Salami Murder: Book 8 in The Darling Deli Series Read Online Free Page B

young woman wouldn’t have to choose between respecting the dead man and doing what was good for business. She agreed with David’s assessment; the townspeople would likely have a lot more respect for Candice if she put her plans on hold, instead of rushing forward with business ruthlessly.
    “I just don’t understand what happened,” her daughter said, biting her lower lip in distress. “I spoke to him only a few hours ago and he was fine.”
    “Had anyone else been there this morning?” the private investigator asked. “Maybe a delivery man, or another worker?”
    “No,” Candice said with a shake of her head. “Just him. And me, of course. I mean, I suppose he might have had someone else over to help him; I was pretty busy putting the last minute finishing touches on everything.” Disappointment flickered across her face and Moira knew she was thinking of the wonderful grand opening that was supposed to have started only half an hour ago. None of them could have expected the day’s dark turn. The candy store already has a bad start , she thought superstitiously. Will Candice ever manage to get it up and on its feet?
    “How about the video cameras?” David asked. “They should have caught anyone who came in or out the entire day.”
    Abashed that they hadn’t thought of it before, Moira got her tablet out and let Candice log in to her account, where the video camera footage was stored online. Candice leaned the tablet against a stack of papers and began fast-forwarding through the hours. It only took them a few minutes to find the right time. All three of them leaned in curiously.
    At first the footage showed only Candice and Matt walking in and out through the back door. When the other person appeared, they almost missed it. Candice hurriedly rewound to the right time, then played the video at normal speed.
    A person—it was impossible to tell from the camera’s angle if the person was male or female—wearing a dark sweatshirt and a baseball cap pulled low over their eyes walked quickly through the candy shop’s back door and disappeared from view. Candice fast-forwarded again, about ten minutes, until they saw the person walking out more quickly. No matter how many times they tried pausing and zooming in, they couldn’t see any distinguishing features about the person, besides the fact that he or she was of average height and weight.
    Candice fast-forwarded through the rest of the day in the hopes that there would be another clue as to what had happened to Matt, but to no avail. Frowning, she turned the tablet’s screen off and settled back into her chair.
    “We don’t know that that person killed Matt,” David said pragmatically. “He could have been a friend coming to drop off a part.”
    “Do you really think Matt somehow managed to slip and bump his head hard enough to kill himself?” Moira asked, surprised.
    “No,” he admitted. “But it’s not impossible. Stranger things have happened.”
    She sighed. She knew that what David said was true—the death could have been an accident—but somehow she thought it unlikely. She hoped that whatever had happened, the case would be solved quickly, both for her daughter’s sake and for the sake of the man’s family.
    “I don’t know how I’m going to sleep tonight,” Candice said with a shudder. “Every time the building creaks, I’m going to think it’s someone coming back to kill me.”
    “Do you want to stay at my place?” Moira asked her daughter seriously. “One of the spare bedrooms is yours, you know.”
    The young woman looked tempted, but shook her head.
    “No, I think this must be like when you fall off a horse. You’re supposed to get right back up, or you’ll be too scared to do it later. If I don’t sleep there tonight, I’ll still be scared the next night and the night after.”
    “Promise to keep your phone charged and with you?” Moira asked. “I’m going to be worried sick.”
    “I know, and I will. Trust