A Cake Caper

by Constance Barker

  “Look, yes Oliver was murdered last night, but what you don’t know is that he was murdered in Rose’s grooming salon. She called me last night in a panic after she found him, drowned in the grooming tub.”

  Both Masie and Laney seemed speechless at first and I didn’t blame them one bit, so I simply nodded and told them what happened, wanting to get it over with. I needed them to know the details so that we could start listening and looking for any clues that might come our way.

  “I spent the night with her last night to make sure she was alright, but I’d like to spend some more time with her today and I was hoping that you and Laney could manage the bakery. I’d also like to start looking into this so we can get Rose out of the suspect list, but I’m going to need your help.”

  Masie looked like she was ready to murder someone herself, lips pursed together and eyes bright as she took a deep breath, clearly trying to calm herself down.

  “Of course Coco, whatever you need. I can’t believe this. Why would someone use Rose’s grooming salon to kill the guy? Who has it out for Rose so badly that they want to frame her for murder?”

  “That’s exactly what I want to figure out.”

  Laney chimed in then with an enthusiastic nod and gently put her hand over mine reassuringly.

  “Well we’re here for whatever you need. We’ve got to catch whoever did this.”

  I nodded back at her, and figured that as much as she wanted to catch the killer to clear Rose’s name, she likely wanted to find out who killed her boyfriend more...and of course I understood that.

  “Thanks girls, I appreciate it.”

  So we got to chatting while I readied some muffins to take with me back to Rose’s place, all of us trying to come up with who disliked Oliver enough to actually proceed with murder. And why they would use Rose’s grooming salon, of all places.

  There are more than a few people that Oliver had pissed off in town, whether it be for overcharging for mediocre work, the fact that he’s arrogant and rude, or simply for him sticking his nose where it didn’t belong and starting an argument or inciting needless conflict. He never seemed to be on anyone’s good side, so narrowing down the list was hard.

  “You know,” Laney chimed in, her brows raised as she shrugged her shoulders. “We shouldn’t just focus on his work. Oliver’s been winning the dog shows for a while and that’s stirred up a lot of drama and resentment in the dog show circuit.”

  “I didn’t know that Laney, thanks. That’s definitely something that we need to look into. I don’t want to leave any stone unturned here.”

  Just then Scooter walked in, brows raised.

  “What’s going on?”

  I filled him in on what happened and what our plan was. I could tell by the look on his face that he wasn’t impressed, and I braced myself for whatever spiel he was going to give me.

  “Look Coco, I get what you’re doing, I really do, but this isn’t a good idea.”

  I crossed my arms over my chest with a huff and looked back at him incredulously, and Masie did the same.

  “And why isn’t it? She’s my best friend. I’m not going to make her go through this alone.”

  “Of course not. I’m not saying don’t be there for her Coco, I’m saying that you shouldn’t go poking around and playing detective. You’ve already had enough trouble with the police and people are going to start talking. You’ll look like a busybody who can’t seem to stay out of police business. Besides...”

  He sort of trailed off and looked down at the counter as he fidgeted with a wrapper, and then looked back up.

  “Besides what, Scooter?”

  He shrugged his shoulders with a sheepish glance.

  “What if maybe Rose wasn’t set up? Do you think that she could have done it? It all seems really odd.”

  Masie immediately scoffed and glared over at Scooter, and I could already tell that their discussion wasn’t going to go anywhere near constructive. Between Masie’s flair for the dramatic and the fact that Scooter was only 18, things were bound to get messy.

  “How can you say that?”

  “Look I’m not saying that she did it, I’m just saying she could have.”

  “How would you like this spatula where the moon don't shine!”

  “Listen you two, don’t start with this. I’ve got to go and take these muffins to Rose, please keep the peace? The last thing Rose needs is for rumors to be flying around that her friends think she did it.”

  I gave them both a pointed glance and then left the bakery with my muffins in tow, heading to Rose’s place. I needed to get to the bottom of things and clear Rose’s name, and fast, before things got out of control.

  Chapter 4

  “Hey, Coco, wait.” Masie caught up with me. “I’m coming to Rose’s with you.”

  “Thanks,” I said, squeezing her hand.

  We arrived to a shaken but trying not to be stirred Rose.

  “Listen girls I really appreciate you coming over here, I really do. But I’m okay. I’m not some delicate little piece of glass...I can handle things myself. You don’t have to disrupt things just on my account, it’s not right. Besides, I’ll need to get to the salon and clean up.”

  “Well, first you’re going to have some muffins with us. Breakfast heals almost all things,” I said with a wide, though seriously forced, grin. I wanted to get Rose out of this mess and, for now, at least get it off her mind.

  “They do smell amazing...” Rose said, venturing to grab one.

  “I’ll grab some plates,” Masie said, and quickly returned with saucers and started up some tea.

  “Thanks,” Rose said, but the corners of her mouth were tense.

  “We’re not going to abandon you in your time of need,” Masie said, pouring a warm cup of tea for Rose.

  “My time of need? Last week’s manicure was a time of need,” Rose huffed. “They cut too deep on my cuticles. But I’m fine. I need to clean up Pawfectly Groomed—”

  “Rose,” I interrupted. “I’m not going to just up and act like nothing happened when my best friend had someone murdered in her salon. It’s not going to happen.”

  I could see the hint of a smile on her lips and I knew she was grateful for it, even if she didn’t come right out and say it. Then I had an idea cross my mind and I looked over at Rose, hoping that she would go for it.

  Masie tipped up her tea cup in agreement.

  “Hey, why don’t we all go over to your salon and help you clean? It’ll be faster with three people, plus you shouldn’t have to do that alone.”

  Masie leaned forward in her seat with a smile, nodding eagerly.

  “Yeah. We can get it all dolled up for you so you can go back to cleaning and primping pooches in no time.”

  I saw the look of terror and anxiety wash over Rose when she realized that Masie was coming too and I barely held back my smirk, though I somehow managed to hold it together.

  “Oh no, no no no that’s not necessary,” Rose said quickly as she shook her head, eyes darting over to Masie as she did. “And, no offense, but I like things done in a very particular way and a very particular order, and I don’t want to mess up my system.”

  Masie rolled her eyes with a sigh and waved off Rose’s excuse.

  “Oh Rose, stop it. It’ll be fine.”

  “No it won’t, Masie. You’ll walk in there and ignore my system...you don’t know my routines, and everything will be out of place and I won’t know where anything is. Then I’ll have to spend even more time cleaning and organizing so that I can get it back the way it was.”

  “Rose, it will be fine.” I assured her with a smile. “Masie and I will make sure to keep things just how you like then. I know you have lists that detail every schedule and routine, so we can keep it in line. And worst case scenario if I don’t know where something goes...I can just ask. We’ll clean up according to your standards, not ours. I know you like your business a particular way.”

  Rose sighed. “Okay, fair enough.�
�

  We got the kitchen cleaned up from breakfast and then hopped into my car, a Fiat I proudly named Daisy, and drove over to Rose’s salon.

  Our spirits were fairly positive on the way there but once we pulled up and walked inside, most of that feel-good mood went out the window.

  The place looked even worse than it had the night before, the police having trampled mud and dirt everywhere on top of the already disheveled state it was in after being ransacked. Not to mention crime scene chalk and evidence markers that had been left behind.

  “Oh, you have got to be kidding me.” Rose muttered it out and huffed, and a heavy sigh left her as her gaze darted all over the messy room. “What do I do with this? Where do I even begin?”

  Rose looked defeated already so I put my arm over her shoulder with a sigh and squeezed, and I kept my voice low and reassuring.

  “It’s just a mess Rose, that’s it. We’ll have it cleaned up and looking good as new in no time, I promise. Don’t let it get to you, okay?”

  She gave my hand a quick pat and nodded, and then we all got to work cleaning various parts of the salon. I tackled the murder scene for her because for one thing I unfortunately had experience with this sort of thing, and for another I didn't want my friend to have to clean up a murder scene in her own salon. It didn’t seem right and I was more than willing to do it for her if it meant it would be easier on her.

  I got to work and was going as quickly as I could without cutting corners, and I actually managed to get most of it done within an hour. I was just finishing up the last portion that was left, scrubbing away water and police chalk from the floor, when something under the sink caught me eye. I frowned and kneeled forward and reached underneath of it, and when I pulled out the small item, I tilted my head in confusion.

  Sitting there in the palm of my hand was a lens cap from a camera, which was more than a little bit out of place. Sure maybe it was just from one of the crime scene photographers, but something in my gut told me that it didn’t feel right. So I decided to pocket it as I finished wiping the floor, and then I walked out to the main room where Masie and Rose were talking.

  The conversation had started as curious banter back and forth about what happened but then morphed into a discussion about how awful Oliver was. The fact that he had been a suspect in not one, not two, but three murders simply because he was such a belligerent fool wasn’t lost on us either.

  “It’s true,” Rose said with a sigh, “and that sink has certainly seen it’s share of excitement now, I’d say.”

  Masie giggled and looked over at Rose with a grin.

  “Rose, remember that time that you fell into your sink?”

  “Lawd, I wish I could forget. That little rascal pomeranian had splashed most of the water out of the sink from his bath and I was sliding all over the place. I was trying to grip the sides of that huge sink to no avail. Figured it would be better to ride it out with Gatsby in the sink than laying like a lug on the floor.”

  We all shared a laugh as we recounted the memory

  But that’s when Margaret Entwhistle came strolling in with her dog Cauliflower, a beautiful purebred Collie.

  She scoffed and looked at us with such disgust that I actually felt a little guilty, though I wasn’t sure what for yet.

  “Honestly, you three should be ashamed of yourselves. Carrying on and laughing like that after there’s been a murder, and right here no less.”

  She looked around and then her gaze settled on Rose, and she shook her head.

  “You should be ashamed of yourself, Rose. You’ve got no heart if you’re this cheerful only a few hours after Oliver was killed.”

  And with that she turned around and stalked out of there with her dog, leaving the three of us standing in shock as we tried to process what had happened.

  “Well that didn’t exactly go very well, did it?”

  I turned to Masie and shook my head, dread filling my chest.

  “No, it really didn’t. And while we don’t know for sure what’s going on yet, one thing I do know is that we need to get your name cleared Rose, and we need to do it fast. Otherwise you’re going to have more people like Margaret, and your business will be ruined.”

  She nodded and took a clarifying breath before she stood up straight and got back to organizing, and the three of us vowed to get to the bottom of what happened.

  Chapter 5

  While Masie stuck around with Rose at Pawfectly Groomed, I headed back to the Mad Batter. I knew how hard it was to have to put an open sign back on a business that was host to a crime scene, but this quinceañera cake wasn’t going to design itself.

  I wanted to spend my time with Rose, but losing this order wouldn’t help anyone. Mrs. Riviera was going to stop by the next day to see what I came up with for daughter, and I needed something to show her.

  But first, I needed to call Logan. He picked up after a few rings.

  “Hi, Coco. How are you?”

  “I’m alright. Would you be able to stop by the shop? I wanted to talk to you about a few things.”

  “Yeah, I have some time. Just give me a minute to finish things up here. I’ll be on my way soon.”

  Red and Henry walked into the store. They sat down at their favorite table.

  Even though they were total opposites, Red and Henry were super close friends. Henry was very clean-cut while Red was a bit more rough around the edges. The one thing they were the same in though was how much they loved the Mad Batter.

  “How’s our favorite baker doing?” Asked Red, taking off his Cubs baseball cap.

  “I’m okay,” I said. “I have a big order I need to work on and then Logan is stopping by.”

  “We’ll be sure to keep him entertained,” Henry said. “Perhaps in exchange for some red velvet cupcakes?”

  Henry knew how to make a deal from his days as a lawyer. And this was an offer I couldn’t, and wouldn’t, refuse. Serving these two always cheered me up.

  “You got it,” I said, plating two cupcakes. “I’ll be in the back.”

  I went into the back to meet with Scooter and Laney. Scooter was a whiz at cake design and Laney was taking to working at the bakery like a fish takes to water.

  We were in the middle of going over the design and piping some of the colorful flowers onto parchment paper when I heard the door to the store open. When I heard Henry and Red enthusiastically greet the person at the door, I knew it was Logan.

  “Will you be able to take it from here, guys?” I asked Laney and Scooter.

  “Sure thing, Coco,” Scooter said. “We’ll keep at it.”

  I went out to the front of the store and saw Logan sitting with Red and Henry. When they spotted me, Henry stood up. Red followed shortly after.

  “Well, it looks like we’ve earned our cupcake,” Henry said. “Have a nice day, Coco.”

  The two headed out. I went over to Logan, but made sure to make a pit stop at the display case to grab him a blueberry muffin.

  “Blueberry. My favorite,” Logan said, taking the muffin.

  “How’s the investigation going?” I asked.

  “Straight to the point, huh?” He said. He took a bite of the muffin before continuing. “I’m afraid I don’t have much to tell you. The only fingerprints we’ve been able to find are Rose’s.”

  “That’s so weird,” I said. “Not that it would be strange to find her fingerprints in her own business, but whoever did this really covered their tracks.”

  “It looks like it. No one could even confirm an alarm going off. Amanda Sweet owns the shop right next door and she didn’t hear a thing.”

  “Really? So there’s no clues?”

  “Well, I know you don’t want to hear this Coco, but we do have a suspect.”

  I didn’t know what he meant. What wouldn’t I want to hear?

  “What do you mean?” I asked. “Who?”

  He sighed. “Rose is our main suspect,” he admitted.

  I felt the sudden urge to protect my
friend. I had been in this position myself, and I knew how terrible it was.

  Rose was innocent. I just knew it. She could never do such a thing.

  “It’s not Rose,” I told him definitively. “You know she wouldn’t do that.”

  “Coco...”

  I cut him off. “It was someone else. I know it was.”

  He sighed. “We're still waiting on the coroner’s report. Maybe that will tell us something.”

  “It will. Or something else will. I just know it.”

  “Do you have any ideas? You’ve been pretty instrumental in the last few cases. Has anyone or anything seemed suspicious to you?”

  I hesitated. My mind immediately went to Clive.

  He seemed gleeful that Oliver was dead. That certainly was suspicious. I worried about the consequences of identifying him as a suspect though.

  “What?” Logan asked. “Is there something you’re not telling me?”

  “Well... I guess there is.”

  “Okay. What is it?”

  I took a deep breath. “Well, the other day, I bumped into Clive. I heard him on the phone with someone. He was pretty happy about Oliver’s death. He said he was now out of the way.”

  Logan thought for a second.

  “That does seem pretty suspicious. It’s as good of a lead as any right now.”

  “I don’t know if it’s him,” I clarified. “But I think that it’s something worth looking in to.”

  “I agree. I promise I’ll find out what was going on with that.”

  I still felt anxious about everything, but I was happy that the investigation was moving away from Rose.

  “Thank you,” I said.

  “Of course.” He finished up his coffee and muffin. He stood up and gave me a smile. “Be sure to take care of Rose, okay, Coco?”

  “Yeah, of course,” I said. I stood up too.

  “You’re uniquely situated to understand how hard this is. She’ll need you supporting her.”

  “I will,” I promised.

  “Alright. Take care, Coco.”

  “Goodbye.”