Curried Lobster Murder: Book 14 in The Darling Deli Series (7 page)

“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.

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 onto a pair of reclining chairs. “I don’t think I’ve ever even seen a pool with fountains anywhere other than on TV.”

“Thanks again for inviting me to go on this cruise,” Candice said. “Though of course it would have been fine if you had invited David. I have to admit, I kind of wonder why you
didn’t
invite him.”

“I thought about it,” Moira admitted. “But I figured that as long as things keep going well between us, we have years ahead of us to spend time together. But you… you’re going to have more and more things to keep you busy as time goes on. Who knows, in a few years you could be married, you could even have kids. You might move to another city, or another state, or even another country if that’s what you want. I wanted to take this time together while we can, because I know that it won’t be as easy once you have a family of your own.”

“Aww, Mom, that’s so sweet. Don’t worry, though, I don’t plan on moving to another country any time soon. Or having kids. I’ve got a career to build first, after all.”

“From what you’ve told me, you’re doing a great job of that.” The deli owner smiled over at her daughter, then glanced at the pool. “I think I’m going to take a dip to cool off, then catch some sun for a while. Martha and Denise are going to be jealous when I come back home with a tan in the middle of fall.”

Just as Candice had promised, the water was perfect; cool enough to help wash away the heat of the sun, but not so cold that she was reluctant to go in. She realized that being disqualified from the competition might not be so bad after all—the people who got disqualified early on would have the entire rest of the cruise to do whatever they wanted, something that was probably a rare occurrence for all of them. She knew firsthand how much work it took to run a restaurant.
Of course, I’m still going to try my hardest to win
, she thought, resting her elbows on the side of the pool and gazing out through the ship’s railing at the endless sea beyond.
That cooking segment would be amazing, not to mention how nice the $10,000 would be. Think of everything I could buy for the deli!

She sighed and closed her eyes, feeling truly peaceful for the first time since boarding the cruise ship. Whether she won or lost, she was going to have fun and enjoy herself.
I hope Antonio doesn’t feel too bad about being disqualified,
she thought idly.
He looked pretty upset. I hope he ends up enjoying the rest of the cruise.

It was well into the evening by the time she and Candice decided they’d had enough of the pool. All the free drinks in the world couldn’t curb the hunger that had begun gnawing at her. She had skipped lunch, being too excited about her good score in the competition to even think about it, and now that it was almost dinner, she was ravenous.

The cruise ship had countless places to eat, from buffet halls, to formal dining experiences, to chain restaurants with tropical themes. They decided to try out the dining hall that they had been assigned to when they first came on board. After a quick stop at their rooms to change, they found their way to the right room and were seated by a friendly maître d’ who left them with menus that presented their options for the four course meal. A few moments later they were joined by Daphne, her boyfriend, and the other contestant, a man named Hector.

“What did you think of the first challenge?” Hector asked once introductions had been made all around. “Breakfast isn’t really my strong suit. The pub that I work at doesn’t open until two.”

“I enjoyed it,” Daphne said. “I work best under pressure. The time limit and ingredient limitations really forced me to think, and it let me forget about the cameras and the high stakes.”

“It wasn’t as bad as I was expecting,” Moira told them. “Maybe I watch too many cooking shows, but I was thinking it would be a lot more intense. The judges are actually pretty nice, and even when they were telling us what we could improve on, they weren’t rude.”

“And the contestants too… it’s nothing like what you would think. No one had been rude at all,” Daphne said. “Well, Antonio was a bit grumpy when I ran into him earlier. But I had lunch with a few other contestants, and everyone was perfectly nice.”

“I think most of the drama on reality TV cooking shows is scripted,” Hector said. “Normal people just don’t act like that.”

“I don’t know,” the deli owner said. “In my experience, people can be pretty petty. I wouldn’t be surprised if people begin losing their tempers once things start to heat up in the competition.”

“You may be right,” Daphne said. “But personally, I don’t think any contest is worth losing your basic human decency over.”

The waiter appeared with their first course: salad for Candice and Hector, a bowl of clam chowder for Moira, and a seafood appetizer platter for Daphne and her boyfriend. With music playing in the background and the friendly chatter of other guests around her, the five of them dug in.

Their meal was interrupted a moment later when Daphne rose suddenly from the table, her hand clamped over her mouth.

“I feel sick,” she blurted out before rushing from the table. Her boyfriend followed quickly after her. Moira, Candice, and Hector all exchanged glances.

“I hope she’s all right,” Candice said.

“Me too.” Hector paused, then sheepishly added, “Though I wouldn’t really mind if she felt too sick to take part in the second challenge tomorrow. I’d hope that she got better right after, of course.”

“Don’t say that; the poor woman would be crushed if she missed out on the next challenge,” Moira said, trying to take the high road. But she couldn’t help thinking that if Daphne was too sick to compete tomorrow then maybe, just maybe, she might have a better chance of winning herself. The other woman had already proven herself to be a good cook… without her in the competition, might Moira have a shot at winning this round?

“Yesterday we told you what ingredients you had to avoid,” Charlie began once all five of the contestants still in the running were gathered in the kitchen the next day. “Today, we’re going to give you a list of ingredients that you
have
to use. What you make with them is up to you, and you are free to use any additional ingredients that you want, but forgetting even one of the required ingredients is grounds for instant disqualification. The list of ingredients is next to each of your stations. Once again, you will have forty-five minutes to complete the dish. I’ll be walking around just like last time, so if you have any questions, feel free to give me a shout. Is everyone ready?”

She beamed at them, sweeping her gaze across the room to make sure no one looked confused before giving a satisfied nod and reaching over to start the timer. The buzzer rang, and the five of them ran to their stations to get started.

Moira grabbed the ingredient list and began reading:

Bok choy

Lobster

Carrots

Curry powder

Red dates

Candied ginger

The candied ginger made her think of Candice and her homemade candies; she smiled briefly, then the reality hit her. She had to make a dish, in forty-five minutes, including all of these ingredients. Not only did the dish have to be palatable, it had to be better than everyone else’s dish.
Or at least better than one other person’s dish, if I don’t want to get disqualified,
she corrected herself. Still it was going to be a challenge, and she could only hope that she was up to it.

The required ingredients were already set up at her station, but staring at them didn’t spark any brilliant ideas. Should she make some sort of lobster dish over rice? Or maybe some sort of… curry pasta? None of that sounded right to her. Then her eyes landed on one of the big pots hanging above the stove, and she smiled. The answer was obvious. She was going to do what she did best; make soup.

She was keenly aware of the time limit. Somehow, she had already wasted four of her forty-five minutes. She rushed to gather the other ingredients that she needed for the brand-new soup recipe that was forming in her mind.

First things first, she measured out some water and set it to boil in the big pot on the stove. While that heated, she began sautéing the lobster meat and bok choy in butter. Once the lobster meat and bok choy looked ready, she turned her attention to the other ingredients. The curry powder was easy; it would be the base flavor of the soup. The red dates and candied ginger were going to be her most difficult ingredients. Both were sweet, and weren’t ingredients that she had ever attempted to use before in a soup.
At least lobster meat goes well with sweeter flavors
, she thought.
As long as I balance everything correctly and there’s enough time to cook it, the soup shouldn’t be too bad.

She cored the dates and sliced them into quarters, then tossed them into the pot of water so they could begin cooking. The carrots she chopped into small pieces and added them as well, then added some chicken bouillon and a scoop of curry powder. The soup was already beginning to smell good. The only question was; would it be good enough to win?

The candied ginger was already thinly sliced. She began by rinsing it in cool water to remove the excess sugar, then simmered it in a shallow pan of water to begin softening it. Hopefully some of the sweetness would be drawn out while it simmered, and when she added the ginger to the soup it wouldn’t affect it as much.

The clock was ticking, and she got everything in at the nick of time.
I don’t know if the carrots will finish cooking
, she thought anxiously.
But there’s not much I can do about that. I just need to grab a few more ingredients, and then I can let it simmer and begin cleaning up the station.