Smoked (The Alex Harris Mystery Series) by Elaine Macko Read Free Book Online Page B

sandwich, which I ate in a little area they had set up off to the side of the deli section. I pulled out my iPad, connected to their Wi-Fi and logged on to Maria Kravec’s Web site. I wondered what would happen to the site now. An assistant and a partner were on the list of people Ellery had given to me. Maybe one of them could take it over.
    I clicked on the page named Farmaceuticals. I hadn’t even noticed it last night. It was blank except for a statement saying that vegan products would be coming soon. I thought the name quite clever and from the sound of it, I had a feeling some locally grown products, mainly food, might be included in their inventory. So what would happen to Farmaceuticals now? I then moved over to the blog page. The last blog had been posted on Saturday. Maria had died on Monday night. There was no mention on the site about Maria’s death.
    I scrolled through the blogs she had been posted in October. There were several scathing ones about the meat industry in general. I started to read them but as I was sitting here eating a meat-laden sandwich, I didn’t think this was a good time to discover how my ham came to be ham. There were also a couple blogs about a number of local vegan restaurants that were not living up to the vegan principal. Maria didn’t actually list their names but she gave almost GPS-accurate descriptions of their locations. Anyone with an actual GPS or a willingness to walk around the town could figure out who they were. One was located here in Indian Cove and another in the next town over. The truth was I had no idea there were so many vegan restaurants. Maybe there was something to this whole movement and I might just have to check it out. Of course this thought went through my head while the ham sandwich went into my mouth so how diligent would I really be? Who was I kidding? I did try to live a healthy life style and I usually prepared one meat meal a week with the others being salads, pasta with veggies, or rice. But if tortured I would have to admit life just wasn’t worth living without bacon tossed in once in a while and then there was my love affair with butter. And M&M’s. Maybe they were vegan. Chocolate came from a plant, right? Of course there was that Red Dye #40.
    I got back to my iPad and jotted down the general location of the restaurants. One of them wasn’t too far from Krueger’s and I could stop off as soon as I finished my sandwich. I took another bite and logged on to my Facebook page. I was just reaching for my pickle when a new post caught my eye. My mother had put up a picture of Riley. I looked to see if there were accompanying words announcing to the world he was free to a good home, but nothing. Just a picture of the dog sitting in my parents’ kitchen. Who did she think she was kidding? Riley was here to stay.
    I closed the iPad, tossed my trash in the waste container, and left the store. The restaurant was only a couple of blocks away and as it was a lovely day, I decided to walk. The downtown section of Indian Cove was pretty much the same as when I was a kid, with a few additions. Where some stores had closed shop years ago, several trendy cafes had sprung up. In warmer months tables with bright umbrellas lined the sidewalk giving the whole town a tourist feel. Of course with the beaches and our new boardwalk connecting them, I guess Indian Cove could be considered a tourist destination of sorts.
    I turned right at the end of the main street and walked another couple of blocks. According to the directions the restaurant should be coming up shortly. I looked at my watch. It was just about two and I figured this would be a good time to catch the manager or owner. The lunch rush would most certainly be over by now. As I approached I noticed the restaurant had a smart looking exterior. The shingles were painted in sea blue with a bright red door. There were several large pots with bushes on either side of the door and a deep yellow low wood fence