A Cake Caper

by Constance Barker

  He waved goodbye, left the bakery and I was left with more questions than answers.

  I hoped he would be able to find out what was going on in that phone call. And I hoped that I would be able to take care of Rose.

  But, by leading the investigation away from her, I had taken one thing off of her plate.

  I just hoped we would catch the killer soon.

  Chapter 6

  I was glad that the afternoon rush in the bakery was over quickly, because I had a lot to do. I had made a grand total of seven different cake flavors for the quinceanera cake and I needed to decide which ones I should present as possibilities at to Mrs. Riviera.

  Luckily, Stella and Vivian had very eagerly volunteered to test them. Unluckily, Stella and Vivian had very different opinions on cake and were very vocal about expressing them. Two hours in, I was nursing the beginning of a headache.

  “No Stella, I am telling you that vanilla is boring.”

  “But it’s not vanilla Vivian, it’s confetti cake. It’s the antithesis of boring. It has party sprinkles in it.”

  “You know what’s not boring? Red velvet.”

  “Everyone does red velvet, it’s not unusual or unique. Everybody coming to this quinceañera will have already eaten 20 red velvet cakes this year.”

  “Good point. Have you thought about trying a more unusual flavor profile in the cake, Coco dear? Maybe with limes, or beef brisket?”

  I was saved from having to answer by my cell phone ringing. I managed to stop myself from groaning when I saw my cousin’s name flash on the screen.

  “Hey Angie, how’s it going?”

  I winced and held my phone away from my ear as Angie’s shrill voice rushed down the line. She was worried about deadlines and the stress was causing her to spiral.

  “Come on now Angie, everything will be fine. The recipes are all done, right? So, we just need to take the photographs and they’re ready to be sent off.”

  I started to wipe down the counter while Angie wailed, and I waited for the right opening to be able to speak again. Sometimes she just needed to feel like someone was listening in order for her to calm down and think logically again. Even if her borrowed ear was busy cleaning out a coffee machine.

  “Yes, I promise everything is fine. We need to sort out the lights and props for the photoshoot, but the recipes should be all good. Don’t worry Angie, nothing is going to go wrong.”

  The door opened and I looked up to see Sam Porter stalking into the bakery. I was surprised. I wasn’t expecting to see him, especially not coming into my bakery of his own volition.

  “Hey Angie, I have to go. Try to calm down, will you? I’ll speak to you later.”

  I smiled at Sam as he tapped his fingers on the counter. “Sam, what can I do for you today?”

  Sam grunted at me, but I waited patiently for him to answer. “I need butter. I’ve ran out and Maggie’s Market is closed. Go figure, why would they be open when someone needs them?”

  I grinned wider and he regarded me with some suspicion. Sam might have been grumpy, but he was asking for my help. So maybe if I could get him chatting and we could discuss Oliver.

  I went to get the butter and decided to go for the direct route. “I think everyone’s out of their usual routine a bit, aren’t they? After what happened to Oliver.”

  Sam snorted. “I’m not. Good riddance to him.”

  I smiled in triumph before composing myself enough to turn around again, clutching the butter. “Really? The two of you didn’t get along?”

  “Get along? If it were up to me, he’d have been out of the Barkskateers long before now.”

  I paused, unsure what he meant. “The Barkskateers?”

  He sighed heavily and pulled out his phone. “Our dog show club is called the Barkskateers. Here, this is my dog. Sir Pugsalot.”

  I couldn’t stop myself from grinning at the name of his dog, but luckily Sam took it as an impressed grin. He showed me a photo of Sir Pugsalot alongside a group of other dogs.

  “That’s Sir Labsalot, and that one is Dogspeare, and that’s Collieflower, she’s new to town. There’s a chihuahua too, but she wasn’t there the day this photo was taken.”

  I desperately wanted to tell Sam how glorious the names of all the dogs were, but I was worried that he would think I was being sarcastic. He scrolled through more photos and even I could admit that Sir Pugsalot was quite the dog.

  “He’s lovely. You must win a lot with him.”

  Sam laughed. “Chance would be a fine thing. Oliver was notorious at dog shows, he was an awful sport. And a cheat.”

  I gasped. “He used to cheat?”

  “He fed Sir Pugsalot a laxative right before our last show, so that we couldn’t go on. He wanted to get us out of the way because we’re a threat, see? He knew he wouldn’t win with his tacky pink poodle if Sir Pugsalot was also on stage.”

  “That’s horrible. And was he in the Barkskateers?”

  “Unfortunately. But we’d been voting to kick him out for poor sportsmanship right before he got his comeuppance. That’s karma for you.”

  I nodded and tried to look sympathetic. “It sounds like the whole team will be better off without Oliver there.”

  “Oh yes, that’s certainly true. Next time I see that Rose I’ll gladly shake her by the hand for getting him out of the way, and there’s more than a few people who feel the same.”

  I debated whether to probe deeper and decided I didn’t have anything to lose. “Were you doing anything fun yesterday, Sam? Hanging out with Sir Pugsalot?”

  Sam snatched his phone away suddenly, the guarded suspicion returning to his eyes. I knew I had gone too far.

  “What I do with my time is none of your business,” he snapped at me.

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you. It was just an innocent question,” I tried to convince him, but it was clear that he had had enough of my company.

  “Nothing is ever just an innocent question with you though, is it Coco?” He retorted, snatching up the butter and stalking to the door.

  “Bye then. See you soon,” I called after him, but he didn’t turn back or reply.

  “You’re welcome for the butter,” I muttered under my breath as the door slammed shut behind him.

  “Ooh, that was suspicious,” Vivian whispered dramatically. I jumped. I had forgotten that Stella and Vivian were sitting at the corner table eating cake.

  Stella confirmed Vivian’s thoughts. “Very suspicious. You want to keep an eye on that one, Coco.”

  I nodded in agreement. Sam was never my biggest fan, but he had definitely been acting suspiciously. And he couldn’t even pretend to be sad that Oliver was dead.

  I’d have to think more about Sam and the Barkskateers, and which of them would stand to gain the most with Oliver out of the way.

  Chapter 7

  “Love, Actually is what she needs,” Masie snickered.

  I poked her. “Rose should watch the rom com marathon at Rudy’s Cinema, yes, and that’s all I choose to take from that sentiment,” I said as I grabbed the keys for Daisy.

  Rose didn’t put up much of a fight because Hugh Grant would be starring in at least two of these movies and many other brunette men with charming smiles were a welcome distraction for her.

  While we drove, we loudly sang along to pop songs from our childhood. For a bit, it seemed like we had pulled Rose out of her funk.

  The murder investigation seemed like it was all miles away. I should have known it was too good to be true. Nothing is ever that easy.

  We got into the line to get our movie tickets.

  “We need to get some popcorn,” Masie said. “It needs to be one of those big tubs for all of us. And chocolate, I like to mix them together.”

  “But the chocolate gets all melty and makes such a mess,” Rose said. “Speaking of which, I don’t want extra butter.”

  “Should we really be sharing one tub of popcorn then?” I asked with a laugh.

  Th
e voice cut through our conversation. It took a moment for me to process the comment, but it stopped our conversation in its tracks.

  “Isn’t it terrible that some people don’t take things like murder investigations seriously?”

  Rose froze and looked like she didn’t know what to do. She looked anxious and embarrassed and a little bit like she might cry. A blush went over her cheeks and nose. She blinked a few times and looked for the source of the criticism.

  I felt a surge of protective instinct for my friend. Who did they think they were insulting Rose? I looked around, trying to find the source of the criticism. Masie began to scan the crowd too. A handful of annoyed and angry faces looked back at us.

  I recognized most of the people in line. We didn’t live in a very big town after all. Were people really bold enough to call us out to our faces?

  Someone else spoke up. She was an older woman who Stella and Vivian knew. Her name was Esther, and she could often be found in the local library.

  “I just don’t understand how you could be wandering about town enjoying yourself when you’re a murder suspect,” Esther said. “A man is dead. Have you no shame?”

  I was about to say something back to her when the man in front of us turned around. I saw it was Charles. I had met him a few times. He worked at Maggie’s Market.

  “I don’t think it’s fair to act as though she was caught drowning the victim herself,” he said. “She just owns the salon where he was killed. She doesn’t have to become a recluse because of that.”

  “This isn’t fair,” I said, joining in. “Rose shouldn’t have had to answer to why she was doing something for herself. She didn’t have to lock herself up because of Oliver’s murder. She had nothing to do with it.”

  “Don’t you think it’s strange that she’s out here having fun and laughing while a man is dead? It’s suspicious,” Esther accused. It felt like we were already on trial even though Rose had never been arrested.

  There were murmurs of agreement from the crowd. I saw people I had known for years glaring at Rose.

  “It’s not suspicious,” Charles said. “Rose owns Pawfectly Groomed. That’s it. She isn’t going around hurting anyone. She’s just going to the movies.”

  “Well I just think...”

  “It seems in poor taste...”

  The murmurs continued and I tried to filter them out.

  “I just wanted to see some movies.” Rose exclaimed. “You’re acting as if I’m celebrating that he’s gone. I’m just doing what everyone else in this line is doing.”

  “The difference is that no one else in this line has been accused of murder.”

  I recognized the voice and scanned the crowd to match the face. I saw that it was the mayor, Marion Lake. She was as irritated and angry as everyone else.

  That made me worried. If the mayor thinks that she did it, it could really spell trouble for Rose.

  “And what does that mean?” Charles asked. He looked incredibly tense.

  “It means that I don’t want to share a movie theater with a murderer. Especially one who laughs and giggles after such a heinous crime.” Marion retorted.

  “Rose hasn’t done anything,” Charles was practically shouting.

  “Well, we’ll just let the police figure that out. I heard she’s the only suspect.”

  “We will let the police figure it out. They aren’t biased like you are.”

  “And what’s that supposed to mean?”

  The two were moving through the crowd and closer to each other as they spoke.

  “It means that you always favored Oliver in every competition. Of course you’re upset he’s gone. He flirted his way to every score he earned.”

  Marion laughed. “You’re just upset because your dog always lost. Oliver won on talent alone. Maybe you should have asked him for some advice before he passed.”

  Charles looked especially angry at that. A silence fell over the crowd.

  An older couple in the back spoke to one another. They had stopped into The Mad Batter a few times before. Their voices carried through the tense silence.

  “Well, I would never celebrate someone’s death, but at least now the town might get a half decent plumber who might fix our shower drain.”

  Rose took me and Masie by the arm. “Let’s just go,” she said. “It’s not worth it.”

  “I feel bad, Rose, but maybe you’re right. Let’s go back to my place,” I said. “We can watch some reality TV and have some cocoa.”

  We walked through the crowd and tried to ignore all of the accusing stares. Rose stopped by Charles.

  “Thank you,” she said. “I really appreciate it.”

  “Of course,” he responded. “I’m on your side, Rose. I know you didn’t do it.”

  We left the theater and walked back out onto the street.

  “Okay,” Rose said. “After we see what the Cardassians—”

  “Kardashians are reality TV,” I interjected. “Cardassians are from Star Wars,” I said.

  “Starship Troopers,” Masie corrected me.

  “Star Trek, actually,” Rose quipped with a shrill giggle in her voice. “After we catch up on our shows, and we have cocoa, then we’ll solve this case.”

  Chapter 8

  With our plans for a fun movie marathon dashed, we made it back to Masie’s and she immediately made us all a round of hot cocoa. Rose toyed with her mug sadly, and Masie and I exchanged worried glances.

  “I know this cocoa isn’t as hot or yummy as Hugh Grant...” I said, pursing my lips at the dejected look in Rose’s eyes.

  “How are you doing, Rose, honey?” Masie ventured, rubbing her arm soothingly. I grabbed my cocoa and scooted over to her other side, and together we made a protective bubble around Rose.

  She swallowed another gulp, and took her time answering. “I’m worried. I’m worried and I’m scared.” She said finally, blinking rapidly so as not to let any tears fall.

  Masie nodded, and went to speak but Rose cut her off suddenly. “And I’m angry. Everyone is blaming me, and I don’t know why because I didn’t do it and there’s nothing to say I did do it so why are they being like this?”

  She broke off, breathing hard, and I felt a stab of anger in my own stomach. I sprinkled an enormous amount of marshmallows into her mug.

  “Forget about all of them. We know the truth and we will find out who really did this, and why.” Masie nodded enthusiastically in agreement, and we squeezed her hands hard.

  We sipped cocoa in silence for a few minutes before Masie spoke abruptly. “We could go to his house. Oliver’s I mean, we could go to his house and have a look around. Just to see if anything is out of the ordinary or we can find any clues.”

  Rose and I looked at each other. We were usually the voice of reason when Masie wanted to do something risky...well alright, Rose was the voice of reason anyway...but tonight I knew we were both thinking differently.

  “We’re in,” I say, knowing that Rose was thinking the same. We headed out of the house and towards the car, but as we made to climb in Masie let out a cry.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked.

  “Oh no, the taillight is all smashed up.”

  I raced around to check the back of the car. Sure enough, the glass had broken in front of the bulb. I went to turn the key in the ignition.

  “It’s no good, the light is out. We can’t drive it like this, we’ll get pulled over for sure,” Rose confirmed, sounding like she was about to cry.

  Masie furrowed her brow for a second before her face lit up. She whipped out her phone and quickly dialed.

  Less than 10 minutes later the three of us were squeezed into the back of Stella’s car. We had barely sat down before Stella put her foot down, and as we lurched around the corner Vivian held out a packet of lemon drops from the front seat. My stomach flipped and I grabbed hold of the headrest in front of me with both hands.

  “Do we have to go this fast?” I said weakly, but Stella cheerfully informed me
that she had driven far faster in her government days and if we wanted to get anything done, we needed to get the lead out.

  “Don’t press your luck with ol’ lead foot there,” Vivian said with a grimace.

  I didn’t want to ponder the implications of that, so I focused on looking straight ahead to attempt not to hurl.

  I had never been so thankful to stand on solid ground, and from Rose’s pale face I could tell she agreed. But as we all stood on the sidewalk facing Oliver’s house, determination set in.

  Vivian instructed Rose and Stella to keep guard at opposite ends of the driveway while she picked the lock. Masie raised her eyebrows at me over Vivian’s head and I winked back. Our ladies might have a lot of years behind them, but there’s no doubt that they were masters of...something.

  It’s either that, or cat burglars. Hard to tell, really.

  We slipped inside and spread out, each choosing a different room to search. I found myself in Oliver’s bedroom, and decided to rummage through his drawers first. Finding nothing, I moved onto the wardrobe, the cabinets in the bathroom, and under the bed. I was getting frustrated when I spotted the small side table tucked away in a corner and headed over to it.

  I frowned as I picked up a notebook and flipped it open. Inside was lists of names. Flicking through, my confusion grew as I realized they were names of dogs, with their owner’s information beside each one.

  I heard Masie call quietly from downstairs and stuffed the little notebook into my pocket. I quickly shut the drawer and headed downstairs to find everyone else crowded in the kitchen. They were all staring at the back door.

  I began to ask what was going on when I heard it too. There was a scrabbling noise coming from the back door, as though someone were trying to open it. We stared at each other, wide eyed from fear.

  What should we do? We could try and get out through the front again and drive away quickly. But what if whoever it was had already seen the car?

  Rose put her hand on the door handle, and Masie hissed at her to stop. She shook her head and flung the door open. I jumped backwards and out of the corner of my eye saw Vivian grab a bag of bagels as a weapon. Rose’s voice cut across our fear.