Pastrami Murder: Book One in The Darling Deli Series by Patti Benning
Authors: Patti Benning
Tags: Fiction
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feeling desperate. And with what he said about Devou destroying the town… it sounds like he really hated the man.” She sighed. She had known Arlo her whole life. Could he really have done it?
“Well, I’ll look into it,” the detective assured her. “Let me know if you think of anything else.”
CHAPTER 15
Anticipating another slow day, Moira decided to take advantage of the downtime to experiment. For most of her soups, sandwiches, and salads, she took old favorites and gave them a delicious new twist, but Moira was itching to create something unique. She began by mixing together a few cups of vegetable stock, a couple of tablespoons of soy sauce, and a dash of powdered ginger root in a big pot, which she set over a low flame. That would simmer while she chopped the vegetables.
She wanted this to be a colorful soup—she thought she might use it for one of her spring specials—which meant digging the last of the rainbow carrots out of the freezer. She had bought them from an organic hobby farmer at the last farmer’s market of the season, and had been saving them for something special. They would definitely serve to make the soup unique. Not many people even knew that purple, red, white, and yellow carrots existed, let alone that each color had a different variety of nutrients and a slightly different flavor.
She set the colorful bowl of sliced carrots aside and opened the fridge to figure out what else she wanted to put in her new creation. She had already decided that it would be vegetarian, so she wouldn’t be adding any meats. Bok choy was just the thing for this soup, she decided. It would go well with the soy flavoring, and she could create a sandwich that incorporated bok choy leaves, which would tie the two dishes together nicely. Where is it? she thought, peering into the refrigerator. I know we have some. She had used it in a salad just the other day.
Moira moved some mushrooms aside to look behind them, thinking I might add some of those too , and paused. There was a small ziplock bag with something green in the very back of the fridge. She always kept fresh herbs in the front, since they had to be used quickly or they would lose their flavor. The back of the fridge was only for large items that wouldn’t get lost in the shuffle. Plus, all of her ingredients were clearly labeled and dated—this bag had neither on it.
She reached in and took the bag out, absently closing the fridge door with her hip as she moved over to the counter to examine the little plant. Was one of her employees doing drugs? She didn’t test them, but they all knew that she had a zero tolerance policy.
It wasn’t a plant that she recognized off the top of her head, but it looked somewhat familiar. She was an avid gardener in the warmer months, so chances were that she had come across the plant in some gardening book or the other.
She decided to do a quick Internet search before she asked Darrin, who was out front, if he recognized it. The only problem was, what should she search for? It looked almost like the tops of carrots or parsnips, so she decided to start there. Candice had tried to teach her how to use keywords when she was looking things up, but Moira wasn’t very confident of her own ability to do it correctly, so she took the easy route. Typing plants that look like carrots into the search engine brought her results quickly. She clicked on the first link and began comparing pictures to the plant on the counter in front of her.
A few seconds later, a chill went through her. She looked from the plant to the screen and back again, hoping that she had made a mistake, but there was no doubt. The little green plant that had been hidden at the back of her fridge was hemlock. Now the question was, who had put a deadly plant in her fridge… and why?
CHAPTER 16
David stared at his computer screen, tapping a foot on the ground as he tried to draw lines where there just weren’t any. Mathilda Devou had
“Well, I’ll look into it,” the detective assured her. “Let me know if you think of anything else.”
CHAPTER 15
Anticipating another slow day, Moira decided to take advantage of the downtime to experiment. For most of her soups, sandwiches, and salads, she took old favorites and gave them a delicious new twist, but Moira was itching to create something unique. She began by mixing together a few cups of vegetable stock, a couple of tablespoons of soy sauce, and a dash of powdered ginger root in a big pot, which she set over a low flame. That would simmer while she chopped the vegetables.
She wanted this to be a colorful soup—she thought she might use it for one of her spring specials—which meant digging the last of the rainbow carrots out of the freezer. She had bought them from an organic hobby farmer at the last farmer’s market of the season, and had been saving them for something special. They would definitely serve to make the soup unique. Not many people even knew that purple, red, white, and yellow carrots existed, let alone that each color had a different variety of nutrients and a slightly different flavor.
She set the colorful bowl of sliced carrots aside and opened the fridge to figure out what else she wanted to put in her new creation. She had already decided that it would be vegetarian, so she wouldn’t be adding any meats. Bok choy was just the thing for this soup, she decided. It would go well with the soy flavoring, and she could create a sandwich that incorporated bok choy leaves, which would tie the two dishes together nicely. Where is it? she thought, peering into the refrigerator. I know we have some. She had used it in a salad just the other day.
Moira moved some mushrooms aside to look behind them, thinking I might add some of those too , and paused. There was a small ziplock bag with something green in the very back of the fridge. She always kept fresh herbs in the front, since they had to be used quickly or they would lose their flavor. The back of the fridge was only for large items that wouldn’t get lost in the shuffle. Plus, all of her ingredients were clearly labeled and dated—this bag had neither on it.
She reached in and took the bag out, absently closing the fridge door with her hip as she moved over to the counter to examine the little plant. Was one of her employees doing drugs? She didn’t test them, but they all knew that she had a zero tolerance policy.
It wasn’t a plant that she recognized off the top of her head, but it looked somewhat familiar. She was an avid gardener in the warmer months, so chances were that she had come across the plant in some gardening book or the other.
She decided to do a quick Internet search before she asked Darrin, who was out front, if he recognized it. The only problem was, what should she search for? It looked almost like the tops of carrots or parsnips, so she decided to start there. Candice had tried to teach her how to use keywords when she was looking things up, but Moira wasn’t very confident of her own ability to do it correctly, so she took the easy route. Typing plants that look like carrots into the search engine brought her results quickly. She clicked on the first link and began comparing pictures to the plant on the counter in front of her.
A few seconds later, a chill went through her. She looked from the plant to the screen and back again, hoping that she had made a mistake, but there was no doubt. The little green plant that had been hidden at the back of her fridge was hemlock. Now the question was, who had put a deadly plant in her fridge… and why?
CHAPTER 16
David stared at his computer screen, tapping a foot on the ground as he tried to draw lines where there just weren’t any. Mathilda Devou had
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