Death by Chocolate Cake: A Bakery Detectives Cozy Mystery (12 page)

T
hree months
later

"
Y
ou look beautiful
, Pippa," I said as she carefully examined her dress in the door of the silver fridge, which was serving as a mirror. We were standing in the kitchen of the bakery, about to make our big appearance in the reception area.

"It's not too 'wedding-y,' is it?" She turned to me, concerned. "It's not too 'bridal'?"

"Um." I looked at the bright purple dress that perfectly matched her hair. "No, I don't think it's too bridal. I don't think I've ever seen a bride wearing anything like that." I walked over and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "I do think it's just perfect for you, though."

We laughed, and danced, and made sure we ate every bite of wedding cake under Adam's watchful eye. He was recently back from shooting the show but had signed a strict confidentiality contract, so he couldn't tell us how far he'd gotten.

From the way he'd hounded Pippa into letting him cater the reception, I had a suspicion he'd been eliminated in the first round.

"I still can't believe I paid for this," Pippa said, shaking her head as she nibbled at the thick almond icing. "Rach, you really need to expand into the wedding cake market."

"Shh!" I said, and we both giggled.

"Well, should we call an early end to this wedding reception?" Pippa asked me with a wink after a few more spins around the dance floor.

"What? Why?"

Pippa pointed at the clock. "It's almost 7:30."

"And?"

She gave me a 'you've got to be kidding me look.' "Don't you know what it's the premiere of tonight?"

I threw my head back with a little groan. "No, Pippa. I don't want to see it."

"Come on," she said, linking her arm through mine. "Let's find a TV."

* * *

I
didn't manage
to pull my face out of my hands for even a second during my 'audition' scene, which was part of a tribute to Pierre that aired at the start of the program. But the sound of my voice and my stuttering over my words was more than enough to make me want to die.

"I can't believe they kept that in there," I groaned.

"They must have thought it made good TV."

Pippa, Marcello, and I were all squeezed onto the couch together, huddled round the TV set. They kept telling me they were going to get their own place soon, but there was no rush.

All during the episode, I kept reliving my on-screen debut in my head, meaning I barely paid attention to what was actually happening on the screen. It was all a bur of icing sugar and chocolate and tears and Adam flailing about dramatically, posing for the camera every time it came near him.

I was wrong. Adam DID make it through the first episode.

"Tune in next week when disaster strikes one unlucky contestant," the voice over said ominously.

"Is it sabotage?" The camera zoomed in on a slow motion shot of Renee, who was found surreptitiously tampering with what appeared to be Adam's cake mix.

"The most evil contestant we've ever seen on
Baking Warriors
," the booming voice shouted as the special effects turned Renee's eyes red.

I rolled my eyes. She was only adding an extra teaspoon of sugar to Adam's mixture.

"I'm glad I got out when I did, though," I stated. "I just wouldn't have made good TV."

T
hanks for reading
Death by Chocolate Cake
. I hope you enjoyed reading the story as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you did, it would be awesome if you left a review for me on Amazon and/or Goodreads.

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A
t the end
of the book, I have included a preview of my first book,
A Pie to Die For
. It is available on Amazon at:

FairfieldPublishing.com/pie-to-die-for

A
s a special surprise
, I’m also including a preview of the first cozy mystery from my friend Miles Lancaster,
Murder in the Mountains
. I really hope you like it!

FairfieldPublishing.com/murder-in-mountains

M
ake
sure you sign up for the Fairfield Cozy Mystery Newsletter so you can keep up with our latest releases. When you sign up,
we will send you a FREE copy of
Murder in the Mountains
!

"
B
ut you don't understand
, I use only the finest, organic ingredients." My voice was high-pitched as I pleaded my case to the policeman. Oh, this was just like an episode of Criminal Point. Hey, I wondered who the killer turned out to be. I shook my head. That's not important, Rachael, I scolded myself.
What's important is getting yourself off this murder charge.
Still, I hoped Pippa had recorded the ending of the episode.

I tried to steady my breathing as Jackson—Detective Whitaker—entered the room and threw a folder on the table, before studying the contents as though he was cramming for a test he had to take the next day. He rubbed his temples and frowned.

Is he even going to make eye contact with me? Is he just going to completely ignore the interaction we had at the fair? Pretend it never even happened
.

"Jackson..." I started, before I was met with a steely glare. "Detective. Surely you can't think I had anything to do with this?"

Jackson looked up at me slowly. "Had you ever had any contact with Mrs. Batters before today?"

I shifted in my seat. "Yes," I had to admit. "I knew her a little from the store. She was always quite antagonistic towards me, but I'd never try to kill her!"

"Witnesses near the scene said that you two had an argument." He gave me that same steely glare. Where was the charming, flirty, sweet guy I'd meet earlier? He was now buried beneath a suit and a huge attitude.

"Well...it wasn't an argument...she was just...winding me up, like she always does."

Jackson shot me a sharp look. "So, she was annoying you? Was she making you angry?"

"Well... Well..." I tripped over my words. He was now making me nervous for an entirely different reason than he had earlier. Those butterflies were back, but now they felt like daggers.

Come on, Rach. Everyone knows that the first suspect in Criminal Point is not the one that actually did it.

But how many people had Jackson already interviewed? Maybe he was saving me for last. Gosh, maybe my cherry pie had actually killed the woman!

"Answer the question please, Miss Robinson."

"Not angry, no. I was just frustrated."

"Frustrated?" A smile curled at his lips before he pounced. "Frustrated with Mrs. Batters?"

"No! The situation. Come on—you were there!" I tried to appeal to his sympathies, but he remained a brick wall.

"It doesn't matter whether I was there or not. That is entirely besides the point." He said the words a little too forcefully.

I swallowed. "I couldn't get any customers to try my cakes, and Bakermatic was luring everyone away with their free samples." I stopped as my brows shot up involuntarily. "Jackson! Sorry, Detective. Mrs. Batters ate at Bakermatic as well!"

My words came out in a stream of breathless blabber as I raced to get them out. "Bakermatic must be to blame! They cut corners, they use cheap ingredients. Oh, and I know how much Mrs. Batters loved their food! She was always eating there. Believe me, she made that very clear to me."

Jackson sat back and folded his arms across his chest. "Don't try to solve this case for us."

I sealed my lips.
Looks like I might have to at this rate.

"We are investigating every place Mrs. Batters ate today. You don't need to worry about that."

I leaned forward and banged my palm on the table. "But I do need to worry about it! This is my job, my livelihood…my life on the line. If people think I am to blame, that will be the final nail in my bakery's coffin!" Oh, what a day. And I'd thought it was bad enough that I hadn't gotten any customers at my stand. Now I was being accused of killing a woman!

I could have sworn I saw a flicker of sympathy finally crawl across Jackson's face. He stood up and readjusted his tie, but he still refused to make full eye contact. "You're free to go, Miss Robinson," he said gently. There was that tone from earlier, finally. He seemed recognizable as a human at long last.

"Really?"

He nodded. "For the moment. But we might have some more questions for you later, so don't leave town."

I tried to make eye contact with him as I left, squirreling out from underneath his arm as he held the door open for me, but he just kept staring at the floor.

Did that mean he wasn't coming back to my bakery after all?

* * *

P
ippa was still waiting
for me when I returned home later that evening. There was a chill in the air, which meant that I headed straight for a blanket and the fireplace when I finally crawled in through the door. Pippa shot me a sympathetic look as I curled up and crumbled in front of the flames.
How had today gone so wrong, so quickly?

"I recorded the last part of the show," Pippa said softly. "If you're up for watching it."

I groaned and lay on the carpet, my back straight against the floor like I was a little kid. "I don't think I can stomach it after what I just went through. Can you believe it? Accusing ME of killing Mrs. Batters? When I
know
that Bakermatic is to blame. I mean, Pippa, they must be! But this detective wouldn't even listen to me when I was trying to explain Bakermatic's dodgy practices to him."

Pippa leaned forward and took the lid off a pot, the smell of the brew hitting my nose. "Pippa, what is that?"

She grinned and stirred it, which only made the smell worse. I leaned back and covered my nose. "Thought it might be a bit heavy for you. I basically took every herb, tea, and spice that you had in your cabinet and came up with this! I call it 'Pippa's Delight'!"

"Yeah well, it doesn't sound too delightful." I sat up and scrunched up my nose. "Oh, what the heck—pour me a cup."

"Are you sure?" Pippa asked with a cheeky grin.

"Go on. I'll be brave."

I braced myself as the brown liquid hit the white mug.

It was as disgusting as I had imagined, but at least it made me laugh when the pungent concoction hit my tongue. Pippa always had a way of cheering me up. If it wasn't her unusual concoctions, or her ever changing hair color—red this week but pink the last, and purple a week before that—then it was her never-ending array of careers and job changes that entertained me and kept me on my toes. When you're trying to run your own business, forced to be responsible day in and day out, you have to live vicariously through some of your more free-spirited friends. And Pippa was definitely that: free-spirited.

"Hey!" I said suddenly, as an idea began to brew in my brain. I didn't know if it was the tea that suddenly brought all my senses to life or what it was, but I found myself slamming my mug on the table with new found enthusiasm. "Pippa, have you got a job at the moment?" I could never keep up with Pippa's present state of employment.

She shrugged as she kicked her feet up and lay back on the sofa. "Not really! I mean, I've got a couple of things in the works. Why's that?"

I pondered for a moment. "Pippa, if you could get a job at Bakermatic, you could see first hand what they’re up to!" My voice was a rush of excitement as I clapped my hands together. "You would get to find out the ways they cut corners, the bad ingredients they use, and, if you were really lucky, you might even overhear someone say something about Mrs. Batters!"

A gleam appeared in Pippa's green eyes. "Well, I do need a job, especially after today."

I raced on. "Yes! And you've got plenty of experience working in cafes."

"Yeah. I've worked in hundreds of places." She took a sip of the tea and managed to swallow it. She actually seemed to enjoy it.

"I know you've got a lot of experience. You're sure to get the job. They’re always looking for part-timers." Unfortunately, Bakermatic was planning on expanding the storefront even further, and that meant they were looking for even more employees to fill their big yellow store. "Pippa, this is the perfect plan! We'll get you an application first thing in the morning. Then you can start investigating!"

Pippa raised her eyebrows. "Investigating?"

I nodded and lay my head back down on the carpet. "Criminal Point—Belldale Style! Bakery Investigation Unit! I will investigate and do what I can from my end as well! Perhaps I could talk to people from all the other food stalls! Oh, Pippa, we're going to make a crack team of detectives!"

"The Bakery Detectives!"

We both started giggling but, as the full weight of the day's events started to pile up on me, I felt my stomach tighten. It might seem fun to send Pippa in to spy on Bakermatic, but this was serious. My bakery, my livelihood, and even my own freedom depended on it.

T
hanks for reading
a sample of my book,
A Pie to Die For
. I really hope you liked it. You can read the rest at:

FairfieldPublishing.com/pie-to-die-for

M
ake
sure you turn to the next page for the preview of
Murder in the Mountains
.