Thai Coconut Murder: Book 6 in The Darling Deli Series (6 page)

“It’s fine,” she said, giving him a quick smile. “I got a chance to chat with Denise. She recommended the fried calamari—here, try it, it’s amazing.” She pushed the appetizer across the table towards him, glad that he had arrived before she had been tempted to finish it. She had never been partial to squid in any form before, but the perfectly fried little rings were surprisingly tasty.

“Not bad,” he said after trying a piece. “I’m glad you got to see Denise; at least you weren’t just sitting here alone the whole time.” He gave her an apologetic smile. “So, what was it you wanted to talk about? Not that dinner isn’t enough of an excuse to see each other, but you sounded concerned on the phone last night.”

“It’s about Alice,” Moira told him after taking a surreptitious glance around to make sure no one was close enough to overhear her. “I think something strange is going on, and she’s at the heart of it.”

“Did you get a chance to ask her anything about Henry?” he asked, looking intrigued.

“Yes, but, ah… that didn’t get me anywhere.” She was reluctant to admit to him just how poorly she had done in questioning the shopkeeper. “No, I’m talking about something that I overheard while I was in the shop…” She relayed Alice’s conversation with the lawyer as best she could, not leaving anything out. When she finished, David frowned, his brow drawn forward as he thought about her tale.

“What do you think this means?” she asked after a moment.

“I have my theory, but I want to hear yours first. You’ve had all night to mull it over,” he said. “What do you think this conversation Alice had with Ms. LaFontaine means for Henry?”

“Well, I think it means that he hasn’t been up at his cabin for a while,” she said. “I’m sure six months’ worth of rent checks is a lot of money. If he had gotten the checks, he would have cashed them.”

“I agree,” David told her. He took a deep breath. “Which means Alice lied to us.”

“What do you mean, she lied?”

“Well, she told me just last month that Henry was up in his cabin. She said he was going to go on one last fishing trip, up to Canada with his buddy, but that he’d be back soon.”

“So, if Henry wasn’t really up north, and Alice knew that…” Moira said slowly.

“Then she might have known he was already dead,” David finished.

“What do we do?” she asked, concern for her daughter first and foremost in her mind. “Candice lives right above the toy shop. If we’re right about Alice, then that means she lives above a murderer.”

“We don’t know for sure that any of this is true,” David pointed out, attempting to calm her down. “And even if Alice did know that Henry wasn’t actually up north at his cabin, even if she knew he was dead, that doesn’t mean she killed him.”

“If she knew her grandfather was dead, why wouldn’t she have told anybody?” she asked.

“I don’t know. I agree that she seems pretty suspicious right now, but I think it’s best not to rock the boat. If she
did
kill her grandfather, the last thing you want to do is let her know you’re on to her,” he pointed out.

“Should I tell Candice?”

“Would she be able to keep it a secret?” he asked. “Would she still act normal around Alice?”

“She’s not very good at lying,” she admitted. “Even during her teenage years, she could never keep a straight face during a lie. But what am I supposed to do? Don’t you think she’ll be in danger? Alice already doesn’t like her very much.”

“I think Candice will be fine,” he told her, his voice soothing. His blue eyes met hers, and Moira took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. “All we have right now is speculation. If Alice
did
murder her grandfather, she was careful to cover her tracks. He wasn’t found until he had been in the lake so long that most forensic evidence had washed away. Alice’s a smart woman; I doubt she’s going to go on a killing spree that involves your daughter.”

“I’m not going to get any sleep at night until this is over,” Moira groaned. “Why did Candice have to get
that
apartment?”

“Could you have her come stay with you for a while?” he asked her.

“I don’t know what excuse I would give her,” she told him. “She’s so excited to have her own place, I doubt she wants to come back home without a good reason.”

“I might have an idea.” He hesitated, so Moira raised her eyebrows slightly, encouraging him. “I still want to check out Henry’s cabin. If you wanted to come with me, you could ask Candice to stay at your house to take care of Maverick. That would get her out of the apartment, and then we wouldn’t have to worry about having to bring Maverick up north with us.”

“What would we do at his cabin?” she asked, interested in his plan, though she wasn’t quite sure how easy it would be to leave the deli in her employee’s hands for a few days. “Chances are it’s locked.” She imagined that a remote cabin would be pretty easy to break into, but she knew that wasn’t David’s style. He might push the law a little sometimes, but she had never known him to break it outright.

“I’ve got a key,” he said with a mischievous grin. “Henry gave it to me a few years ago when I had to drive up north for a case, and then said I could keep it in case I ever needed a place to crash during a road trip, or even if I just wanted to get out of town for a bit. So, are you in?”

“Yes.” A matching grin appeared on her own face. It seemed like David always had something up his sleeve. “As long as I can find someone to take my shifts at the deli, I’m in. How far away is it, anyway?”

“About six hours,” he said. “So it’s a bit of a trip. We won’t drive there and back again all in one day. I know weekends are usually busy for you, so we can wait until sometime next week to go.”

“All right. I’ll feel a lot better with Candice out of the apartment, at least for a night or two.”

Feeling better, she lifted the menu, not sure what to order tonight. The calamari was long gone, but she was still in the mood for seafood. The grilled salmon caught her eye, until she saw the baked lobster tail farther down the page. “Comes with mashed cauliflower and seasonal vegetables
.
” She was hooked; she’d have to try it. Glancing up from the menu, she saw David watching her with a considering expression on his face.

“What?” she asked.

“I’m just wondering what this menu would look like if you were the one who came up with it,” he said. “You’re one of the most inventive people I know when it comes to food.”

“I try to keep things interesting at the deli,” she said with a laugh. “It really isn’t that hard to come up with new dishes—what’s difficult is to make sure they taste good. I’ve had my fair share of failed dishes, though. I usually test out new recipes on Candice first. If she doesn’t like it, my customers probably won’t either.”

“I’ve never tasted anything that you’ve cooked that was less than perfect,” he said with a chuckle. “I’m not sure I believe that you’ve ever had any failed dishes.”

“Thanks for the flattery,” she said, feeling the beginnings of a blush on her cheeks. “But I promise you, I’ve invented some pretty terrible recipes, especially when I was first starting out.” She fell silent, her eyes fixed on a table just visible over David’s right shoulder. He turned to follow her gaze.

“Is that…?

“Yeah, it is.” Dante and Meg, the new employee, were sitting a few tables away. They were completely focused on each other, gazing at each other with the sort of intensity that only comes with young love. Moira was surprised—they had very different personalities, with Dante being withdrawn and prone to anxiety, and Meg outgoing and confident. She supposed that the old “opposites attract” rule might be true for them.

“Don’t stare,” she whispered urgently as Meg took a sip of water and glanced their way.

“Did you know about that?” David asked, turning back to her.

“No, I had no idea,” she admitted. “They didn’t say anything to me, and they haven’t been acting any different at all at the deli.”
Then again, I’ve been so busy lately—would I have even noticed two of my employees falling in love?

She glanced over at the table again and saw Meg lean forward towards Dante. Her mouth moved in a whisper, and Dante twisted in his seat, his eyes finding Moira and David quickly. Even from this distance, she could see his blush.

Embarrassed at having been caught watching, Moira gave the pair a quick wave. Meg, her bobbed hair bouncing, stood up, grabbed Dante’s hand, and half-led, half-dragged him over to their table.

“Hi, Ms. Darling,” she said brightly. “And Mr. Morris.”

“I’ve told you before, Meg, please call me David. I feel like my dad when you call me Mr. Morris.”

“Okay, David it is then.” She glanced over to the deli owner. “It’s such a coincidence to see you two here. How is your evening going?”

“Very well, thank you,” Moira replied, trying not to look too amused. Dante was looking at the floor avoiding her gaze. She knew that the encounter must be painfully embarrassing for the shy young man. She hoped he knew that she wasn’t mad—she had no problem with her employees dating each other, though it had never come up before.

“Well, I don’t want to take up too much of your time,” the young woman said. “I just thought we should say hi. It looks like our food is on its way. See you tomorrow, Ms. Darling.” Meg flashed them another quick smile, then led the uncomfortable Dante away. Moira and David met each other’s gazes and chuckled. The two young adults were a strange pair, but they both seemed happy. Moira decided that she would talk to Dante the next time they shared a shift at the deli and assure him that she was fine with the relationship—as long as they kept their minds on work while they were there.

Even though their trip up to Henry’s cabin was far from a vacation, Moira couldn’t help but feel a tingle of excitement as she helped David load up his car. She had always loved road trips but rarely got to go on any. Plus, she was looking forward to spending six hours in the car with the handsome detective. The weather was pleasant, they had snacks and drinks packed away in a cooler, and David had told her about a great little diner on the way up that sold pasties.

Her goodbyes to Candice, Maverick, and her employees were already said, so once the car was packed up, there was nothing left to do but review a quick mental checklist to make sure she wasn’t forgetting anything. She double-checked to make sure her own car was locked and finally got into the passenger seat of David’s car and buckled up.

“Ready?” he asked. “Do you want to stop by the deli one last time?”

“No,” she told him. “I stopped in this morning to go over the schedule again and to leave Darrin your number, in case they can’t reach me for any reason. He assured me that between the four of them, they’ll be able to handle the deli for two days.”

She had left a pair of detailed recipes for the soup of the day; the creamy chicken and dumpling stew and beef minestrone soup were both simple recipes and old favorites sure to be popular with her customers. She had told her employees that the sandwich and salad specials were up to them, and was eager to hear what they had come up with when she got back.

“It sounds like we’re ready to go, then,” he said with a grin. The engine roared to life with a turn of the key, and they were off.

They talked for a while, but a comfortable silence soon fell. The radio played on low, and Moira gazed out the window contentedly. They were taking the coastal route, with the glimmering blue expanse of Lake Michigan to their left. To their right were rolling hills, sandy forests filled with birch trees, and the occasional farm or orchard. In her opinion, there was no more beautiful scenery anywhere in the world.

Soon enough she was drifting in and out of sleep, lost in hazy daydreams and vague memories of her last trip up north with her daughter. It wasn’t until she felt the car slowing down that she sat up and looked sleepily around, blinking. They were pulling into a small town, even tinier than Maple Creek. There was still a banner hanging across the main road advertising Fourth of July fireworks. One end of it hung loose and was fluttering in the wind.

“Where are we?” she asked.

“Point Baker. This is where that diner I was telling you about is… I hope it’s still in business.”

It was, and looked pretty busy for such a small town in the middle of a weekday. The sign out front advertised freshly caught fish, sweet potato fries, and locally grown sweet cherries. David pulled into a parking spot and Moira cracked the windows, hoping that the faint breeze would help to keep the interior of the black car from heating up too much in the baking sunlight.

The interior of the diner was pleasantly cool. A young woman greeted them immediately and led them to a booth near the door. After taking their drink orders, she left them to peruse the menu. Curious, Moira flipped it open.

She was surprised to see that every single item on the menu was fresh and seasonal, with all locally sourced produce and meat. Each description looked amazing, and she found herself wishing that this diner was closer to Maple Creek so she could go back every day and try something else on the menu. It was a tough decision, but she eventually settled on pan-fried bluegill with sweet potato fries and half a pound of fresh cherries; she figured that what fruit she didn’t finish, she and David could eat in the car. It was already midday, and they still had another three hours to go before reaching North Lake and the cabin.

The food was delectable, just as David had promised. The fish was breaded and fried, and was nothing like the frozen fish that she normally ate. The waitress assured them that it had been caught that morning, and had been freshly cooked just for her. The fries were lightly salted and cooked to perfection, and the cherries were just the right mixture of sweet and tart. Somehow the three hours that they had already driven had left her starving, and since David ate with equal focus and intensity, she figured he must feel the same way.

“How was everything?” the waitress asked, appearing just as they were finishing up their last bites.

“Amazing,” Moira told her. “Nothing beats fresh food. If you were closer, I would stop here all the time.”