Curried Lobster Murder: Book 14 in The Darling Deli Series by Patti Benning

rundown of the challenge, adding that an edited version would be playing on the cruise ship’s closed circuit TVs that evening.
    “What did you do with your morning?” she asked the young woman as she unlocked her door.
    “I spent most of it at the pool,” Candice told her. “The sky cleared up, and the water was just perfect. It was just amazing. Everyone’s in such a good mood, the food and drinks are amazing—and free—and the air is so fresh. Will you have any time to relax at all while we’re here?”
    “Well, I don’t have anything else I have to do for the challenge until tomorrow at eleven. I was going to check my computer and try video calling David, after that we can hit the pool together if you want.”
    “Sounds great,” her daughter told her with a grin. “I’m going to go rest in my room for a bit—all of this sun made me tired—so just knock on my door when you’re ready to go out.”
    With that, Candice disappeared into her own room and Moira shut the connecting door behind her and sat down at her desk. She pressed the space bar on the detachable keyboard to wake her tablet up, then pulled up her email. There was one from the deli’s email address, and one from David. She opened the deli’s first.
    Hey Ms. D,
    I just wanted to let you know that everything is going well here. All of us wish you luck and hope you’re kicking butt at the competition. We can’t wait to hear how it’s going!
    -Allison
    The deli owner smiled and replied with a quick message telling them that she had gotten third place in the first competition, and might have come up with a new option for their breakfast menu. She ended the email by saying she had high hopes for the rest of the competition, thanked them for their support, and promised to keep them updated. Next, she opened David’s message.
    Moira,
    The dogs are doing well, though they seem to miss you. Maverick kept running up to your room this morning and wouldn’t eat breakfast until I let him in and showed him you weren’t there. Keeva keeps watching out the window—I think she expects you to show up at any moment. I took them out on a walk after breakfast, and plan on letting them spend the day at the office with me. I think my clients will love them.
    I’m glad to hear that everything has gone well for you so far. Don’t worry about the ship. Those things are pretty safe these days, and as long as you pay attention during the safety drills and remember where the life jackets and lifeboats are, you’ll be perfectly fine even if something does go wrong. It’s not like the Titanic— modern ships have enough emergency equipment for everyone.
    By the time you read this, you’ll probably have started the competition. I would wish you luck, but I know you don’t need it. I can’t wait to hear all about it.
    With love,
    David (and two very spoiled pooches)
    Moira started to reply, then decided to try giving him a video call instead. He would probably be at his office by now, which meant that as long as he wasn’t with a client, he would be at his desk with his open laptop in front of him.
    Sure enough, he answered the call right away. The deli owner adjusted her tablet’s screen until the camera was at a good angle, then did her best to ignore the small screen showing her own face in the lower corner. Instead, she looked at David and smiled.
    “I was wondering when I’d hear from you,” he said with a grin. His voice was only slightly distorted by the wireless connection and the tablet’s cheap speakers, and the video quality was surprisingly good. “How’s everything going?”
    “Great,” Moira told him, still giddy with her high score in the first challenge. When she remembered the dead man, she sobered.
    “Well, I placed high in the competition,” she amended. “I’ll get to that soon, but something else happened that you’re probably going to want to hear about.”
    “What happened? Are you and Candice okay?” He leaned forward,