Free Chicken Pesto Murder: Book 5 in The Darling Deli Series by Patti Benning

of them was a collie.” Martha’s eyes widened, and her happy expression fell away.
    “Oh dear, you don’t think this sweetheart was stolen, do you?” She looked down at the dog sadly. “If she was, I’ll do the right thing and give her back, but she’s such a sweetheart. I’m going to be heartbroken to see her go.”
    “I can’t tell if she’s the same dog as the stolen one or not, but David has pictures of all of the missing dogs. Would you be willing to wait here while I call him?” Her friend nodded, so Moira held the door open for them and invited both woman and dog inside. “Just keep her away from the meat,” she said. “I don’t think my customers would be too happy to find dogslobber on their groceries.”
    She stepped back behind the register to grab her phone, and speed dialed David’s number. He answered quickly, and she told him what had happened. He promised to be right over, and Moira turned back to her friend. Martha was stroking the dog, her face sad.
    “Do you remember what the seller looked like?” she asked,
    “Not really,” her friend admitted. “He was maybe a decade younger than us, and he was wearing a gray sweatshirt.”
    “Do you think that you’d recognize him if you saw him again?”
    “I guess.” Martha shrugged. “My focus was on this sweet girl.” She patted the dog, who licked her hand. “Not on the person getting rid of her.”
    Moira turned her phone’s screen back on and flipped through the pictures until she found the ones that she had taken of the hooded man walking the poodle and the beagle. She handed the phone to her friend.
    “I know these aren’t the best pictures,” she said. “But do you recognize anything about this guy?” Martha gazed at the photos for a moment, then nodded.
    “I’m pretty sure that it’s the same person. I think the guy I got my girl from was wearing the same shoes, and he had a beagle in the back of his truck.”
    “Do you remember anything else about him? Could you describe his face? Did he give you his name?” The deli owner leaned forward, staring hopefully at her friend. She was disappointed when Martha shook her head.
    “No, sorry, he didn’t give me his name, and like I said, I wasn’t really paying much attention to what he looked like.”
    Moira sighed, wishing that she had more to go on, but still feeling certain that the man her friend had gotten her dog from had been the thief. If only she had a way to identify him other than his shoes.
    “Do you want a bowl of soup or anything?” she asked at last. “David’s coming from Lake Marion, so he’ll probably be about twenty minutes.”
    Two bowls of soup and a grilled chicken breast for the dog later, David’s familiar black car pulled into the deli’s parking lot. He hurried inside, and then froze, staring at the dog. Pulling a picture out of his wallet, he compared it to the pooch.
    “Carrie?” he said. The dog pricked up her ears and wagged her tail at him, recognizing the name. David grinned.
    “It’s her,” he announced, turning to Moira. “It’s the stolen collie.”
    Moira knew that it was good news; with everything that was going on in David’s life right now, a break in the case that he was working on was bound to be a relief. However, she couldn’t help but feel sad at the crushed look on her friend’s face.
    “I’m so sorry,” she said, walking to Martha and giving the other woman a hug.
    “It’s okay. It’s good that her family will be able to get her back,” her friend said. “I hope that you catch the guy that stole her in the first place. Stealing people’s pets and reselling them is just a cold-hearted thing to do.” She paused, then continued, “but getting a dog is a really good idea. I’ll have to check out the shelter tomorrow.”
    “We’ll catch him,” David promised. “Now, tell me exactly where you met him.”
    David left shortly after with Carrie the collie in tow. He planned to return her to her owners