Curried Lobster Murder: Book 14 in The Darling Deli Series by Patti Benning Page A

just me—Moira helped,” Antonio said gruffly. “Without her shout, I might not have been able to get the drop on whoever that was.”
    “I didn’t even know you were offstage,” the deli owner admitted, shaken. “I… I thought that the hooded person was you.”
    “What?” Antonio looked at her, shocked. “Why?”
    “Well, because whoever it is has been targeting people from the contest. You were the first to get disqualified, and you looked so upset, I thought…”
    He snorted. “Well, you were wrong about that. But you were right about whoever it is targeting the contestants. I’ve been suspicious about the same thing since Daphne got sick, and you getting sick just solidified my suspicions. Hector was the logical next target, so I decided to follow him. I caught up with him in time to see him slip into this empty theater alone, and followed to see what was going on.”
    Moira frowned. “Why would you come in here?” she asked Hector.
    “I heard someone ask for help,” he told them. “It was a woman’s voice. She called me by name, and I thought she sounded familiar, so I decided to check it out.”
    “Do you know who it was?” she asked.
    “No… well, I do think it was one of the women from the contest, but I couldn’t tell you which one if my life depended on it.” He shuddered. “Sorry, bad choice of words.”
    Antonio looked up at her. “Well, it wasn’t you, and it wasn’t Daphne because she’s still in the infirmary. That leaves Sofia, Nadine, and Michelle.”
    Moira paled. There were three possible murderers on the ship, and one of them was friends with her daughter.
     

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
    The three of them agreed to split up. Hector would report what had happened to the security office. Antonio was going to go try to find the other women, and Moira was going to find her daughter. She was expecting a long search, and was surprised when she ran into Candice on her way back to their rooms.
    “Mom, there you are. I was wondering where you went. Sofia decided to go to bed a little bit after you left, and I wanted to make sure you were okay before hitting the hay myself.”
    “Oh, my goodness, I was so worried about you,” the deli owner said, enveloping her daughter in a hug.
    “Why? What happened?” Candice asked, her forehead creasing with concern.
    “Let’s go back to our rooms, I’ll tell you all about it there.”
    With their doors safely locked, Moira told her daughter all about her encounter with Hector, Antonio, and the mysterious hooded stranger.
    “Someone is definitely trying to sabotage the competition,” she said. “And at this point, I’m more concerned about keeping you safe than unmasking the bad guy. Will you promise me that you won’t leave your room tonight?”
    “Of course,” Candice said. She raised an eyebrow. “Will you promise the same thing?”
    The deli owner hesitated, but recognized the look in her daughter’s eye. The young woman wasn’t going to sit by while her mother roamed the halls with a killer running around, any more than Moira would be able to hide in her room with Candice out there. Keeping her daughter safe might mean staying holed up in her own room while someone else put their life on the line, but it was an easy choice to make. Her daughter would always come first.
    “Yes,” Moira said. “Neither of us will leave our rooms until morning, and then we go straight to the security office, together. Deal?”
    “Deal.”
    “Good. Now, I’m going to go try to video call David and see if there’s anything he can do from Michigan to help us here. You just sit tight, and get some sleep if you can.”
    She slipped through the door that joined their two rooms together and sat at her desk, bringing the tablet to life with the press of a button. Even though it was late, David answered her video call in a timely manner.
    “Hey,” he said, rubbing his eyes. “I’m surprised you’re still up.”
    “I’m surprised you’re still