Read Online Chicken Pesto Murder: Book 5 in The Darling Deli Series by Patti Benning - Free Book Online Page B

didn’t commit? He didn’t deserve any of this, and as far as she was concerned, the police were just wasting their time trying to tie him to the crime.
    Adding to her crankiness was her concern for her daughter. Thankfully, the young woman was smart, hardworking, and optimistic. Moira hoped that Candice’s positive outlook would help her achieve her dreams, but she knew that a large percentage of small businesses failed in their first year. They both would be happier if Candice were able to secure the space she loved—the little toy shop that was meant to be closing— however, they still hadn’t heard from Henry, David’s elderly friend who owned the place. David continued assuring them that Henry would turn up soon, but Moira had recently noticed his concern whenever they talked about his friend. The old man was a fishing enthusiast and often took off alone to his cabin up north for weeks on end, but he always told his friends when he left and when he was supposed to be back. This time, his vacation had been unexpected and no one was sure when it would end.
    She let Dante and Darrin get to work on cleaning out the pantry in the back—somehow the spices always got disorganized, no matter how neatly she tried to keep them—while she cleaned the glass display cases up front. Once those were sparkling, she started on the floor. She began to calm down as she mopped, telling herself that she was being ridiculous and overreacting. Jefferson wouldn’t let them arrest the wrong man , she told herself. He wouldn’t want the person who really committed the crime to walk free. Plus, if matters got worse, David would hire a lawyer. She was sure that he would be able to find a good one; he was bound to have met quite a few in the course of his job.
    And as for Candice, well, no matter what happened she could always count on her mother to have a place for her in her home and at the deli. Moira would do all that she could to support her daughter, and even if her dreams of opening a candy shop never came to fruition, at least the young woman would have a warm home and a steady job to fall back on.
    The deli owner leaned on her mop and gazed at the now clean floor. She felt better, having expended much of her angry energy in her cleaning efforts. The deli looked pretty good now, too. Maybe she should be upset more often; she always seemed more inclined to clean when something was bothering her.
    Motion outside of the deli’s front window caught her eye, and she looked up to see her friend Martha walking across the parking lot with a gorgeous fluffy collie in tow. Moira stared at the dog for a moment and, wishing that she had the paper with the photos of the missing dogs, rushed out the front door to meet her friend.
     

CHAPTER TWELVE
    “Isn’t she beautiful?” Martha said, stroking the dog’s soft head. “I was so alone in that big house without Emilia. Now I’ll have someone to take care of again.”
    “She is very pretty,” Moira agreed. “Where did you get her?” She wasn’t an expert by any means, but she was almost certain that it was one of the missing dogs that David was trying to find. How would she tell her friend that her new pet was probably stolen?
    “I saw someone selling her in a parking lot,” the other woman said. “The man said that she didn’t get along with his other dog, and that he just wanted her to go to a good home. She was only a hundred dollars, and she’s purebred.”
    Moira bent down to get a better look at the dog. She squinted at the collar, hoping that whoever had stolen her hadn’t been smart enough to remove the tags, but no such luck. She reached out to pet the silky fur, and then stood back up. Martha looked so happy, and the deli owner felt bad for what she was about to say, but she knew that there was probably someone out there that really was missing the dog,
    “I hate to say this,” she began. “But David’s working on a case right now involving stolen dogs… and one