by Natasha Deen
“We should ask around,” said Connor.
“And we should look at their clothes,” I said. “There might be bits of Sophie’s dessert left on their clothes.”
“That’s a good point,” agreed Connor. “If you throw pudding on the floor, some of it’s sure to get on you.”
At the first kitchen we found Mrs. Lee. She was making mooncakes.
“These are a real Chinese delicacy. Traditionally, they’re made during the mid-autumn festival, when we celebrate the moon,” she said. She smoothed her hands on her apron.
I took a good look at her apron. It was clean. No sign of splattered kutia.
“They are given to friends and family to bring good luck.” She winked. “What better dessert to make than one that brings good luck to the people you love.”
“They look delicious,” I said. “And very pretty.” They did. Mrs. Lee’s mooncakes were round and golden, with imprints of lotus flowers on top.
“I put a salted egg yoke in the middle of each cake to symbolize the full moon,” she said, “but you didn’t come here to talk about my dessert. You’re here because someone ruined Sophie’s lovely kutia.”
I nodded. “Did you notice anything strange?”
“Or maybe you can think of a contestant who would’ve wanted to ruin Sophie’s chances of winning?” asked Connor.
“Hmm,” she said. “When everyone found out Sophie was making kutia, we all figured she was a shoo-in to win.”
Connor frowned. “What do shoes have to do with winning?” he whispered.
I shook my head and looked at Sophie’s rainbow-colored sneakers. “I don’t know.”
Mrs. Lee put her hand on Sophie’s shoulder. “I can’t imagine anyone would do something so unkind—no matter how badly they wanted to win. But… something did happen that I thought was strange. I saw a man coming in through the back door.”
“The photographer Mrs. Hamilton hired?”
“No,” said Mrs. Lee. “It was someone else. That door is supposed to be locked.” She frowned. “No one’s allowed to use it. But I saw him there. He had a black bag with him. Maybe he was the one who did it.”
“Did you know him?”
She shook her head. “I didn’t recognize him.”
Wow. That was a very interesting clue! Mrs. Lee and her husband ran the General Store, and they knew practically everyone in town! If she didn’t recognize him, then it was not just an interesting clue. It was an intreeging entreaging intriguing clue! “What was he wearing?” I asked.
“Jeans and a T-shirt. He had shaggy brown hair,” she said.
“He might still be around,” said Sophie. “We should go look for him before he gets away!”
She was right!
We thanked Mrs. Lee and dashed outside.
“Oh no!” Connor slammed to a stop. Sophie and I stumbled to a stop behind him. “Look at this crowd! How will we ever find him in all these people?”
Chapter Four
Connor was right, which was really surprising. Who knew he could be correct about stuff?
“We’ll have to look very carefully,” I said. “We don’t want the bad guy to know we’re looking for him.”
Connor nodded. “Mrs. Lee said he had a black bag, right? Let’s split up and look for a guy who has a black bag like that.”
Sophie and I went to the right. Connor went to the left.
We checked by the fountain. The only people there were parents with their babies.
“Maybe he’s trying to get away,” said Sophie. “We should check the parking lot.”
“Okay,” I said, “but we’ll have to be careful and stay on the sidewalk.”
“No duh, Lark.” Sophie rolled her eyes. “Neither of us wants to get run over!”
I took a breath and decided to be patient with her because she was having a bad day.
We headed to the parking lot, but it was empty except for the cars and trucks.
“I thought we’d find him there,” said Sophie sadly.
“It was a good idea,” I said. “Let’s keep checking.” We went to the playground. I grabbed Sophie’s shoulder.
“Look! Over there!” I pointed to the slide. “There’s a man who fits the description! We should talk to him.
“Stay here and keep an eye on him,” I said, then dashed away. When I came back, I had Halmoni with me. “I’ve explained everything to her. She’s going to help us.”
Halmoni nodded. “I’m very good at talking to grown-ups.”
Together we raced over to him. I said, “Excuse me, sir?”
The man turned and gave us a confused smile. “Yes? Can I help you?”
“We’re investigating an incident at the baking contest. Do you know anything about it?” I said.
Halmoni leaned in. “That’s a great question,” she whispered to me and Sophie, “but he might not know about the contest. He might be a parent or uncle who came to the park with his child.”
“That’s a good point,” said Sophie. She glared at the man. “Who are you, and why are you here?”
He jumped back in surprise.
“Are you part of the contest?” Halmoni asked politely. “This is Sophie”—she put her hand on Sophie’s shoulder—“and she’s one of the bakers. And Lark”—she put her other hand on my shoulder—“is one of the judges.”
“Oh,” he said. “I’m one of the photographers.”
“One of the photographers? How many of you are here?” asked Halmoni.
He smiled. “Mrs. Hamilton hired a photographer to take pictures for her bakery. And the mayor hired me to take pictures for the town’s website.” He stopped smiling and looked concerned. “What was the incident? What happened?”
“Someone destroyed my dessert,” said Sophie. “Was it you?”
His eyes went wide. “Me? No! I would never do something like that!”
“Prove it,” said Sophie. “You match the description of the guy who was lurking around the kitchen area.”
“When did the accident—”
“It wasn’t an accident,” I said. “Someone did it on purpose.”
“When did it happen?” he asked.
“About thirty minutes ago,” said Sophie.
“That wasn’t me,” he said. “I wasn’t there thirty minutes ago.”
“Is there any way you can prove that?” I asked in my nicest voice.
“Actually, I can.” He reached into his bag and pulled out a video camera. “Look at this. I was here at the playground, filming, when your dessert was destroyed.” He hit the Play button, and a video of kids running around started up on the screen. “See? The kids and their parents came up and talked to me. I asked them about their favorite desserts and what they were most looking forward to eating. So that proves I didn’t just set up the camera and walk away.”
He put the video on fast-forward, and we watched it to make sure he was telling the truth. In some of the shots, I could see him. Plus, there was a clock, so we knew the time. He wasn’t the one who destroyed Sophie’s dessert.
“Thank you,” I said.
“You’re welcome.” He turned to Sophie. “I’m sorry someone did that to you.”
“Did you film any other place?” I asked. “Maybe your video got a shot of the building.”
He frowned. “I can check and see,” he said. “I’ve been filming all morning, so it’s a lot of video to go through. It might take a while, but I’ll do it now and come find you when I’m done.”
I held out my hand, and he shook it. “Thank you for your help,” I said. “My little brother—”
“Twin brother,” Sophie corrected me.
“—twin brother is Connor. He looks kind of like me, and he’s wearing a blue shirt. If you see him, you can tell him too.”
“Okay, my name is Ismet. I hope you find your guy,” he said. “Thanks for letting me help. I’ve never been part of an investigation before!”
Chapter Five
“We should check the judging sta
ge,” I said.
Sophie stopped, and her eyes got wet. “I’d like to see the other desserts, but it’s going to make me too sad. You better go without me.”
“Are you okay to be by yourself?”
She nodded. “I’ll wait by the doors.”
Halmoni and I were walking to the judging stage when Connor came running up to us.
Sophie must have seen him too, because she raced to us. “Did you find him?”
“I found a man who fits the description,” he said. “He came into the building, but I lost him. He’s around here somewhere.”
“Let’s go find him,” I said.
“I’m going to go that way.” Sophie pointed left. “You guys go the other way.”
“Agreed.” We looked and looked.
Connor pointed. “There he is!”
“Sir! Sir!” I waved and waved.
The man looked up and waved back. “My name is Jun.”
We ran over to him.
“Can I take a photo of you?” he asked. “Mrs. Hamilton hired me to take pictures of today’s event for her website and social media.”
“That would be lovely,” said Halmoni. “I am Halmoni. And these are today’s judges, Lark and Connor.”
Jun took a couple of pictures, and then Sophie joined us. “Hello, Jun. Thank you for taking the pictures of me and the kutia. At least I’ll have the photo.”
“I heard about what happened,” he said. “I’m sorry your beautiful dessert was destroyed.”
Sophie’s eyes got watery. “Thank you.” She blinked and walked away.
“We were wondering if you could help us with the investigation,” said Connor. “Someone matching your description was seen in the baking area.”
“Oh.” He nodded. “That was me.”
Wow. I couldn’t believe he was already confessing!
“Mrs. Hamilton wanted photos of the bakers and their desserts for her website,” he continued. “I had permission to be there.” He looked over to where Sophie sat. She was in the corner with her head all droopy, looking sad. “I promise I didn’t do anything to ruin her dessert. That was a mean thing to do.”
I believed him. I looked over at Connor. He looked like he believed Jun too.
“Hmm,” I said. “Did you notice anyone acting strangely?”
He laughed. “Everyone was working hard and worrying about the time. They were anxious, but not strange!”
“So you didn’t see anything that seemed out of the ordinary?” asked Connor.
“No,” he said. “Everything seemed normal.”
Connor spoke again. “Or maybe someone who was there who didn’t have permission to be there?”
Jun thought for a bit. He looked into the distance. “I was taking pictures and asking the contestants questions. Some of them were there. Some of them weren’t around—they were in the display area or they were in the other kitchens, talking to their fellow bakers.”
“Do you remember any of the people who weren’t in their kitchens?” I asked.
“I’m sorry, I don’t. Not every contestant agreed to have me take a photo of them or their dessert. Some people don’t like any distractions when they’re working.”
“How did you know which ones were okay to have their picture taken?”
“Mrs. Hamilton had camera stickers made. If contestants didn’t mind having me around, they put a sticker with their name on it on the counter. That’s how I knew.”
“One of our witnesses said they saw you using the back exit, and no one was supposed to do that,” said Connor.
Jun nodded. “Yes, it’s true. The door wasn’t supposed to be open during the contest. I needed some extra equipment. When I saw the door was already open, I thought it was okay to use it. The door was a shortcut to the parking lot. I didn’t see anyone when I went outside though. So if the person used that door, they must have run outside and kept going. I didn’t see anyone in the parking lot or getting into a car.”
“Okay,” I said. “Thank you for your help.”
“Do you want to go through the pictures I took?” asked Jun. “Maybe you’ll see something.”
“That would be very helpful,” I said. “Thank you.”
We scrolled through his camera roll. There were pictures of Sophie at the stove, stirring her kutia, Mrs. Lee with flour on her nose, Mr. Barker pretending to eat a lemon. We saw Mrs. Delaney, holding up a big bag of chocolate chips and smiling. There were our two friends, Kate and Franklin, holding up a tray of Nanaimo bars.
“Do you see anything in the background of the photos that might be helpful?” Connor asked. “Because I don’t.”
I sighed. “No. I don’t think so.”
“I’m sorry I couldn’t be more helpful,” said Jun.
“It’s not your fault,” said Connor. “Thank you anyway.”
Chapter Six
“Maybe we’ll see something helpful in the judging area,” I said. “Let’s go check.”
The desserts for the contest were amazing! Mrs. Robinson had made a cake that looked like a tree, with green icing for the leaves and little candies for the grass and stones. Miss Balza had made sugar cookies that were the faces of emojis. Mrs. Delaney had made a sunshine cake, a lovely yellow cake with white frosting. Everything looked so delicious! I hoped we could solve the case soon, because I was getting really hungry!
“Hello, Lark and Connor,” said Miss Balza as she came up to Connor, Halmoni and me. “I heard you were on another case.”
“Yes,” said Connor, “we are, but we’re not having any luck.”
I looked around. “Did you see Sophie? She was with us a minute ago, but she’s disappeared. I thought maybe she came here to look at the desserts.”
Miss Balza shook her head and made her curly red hair bounce. “No, I haven’t seen her. It’s very sad about her dessert. I thought she was a shoo-in to win.”
There it was again, a mention of Sophie’s shoes. After we solved this case, I was definitely going to find out what made them special.
“That’s the motive,” said Connor. “Someone wanted to get rid of her dessert so she didn’t win.” He frowned. “Did you notice Miss Balza mentioned Sophie’s shoes?” Connor whispered.
I nodded. “That’s the second time someone’s talked about them.”
“Those shoes must be an important clue. I wonder why the dessert destroyer didn’t do something with them.”
“Probably because she was wearing her shoes,” I said.
He nodded. “That’s a good point.” He tapped his chin. “I wonder if the culprit threw the dessert on the floor for that reason? Maybe they thought Sophie wouldn’t want to get kutia all over her shoes and would take them off.”
“Then the culprit would steal them,” I said. “That’s good thinking, Connor. Let’s keep that in mind.”
“It’s very cruel, what that person did to her dessert,” said Mrs. Robinson as she came up to us. “Sophie worked very hard on it, and she deserved to have it in the contest.”
“We’re trying very hard to figure out who did it,” I said. “Did you hear or see anything unusual?”
Mrs. Robinson and Miss Balza stopped and thought. And thought. And thought.
That was a lot of thinking!
But then both of them said, “No, I’m sorry.”
“What’s going on?” Mrs. Delaney had come up to us. “Are you talking about Sophie’s kutia?”
“Yes,” I said.
“It’s a terrible thing. I heard all about it,” said Mrs. Delaney.
“When Sophie was yelling and upset, maybe you came to check? Maybe you saw someone at the back door?”
“Definitely not,” said Mrs. Delaney. “I was in my kitchen, working on my dessert. I never left. I heard the yelling, but then I heard Mrs. Hamilton’s voice, so I knew everything would be okay.”
“Okay,” said Connor, trying to hide his disappointment. “Thank you.” He turned to me. “We should try to find Sophie and check on her.”
“It’s kind of weird to see Sophie sad,” he said. “Usually she’s so annoying.”
“I know, but this was a bad thing that happened. We have to make sure we try to make her feel better. We should try to as—swe—” I couldn’t remember the word, but it was a good one. Halmoni used it once, and I liked the way it sounded. It started with an a or an s, and it meant “to make someone feel better.”
We looked for Sophie in her kitchen. The baking dishes had been cleaned up. So had the cloudy spot on the floor. There was nothing in the room, including Sophie. We looked for her in the hallway. It was empty, except for a paper cupcake holder on the floor. I picked it up. Still no Sophie.
“Maybe she doesn’t want to be found right now,” said Connor.
“That could be true. Let’s look at the back door. Maybe there’s a clue there.” I went to the back exit and pushed open the door. Sophie wasn’t outside by the parking lot. I stepped back inside and threw the cupcake holder in the compost. I noticed white icing on my fingers and wiped it off on my jeans. I hoped Mom wouldn’t notice. She always says clothing is clothing and not a napkin. But we had to solve the case, and there was not enough time to find an actual napkin.
“Let’s try the playground,” suggested Connor.
On our way there Mrs. Delaney called us aside.
“I thought of something that might help,” she said. “But before I tell you what it is, I wanted to say that I saw your picture in the afternoon edition of the paper. You two looked great!”
“Thank you,” I said. “Now, do you have something that can help our case?”
“I might have a clue for you,” she said. “But I didn’t want to say anything in front of Mrs. Robinson or Miss Balza.”
“What is it?” I asked.
“It’s Mrs. Hamilton,” she said. “I think she’s the one who did it!”
