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

his voice now full of concern.
    “Yes, we’re both fine, but one of the other contestants isn’t. In fact, he’s dead.”
    She told David everything she knew about Bobby Babcock, starting with the dinner she had with him on the first night to witnessing his final moments in the hallway. She told him about the conjectures of the other contestants, and what Charlie had told them about the man’s death being suicide.
    “And what do you think?” David asked when she was done. “You were there, and I trust your judgment more than that of someone I’ve never met.”
    The deli owner hesitated, knowing that what she was about to say would only concern David more, but not willing to lie to him even to spare him worry.
    “I don’t think he killed himself,” she said at last. “But I also don’t think his wife killed him. The way she was acting… I don’t think anyone could fake that kind of emotion. She was hysterical.”
    “What makes you say it wasn’t suicide?” he asked. “Not that I disagree, I just want to hear your reasoning.”
    “Well, at dinner he seemed like he was really looking forward to the competition. He seemed to think that he had a pretty good chance of winning and, well, he seemed happy. I know that I’m basing all of this on a couple hours’ worth of conversation. He could have had a lot going on that I don’t know about, but it really just doesn’t make sense to me that he would have killed himself before the competition had even started.”
    “I agree with you. Do you think it could have been one of the other contestants?”
    “I honestly don’t know,” she said with a sigh. “Like I said, the competition hadn’t even started yet. He hadn’t won anything; we hadn’t even seen him cook. Why would anyone take that kind of risk before even knowing if someone was going to be a threat or not? Why would anyone take that kind of risk at all? Ten thousand dollars doesn’t seem like enough to risk going to jail over.”
    “People have killed for less,” he told her. She sighed.
    “Let’s talk about something else,” she said. “Are the dogs there? How are they doing?”
    He turned his computer so she could see the German shepherd and Irish wolfhound lying peacefully in front of his desk. Moira smiled, glad that they seemed so happy. He turned the screen back to himself and asked her how the first challenge had gone. Feeling the excitement bubble up in her again, the deli owner began rehashing the events of the morning with him, glad that she had someone so special to her to share these once-in-a-lifetime moments with.
     

CHAPTER NINE
    After ending her phone call with David, Moira took a relaxing shower, relishing in the endless hot water on the cruise ship, then put her swimsuit on. She pulled a cover-up over her shoulders, slipped her feet into her sandals, grabbed her room card, then knocked on Candice’s door. It was time to start having some fun on this cruise, and push thoughts of the murder and the competition out of her mind, for the time being at least.
    It was hot out, much hotter than she was expecting. Of course, we’re further south now, she thought. Way past Florida. I bet it will get even warmer as we keep moving down into the Caribbean. It was a pleasant change from the chilly Michigan weather that she had been tolerating back at home for the past few weeks, and she couldn’t wait to set her sights on the first tropical beach.
    The pool that Candice led them to was absolutely gorgeous. The water was crystal clear and looked inviting, and there were fountains around the edges. The pool was lined with reclining lounges and round tables with umbrellas over them so people could catch some shade if they got tired of sunbathing. There was a drink bar at one end, and one of the restaurants a little bit farther away had live music playing.
    “This has got to be one of the best vacations ever,” she told her daughter as they each grabbed a towel and settled themselves