Creamy Casserole Murder: Book 15 in The Darling Deli Series (11 page)

She was halfway to the retirement home when she realized that she didn’t know the code to get through the doors. She turned her phone’s screen on to call Eli, and winced when she saw how many missed calls and texts from David she had. She had silenced her phone after the first call had come in, and that had turned out to be a smart move. She knew he was probably freaking out, but Reggie’s life could very well be in danger. She had to save him, even if David never forgave her for what she was putting him through.

Luckily, Eli answered the phone and gave her the code before asking what was going on. She gave him a quick explanation as she drove, and was relieved when he promised to meet her there. Just because she was rushing headfirst into danger didn’t mean she had a death wish, and there would definitely be safety in numbers.

She got to the assisted-living home before Eli did, though, and knew that she couldn’t risk waiting around for him. Rushing through the first set of doors, she punched in the code for the second set and held her breath until the light turned green. She shoved the doors open and walked as quickly down the hall as she dared to without attracting unwanted attention to herself. Any one of the staff, or even the residents, could be the killer. It seemed to take her forever to reach Reggie’s room. When he answered her knock on the first try, she felt a flood of relief wash through her.

“I’m so glad you’re okay,” she said when he opened the door. He hurried her inside and shut the door behind her, replacing the rubber doorstop. She was glad he still had it, even though she was sure the assisted-living home wouldn’t like it.

“She hasn’t come back since the police came,” he told her in a low voice once the door was firmly shut. “It’s just a matter of time, though. Where’s David?”

She told him what happened, how David had driven her back home and called the police to see what they had found.

“They didn’t believe me,” Reggie said, settling into his armchair with a sigh. He looked exhausted. “I should have known—what did I really expect to happen when I told them Alberta Radisson was the culprit?”

“The director?” Moira squeaked, utterly shocked.

Reggie nodded. “I didn’t connect the dots until I went to go ask Griff if he was really the one that had killed Danny. He didn’t know what I was talking about, so I spent about an hour after dessert explaining everything to him.”

“And he told you Alberta did it?” she asked.

“No, no, he has no idea. What he told me was all about Delilah, and her will. Apparently just a couple of weeks before she died, she made Mrs. Radisson the sole benefactor of her estate,” he said.

“Wow,” Moira breathed, the pieces beginning to fly together rapidly. It all made sense. Alberta must have learned that Beatrice was planning on leaving everything to her sister when she passed. Moira had gathered that both sisters were quite wealthy—you pretty much had to be to live in a place like this. When Delilah put the director in her will, that made it so Alberta stood to inherit everything from both sisters… as long as Beatrice died first.

“She must have killed Beatrice to make sure her sister would inherit everything,” the deli owner said, thinking out loud. “If she waited too long and Delilah died first, then she would have only gotten half of the fortune. If she killed them both, that means that she must have killed Danny too—I bet he was getting too close to the truth. He might have even planned to kill
her
out of revenge when he came in here with that gun.”

Reggie nodded. “I figured all of that out, too.”

“Wait, when you called me, you said that she was going to be back soon. Reggie… did you confront her about all of this?”

“No…” He hesitated, looking away from her. “I… ah… I tested my theory. I told her that Eli and I had gotten into a fight, and I wanted him out of my will, but I wasn’t sure who else to leave my money to. The second I told her how much money I was leaving, she practically leapt onto the computer to print out the right forms. She promised to run them in to my lawyer first thing in the morning. Then I told her I was having second thoughts, and she practically begged me to sign.”

“Even if she wasn’t a killer, that’s pretty disgusting behavior for the director of an assisted-living home,” the deli owner said. “I bet she could lose her license over it.”

“Oh, she’d get fired the moment word got out,” Reggie said. “I told her I needed to sleep on it, then in the morning I was going to tell her that Eli and I had made up… and that’s when the police came. They started questioning her after talking to me, and I was certain that she was going to jail. I don’t know what she said to convince them that she was innocent, but they left and I’ve been locked in here ever since. Now that she knows I’m onto her, it’s only a matter of time before she comes to add me to her list of kills.”

“We need to get you out of here, Reggie,” she said. “David and Eli are both on their way, but neither of them know any of this. When they come rushing in looking for us, the first person they talk to is bound to be…”

“The director,” Reggie finished, paling. “She’ll send them away, and come and find us herself.”

Moira wasted a few minutes searching Reggie’s room for anything that could be used as a weapon, but besides his cane—which he needed to walk—there was nothing. She decided they would just have to try their best not to be seen, and hope to make it to her SUV before the director realized that Reggie was missing.

She cracked the door to his room open and peeked down the hallway both ways cautiously. She didn’t see anyone, not even a nurse, so she silently gestured to Reggie to follow her. Going was slow; the old man was exhausted, and could only walk at half his normal pace. Moira itched for a wheelchair so she could push him, but didn’t see any that weren’t in use.

The few residents that they passed didn’t seem to think anything was amiss. The deli owner smiled and nodded at them, and offered Reggie her arm for balance. She was beginning to think that they were going to make it out of the building without being stopped when they rounded the corner and came face to face with Alberta.

The director looked nearly as shocked to see them as they were to see her, but she recovered more quickly. Moira could see the other woman’s eyes dart between them, and recognized the exact moment she realized that her cover was blown.

“Moira Darling, how nice to see you,” Alberta said, her voice sickeningly sweet. “It’s a bit later than we usually allow non-family members to visit, but I’ll let it slide if you come with me.”

“Actually, we were just on our way out for a breath of fresh air,” the deli owner replied, forcing a smile of her own. “We won’t be long, I promise.”

A pair of nurses escorting an unsteady older woman was passing, and Moira gambled that the director wouldn’t do anything out of character with them around.

“Oh, in that case to allow me to escort you out,” the other woman said. “I wouldn’t mind a chance to look at the stars myself.”

The deli owner wondered what would happen if she began shouting accusations at the other woman, but, as if she could read her mind, Alberta shifted at that instant and Moira saw the glint of a knife tucked into her waistband. Gritting her teeth, Moira nodded and began walking with Reggie at her side. No one stopped them.

They had just reached the front entranceway when the doors swung open. David and Eli walked in, the worry on their faces draining away when they saw Moira and Reggie standing with the director.

“I’m so glad you’re both safe,” David groaned. “You just about gave me a heart attack when you drove away like that, Moira.”

Moira held his gaze and widened her eyes, tilting her head toward the director. The private investigator frowned and raised an eyebrow. She bit her lip in frustration.

“I’d like to talk to Moira and Reggie in private,” the director said calmly. “They’ve both been causing a fair bit of trouble around here lately.”

“Of course,” Eli said. “It won’t take long, will it? We need to have a chat, too.”

“Just a few minutes,” the director replied with a smile. “Ms. Darling, Reginald, would you please follow me into my office?”

Moira didn’t move. Her gaze was still locked with David’s willing him to understand her. She tilted her head toward the director again, widened her eyes, and slowly shook her head.

David frowned. She could tell he was beginning to get it.

“I don’t have all night,” Alberta said sharply. Moira glanced over and paled to see that her right hand was under her frock, right where the hilt of her knife would be. David was still hesitating, and they were running out of time. At any moment, the director could snap and kill any of them.

“Okay,” David said suddenly. Moira jumped and turned back to look at him. She wasn’t sure if he was talking to her or Alberta. “I’m just so glad you’re all right. You were in such a hurry to get over here; I was afraid that you had crashed somewhere. I’ve got to hug you before I let you out of my sight again.”

Alberta was glaring at them, but didn’t say anything as David approached and wrapped his arms around her.

“It’s her,” Moira whispered, her lips against his ear. “She killed all three of them, and she has a knife.”

“Are you sure?” he asked, brushing a kiss across her cheek.

She nodded, hoping that he would trust her without more questions. He pulled away.

“Eli and I will just take a seat in the dining room, if that’s okay,” he said calmly, facing Alberta. She hesitated for a fraction of a second, then nodded.

David gestured to Eli, who was looking very confused, to follow, then walked toward the dining room doors. To get to them, he had to pass by Alberta. When he was a step past her, he spun on his heel and grabbed her by the arm, twisting her hand away from the knife and forcing her to her knees at the same time. She screeched at him to let go, but he was strong enough that she couldn’t squirm out of his grip.

“Eli, check her belt,” he said. “There should be a knife.”

By now a crowd had gathered to watch them. Eli, who looked frightened but determined, did as David said. When he withdrew the large, bloodstained kitchen knife, the people gathered around gasped.

“I’m guessing that’s the knife that was used to kill Danny,” David said grimly as he pulled a pair of handcuffs out of his jacket and snapped them on to Alberta’s wrists. “Planning to pin that murder on Moira?” He shook his head. “Someone call the police and tell them we have the person responsible for all three deaths restrained and waiting for them.”

Watching the police arrest Alberta and formally apologize to Reggie put Moira in an ebullient mood. Not only had they caught the killer, but Reggie was now the local hero of Misty Pines. Even David was in a good mood, despite her diving headfirst into danger yet again.

“We make a good team,” he said with a grin. They were sitting in the common area at the assisted-living home, waiting around for the police to finish questioning the others.

“Yeah, we do,” the deli owner agreed. “I’m glad you trusted me. For a second there, I thought you didn’t believe me.”

“I’ll always believe you when it counts,” he said. “I’d never forgive myself if I didn’t and something happened to you.”

“I’m sorry for taking off like that. I felt terrible for doing it, but I heard you talking to the police, and I just couldn’t leave Reggie here alone with no help.”

“I was worried about you… very worried,” he admitted. “But you made the right call. He’s lucky to have a friend like you.”

They both looked over at Reggie, who was still talking animatedly to one of the police officers. He was leaning heavily on his cane, but still seemed to have plenty of energy for the retelling of his story. Eli was just finishing up talking to a detective, and they waved him over when he was done.

“I want to thank you—again—Moira,” he said. “I can’t wait to tell Candice everything. She’s going to be so upset that I didn’t wake her up for it.”

“I bet,” the deli owner said with a laugh. “She doesn’t like to be left out of anything, especially not rescue missions.”

“How did your dinner go?” Eli asked suddenly, as if remembering something. He glanced at Moira, then looked to David with furrowed brows.

“We didn’t get a chance to finish it,” the private investigator explained. “Reggie called partway through.”

“Ah.” Eli grimaced. “Sorry, man. Well, I’m not sorry that you rushed over here and saved my grandfather, but sorry that you had to cut things short. There will be another day.”

“Yeah.” David looked at Moira, his gaze warm. She raised an eyebrow, and he grinned.

“I think we’re going to take a walk, Eli,” he said. “Say goodnight to Reggie for us.” And before the deli owner could object, he had grabbed her hand and was tugging her past the police officers, through the doors, and out into the chilly night.

“What was all of that about?” Moira asked as they walked along the tree line. It was quiet outside compared to the hubbub inside, and she felt peaceful.

“There’s something I need to do,” he said. He turned and put a hand gently on her arm to stop her. She watched him fumble in his jacket pocket, then took a shocked step backwards as he got down on one knee.

“Moira Darling,” he began. “You drive me crazy—crazier than anyone I’ve ever known. But that’s because I love you more than anyone I’ve ever known. I can’t imagine spending my life with anyone but you. Will you marry me?”