Thai Coconut Murder: Book 6 in The Darling Deli Series Read Online Free Page B

investigator. “He wanted to know if you would eat lunch with him.”
    “Can you girls handle the register?” she asked. She wanted to find out why David looked so sad and tired, but she knew that the store was only going to get busier as people stopped in during their lunch breaks to grab something to eat.
    “Yep,” her employee assured her. Candice, who was at the register, taking an elderly couple’s order, glanced back, and Meg said apologetically to Moira, “Sorry, I was supposed to be getting a bowl of soup for them. We’ll be fine though, so don’t feel like you need to rush.”
    “Thanks. I’ll just duck back there with you and throw us together a few plates, then I’ll go join him. Feel free to interrupt us if you need anything,” she added.
    Just a few minutes later, Moira bumped open the kitchen door with her hip and made her way around the edge of the counter towards the table where David was waiting. She balanced a plate in each hand, each had a bowl of soup, a sandwich, and a small green salad loaded onto them. So much for my light lunch , she thought. But David looked like something was weighing him down, and making sure he was okay was more important than watching her waistline. Besides, she was eating a salad… there just happened to also be other stuff on the plate with it.
    “Here you go,” she said, setting one plate down in front of him before slipping into the chair across from him with her own. “How are you?”
    “I’ve been better,” he said grimly. She waited, but he just stirred his soup, his spoon going around in melancholy circles.
    “What’s the matter?” she prodded. If he had come all the way here for lunch, he must want to talk about it… right?
    “They identified the body that was found in the lake on Monday.” He sighed and raised his face to meet her eyes. “They’re saying it’s Henry.”

CHAPTER FOUR
    “Oh my goodness, that’s terrible,” Moira gasped. “I’m so sorry, David.”
    Henry and David were old friends, and even though she had never met him, she had the feeling the two of them had been pretty close. She knew that Henry had a granddaughter, who ran his toy store. The girl would surely be distraught, and Moira’s heart went out to her. It was never easy losing a family member. She knew firsthand the grief and shock of losing someone close to her; both of her parents had died years ago.
    “I knew that something must have been going on since I hadn’t heard from him in so long, but nothing like this,” he said, shaking his head slowly. “I should have done something sooner. Gone to the police, made more of an effort to contact him, anything.”
    “I’m so sorry,” she repeated, at a loss for what else to say. “Is there anything I can do? Should I bring flowers to his granddaughter?”
    “I’m not sure,” he admitted. “I haven’t had very much practice at these sorts of things, thank goodness. There is one thing I wanted to ask, though.” He hesitated, uncertainty flashing across his usually confident face.
    “What is it?” she asked gently.
    “Would you go to the funeral with me?” he asked at last. “It’s Friday morning, at ten. I understand if you’re busy, or don’t want to go…”
    “I’ll go,” she said firmly. “The deli can survive without me for a few hours at least.”
    “Thanks, Moira. I still feel like I’m in shock. I’ve known Henry since I moved to Lake Marion; I can’t imagine the town without him. We used to go on a fishing trip every year, even though I was never very good at it.” He gave a wry chuckle. “I swear, that man was born on a canoe.”
    “Do they know what happened?” she asked. He looked so sad. She wanted to take his hand, to comfort him, but she didn’t know how he would take the gesture. They had been moving slowly in their relationship so far—nothing more than a quick peck on the cheek or a hug goodnight between the two of them yet.
    “He drowned, but beyond that, I