The Kielbasa Killer by Geri Krotow

Author:Geri Krotow [Krotow, Geri]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Severn House
Published: 2023-04-01T00:00:00+00:00

THIRTEEN

After closing the shop Lydia went back home, hoping to relax a bit before dinner. But she had hours until then, and even the sacred scent of fresh baked rye bread – Grandma had taken care of baking them after Lydia had punched down the dough and shaped it into two large, round loaves – couldn’t keep her in the garage flat. Not sure of what her next steps in the investigation should be, she opted to focus on her future – her café and bakery. Tired of simply writing up the menus, Lydia longed for more direct inspiration. She was going to the lake.

Grandma joined her and they made the half-hour drive west through several Buffalo suburbs, the views to the south growing hillier and more scenic the closer they got to the shore of Lake Erie. Not for the first time Lydia wondered how anyone could call the vast great water a lake when it behaved more as an ocean for all of Western New York. Their seasons were dictated by the tilt of the earth – she’d paid attention to Mr Rosetti’s eighth-grade science class – but Buffalo embodied its weather. Lydia agreed that Buffalo was a friendly place, as touted by locals and PR firms alike. Neighbors helped each other out through the worst storms including flooding and blizzards. But long grey winter days couldn’t help but affect one’s mood, no matter how cheery and bright their usual disposition. Buffalonians were tough.

Which is why she was willing to risk her new business on the belief that they’d venture out to the lake front for her food all year round. She dreamed of an establishment that attracted locals and tourists alike, in mid-summer when the sun dappled Lake Erie into a pool of crystalline aqua, and in the winter as well, when the lake often froze solid. As did the water spray on the homes and businesses that lined the shore, but she’d picked a spot that curved inland just enough to hopefully offer protection from the Arctic cold.

‘Make your own way.’

Teri’s words rang in Lydia’s mind as she unlocked the front double door of the lakeside café. It was the perfect building in the perfect location as far as she was concerned. Less than thirty minutes from her current home, the property boasted a small cottage adjacent the restaurant where the previous owners had lived for decades. It could serve as another income flow if she chose to rent it out, but Lydia planned to move in as soon as Pop was back to work.

She’d signed the mortgage papers mere days before Pop’s stroke. Her constant imaginings of how she’d set up her first business had been derailed first by concern for Pop’s survival, followed by taking over the butcher shop. Why let a little bump like a murder investigation stop her now?

She let Grandma and herself in, and they shivered in unison. Grandma tugged her red beret over her ears and stomped her feet on the ancient commercial entry mat.

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