probably works at the grocery store or something ¸ she thought.
“Just a moment,” she told him. “I’ll go get your order.”
When she came back with the soup in a to-go bowl, Meg was at the register ringing up the elderly man she had been helping. The younger man was slouched against the wall, waiting for his turn to pay. Moira handed his soup to Meg, who rang him up as soon as her first customer was done.
“Will that be cash or credit?” she asked.
“Cash, I guess.” The young man pulled a wallet out of his pocket and began rummaging around inside for the correct bills. Moira, who had begun wiping down the countertop, paused, the rag dropping from her hand. On the young man’s wrist was a gold watch, just like the one she had seen on Mike’s wrist the day before he had died. David’s words came back to her.
“Did he have fancy clothing, carry an expensive wallet, wear an expensive watch… anything that might have made him a target for a robbery?”
Was it possible that this watch, which looked so out of place on the bored young man’s wrist, didn’t just look like Mike’s watch, but actually was his watch? Was she selling soup to her ex-husband’s murderer?
Frozen in spot, Moira could only watch as Meg finished up the sale and the man left, soup in hand. She was mentally cursing herself for not stopping him, but what could she do? She couldn’t exactly ask him if he was a cold-blooded killer, and if he was, then trying to detain him might put her and Meg in danger. Oh, how I wish he had paid with a credit card , she thought as she watched him walk away. At least with a credit card payment, she would have his name. There was no way to track someone who paid with cash.
“Are you all right, Ms. D?” Meg asked. Moira glanced over to see her employee looking at her strangely. She realized she must look quite odd, standing as if rooted to the spot and staring after her latest customer.
“I’m fine,” she said, forcing a smile onto her face. “Just lost in thought. It’s been a long few days. You know how it is.”
She made a hurried excuse and ducked back into the kitchen, where she quickly texted David telling him what she had just seen. Her body shook in disbelief. Was it really possible that her husband’s killer had just walked out of her store? Despite her shock, her mind felt clearer than it had for days. It was far better to be doing something to find the murderer, as opposed to just sitting around and waiting for someone else to solve the crime.
In the off chance that the young man might come back, Moira spent the rest of the day up front with Meg. She managed to greet each customer with a smile, while all the while keeping her eyes peeled for the young man in the concert tee. She couldn’t believe she had let him get away before; if he did come back for some reason, she vowed to come up with an excuse to find out his name, at the very least. I wish I could remember where I’ve seen him before , she thought. If I do, I might be able to track him down.
“Thanks for stopping by,” she said a few hours later to the last customer of the day.
“You have the freshest food in town,” said Beverly, the blonde woman who was renting a room from Martha. She clutched the paper bag to her chest. “I haven’t even been able to find anywhere else that knows what arugula is, let alone who will make me a custom arugula and kale salad.”
“If you’re still going to be in town this coming weekend, you should stop by the farmers market,” Moira told her with a smile. “I’m sure you’ll be able to find plenty of garden-fresh fruits and veggies there. It’s where I get a lot of the deli’s fresh greens.”
“I’m not sure how long I’ll be around,” the other woman admitted. “I miss home, but I’m still not done dealing with the mess my ex left behind.” Her face momentarily twisted in anger, then smoothed out.
“I hope you two figure things out,” she told the blonde