Free Murder By The Pint (Microbrewery Mysteries Book 1) by Belle Knudson

sausage roll in front of me, called me a word you usually only hear in Martin Scorsese movies, and said she'd see me later.
                  I took my doggie bag home and that was it.
                  Once home, I was suddenly hungry.
                  I tore open the box I soon as I got in.
                  A folded piece of paper was sitting on top of my roll.
                  " Your friend Don is dead. You've been warned. Stay out of this."

Chapter 13
     
                  "Tanya said she didn’t see anyone," I told Detective Moore. "I believe her."
                  He stared at the note in silence for a moment then looked up at me. "Tell me again."
                  I was a little impatient, not to mention baffled, not to mention terrified. I sighed loudly. "I just talked to Tanya on the phone before you got here. She said she put the box down on the counter when someone called her to the phone. She said they told her it was an urgent call. When she picked up the person had already hung up. She brought the box over to me. End of story."
                  He nodded as he listened. Then kept nodding after I'd finished speaking.
                  "Wanna let me in on the conversation you're having in your head?" I said without a hint of humor.
                  He was unfazed. "The call was obviously to distract her. The thing that bothers me is that no one saw anyone go near the box."
                  "It was on the front counter," I said. "Any customer walking in had to walk past it."
                  "Mmmm. But it was around eight-thirty, no? That's not exactly the dinner rush."
                  "There was a kid's birthday party," I said.
                  "In the other room," he corrected. "Nothing going on in the main dining area."
                  There was little else as Moore thought it best to get down to the pizza place quickly. He left without saying goodbye.
                  When Tanya came home, she scowled at me. I was getting used to it.
                  "I'm so sorry," I said.
                  "It's ok," she said, her mood lightening quickly. "I made some good tips at least. How are you holding up?"
                  "Ok, still shaken. Detective Moore was here. He's on his way down to talk to everyone at Junior's."
                  "He'll be wasting his time. No one saw anything."
                  I rehashed the discussion I had with Moore. Tanya offered a couple of suggestions that he and I had already covered and discarded. And then...
                  Sometimes, all you need is someone there. It's as if there are only a finite amount of thoughts one can hold in one's head, and if there's someone there, that person can take some of those thoughts off your shoulders and let you sort out what you have. Which is exactly what had taken place in my living room, with my beautiful cousin Tanya, my best friend, holding onto some of the thoughts I'd let go through my voicing them.
                  It was simple, really, in theory. What we needed was someone who would go unnoticed. Someone who no one would notice touching something they weren't supposed to touch. Someone no one would blink an eye at.
                  "It was a kid," I said plainly.
                  She seemed to snap out of a reverie. "Hmm?"
                  "A kid," I repeated. "Who else? There was a children's birthday party taking place in the other room. Everyone knew there were about a dozen kids in there. Some were milling about from time to time. What if a kid came up and put the note in the box? Instructed to do so by an adult? Who would notice? Kids are always touching things they shouldn’t touch. And ask anyone who works in the food service industry or in