she watched, the mail truck pulled into the alley by the side of the building, then pulled out again a couple of seconds later. It was a perfect excuse for her to take a quick break and step outside to get some fresh air.

  “Cameron, Allison, can one of you take the register?” she asked on her way through the kitchen. “I'm going to step outside to get the mail.”

  The three of them were the only ones left. Darrin was still under the weather, and Jenny had fallen ill with the same thing he had. Every time Moira felt so much as a twinge in her stomach, she was worried that she was about to get sick as well. Thankfully, no one else had caught whatever bug they had. Not yet, anyway. She hoped that he and Jenny both felt better soon. Being sick over their break wouldn’t be any fun at all for them.

  She put on her jacket and stepped out into the back alley, taking a deep breath of the unseasonably warm air. It really was nice out. She hardly needed her jacket, in fact. It would have been the perfect day to go on a walk in the woods with the dogs.

  She walked over to the mailbox on the side of the building and opened it, pulling out all of the usual bills and advertisements. She paused when she saw what was at the bottom of the box. It was a slim package, wrapped in the same paper as the one that had been left on her front porch earlier in the week. She hesitated, then grabbed it. She wasn't sure that she would like whatever was in the package, but she didn't think it would be dangerous. Once again, the package was light and felt like it contained nothing more than papers.

  She went back inside and tossed the other mail on the table, keeping the unwelcome package in her hands as she took a seat.

  “Mrs. D., are you okay?” Allison asked, glancing at her from where she was ladling soup into a bowl.

  “I’m fine,” Moira said. “Just taking a short break.” She could catch Allison up on what had been happening later, and she wasn’t technically lying. Right now, she just wanted to figure out what was in the package.

  Her hands shaking, she slit the paper open and pulled out what was inside. There were only two pages. One was a photo of her home, which showed David on his way out the door. The other one was a printed note that read, How do you like it when the tables are turned?

  She stuffed the papers back in the envelope and grabbed her purse off the counter.

  “Allison, I have to go somewhere,” she said. “Are you and Cameron going to be okay keeping this place running on your own for about half an hour?”

  “We should be fine,” Allison said. “Are you sure everything is okay?”

  “I'll tell you about it later,” Moira said. “Right now, there's something important I have to deal with.”

  Once she was in her car, she turned down Main Street, heading toward Lake Marion. She wasn't going to the police station; Detective Jefferson had already talked to Nowak’s wife, and that hadn’t done anything to fix the issue. It was time for her to go straight to the source. Someone was stalking her and her husband, and that wasn't something that she was okay with.

  CHAPTER NINE

  * * *

  Her first stop was David's office. She used her key to get in, and stood in the empty building for a moment, catching her breath and gathering her thoughts. She knew this wasn't the smartest idea, but she couldn't let this go. This woman was terrorizing them on purpose. Besides, she probably wasn't in any real danger. If Mrs. Nowak wanted to hurt them, and she would have done so already. Moira thought that she wanted to upset them, but not actually assault them.

  What about her husband? she thought. If she killed him, she might be more dangerous than I’m giving her credit for. She shook her head. She didn't know whether Mrs. Nowak had killed her husband or not, but the fact that she was still walking around as a free woman made her guess that the police had their own reasons for clearing her of the crime.

  Moira strode over to the desktop computer and turned it on. She waited impatiently while the fan whirred as the computer booted up. Watching the old desktop work its way to life, she was struck by a sudden inspiration for what to get her husband for Christmas. A new computer. He could definitely use one, and it wasn’t something that he would ever go and buy for himself until this one stopped working completely.

  After what seemed like hours, the computer’s screen flashed to life. She typed in David’s password and did a quick search through the files – she had really gotten good at all of this computer stuff since she had started helping out at the office.

  Once she found Nowak’s case, she noted down the address. That was all she really needed. Luckily, the house was close.

  She exited out of the file and was about to shut down the computer when something caught her eye. It was a folder labeled Interviews. It was new. She had spent plenty of time on this computer, and would have seen it before if it had been there.

  Feeling a bit guilty at the thought of going through her husband’s stuff, she clicked on it anyway. If David had wanted to keep something from her, he wouldn’t have stored it on a computer that she used regularly. Besides, what could her husband possibly want to hide? She trusted him, and she told herself that the only reason she was even clicking on the folder was out of innocent curiosity.

  She looked at the files in the folder and frowned. They were all names, but not ones that she recognized. She clicked on one randomly, and found what looked like a resume with an attached cover letter, and some complicated looking documents from a bank. More puzzled than ever, she began to read through the documents.

  When she was done, she sat back in the chair, stunned. It was obvious that these people were all applying for a job… a job right here at David’s office. Why they needed the documents from their banks for that, she didn’t know. She also didn’t know why her husband wouldn’t have mentioned any of this to her. She always told him when she was thinking of hiring someone new at the deli. By the looks of it, he had met with quite a few people, and it must have taken up quite a lot of his time. Why wouldn’t he have told her?

  She glanced at the pad of paper upon which she had scribbled the Nowaks’ address and shook her head. Right now, she had her own problems to deal with. She could figure out what David was up to later.

  Moira drove slowly by the little house where Ashleigh Nowak lived. She saw a car in the driveway; good, that meant that someone was home. She drove around the block and came back, this time pulling into the driveway behind the red car parked there. She braced herself, gathering her courage, then got out and walked to the front door. She pounded on it, and a moment later it opened. She came face to face with her stalker for the first time.

  “You,” the other woman said, her eyes narrowing. “Haven't you harassed me enough?”

  The deli owner was taken aback the woman’s bluntness. She had expected a denial, or at least false confusion over who she was. “I have never seen you in my life until you started following my friends and me the other day. What in the world are you talking about?” Moira asked.

  The other woman looked at her, aghast. “Your husband followed me around and took pictures of me. I don't care that’s he’s a PI. That's
harassment. Plain and simple.”

  “He was hired by your husband, who thought you were trying to murder him,” Moira said. “He wasn't doing it just for kicks.”

  “I didn't kill my husband, and I didn’t want to kill him,” the woman said. “Sure, I added something to his food every once in a while, but that was just to keep him from enjoying his little affair. It’s hard to have a good time when your stomach is cramping for half the evening. Besides, if I did kill him, I certainly wouldn’t have stabbed him to death. I would have pushed the disloyal cretin in front of a car or something. Not that I’ve thought about it.”