Rest, Relaxation and Murder: A Bakery Detectives Cozy Mystery

by Stacey Alabaster

  "It's beautiful, isn't it?" Robert asked, gazing out over the lake.

  Strange thing to say about the place you found a dead body, I thought.

  "Yes, it is beautiful," I said back quietly.

  "You look beautiful as well, Rachael," he said.

  Right. So that's what he was going for.

  I really wasn't in the mood for his compliments, though. Pippa was right. I had to find out if he had known Ann before he found her body in the lake.

  Robert sighed. "I get the feeling that something is up with you tonight, Rachael."

  "Why do you say that?"

  He shoved his hands in his pockets and stared out over the lake. "You still haven't gotten over our little argument. I can tell. I apologized, though. What more do you want me to do?"

  I didn't answer and he seemed to grow more and more agitated. "I just wanted to get out of here, that's all. That's why I was in such a foul mood. But things changed. I realized I should stay," he said cryptically.

  I was still silent. Then, finally, I blurted out the question I had wanted to ask all along.

  "Did you know Ann?" I asked, moving away from the lake and turning so that I could face him. I hated the shake in my voice as I spoke. It seemed that no matter how many times I was in a sticky situation, my nerves always took over when it mattered.

  "Yeah, I knew Ann," he said in a low voice, looking up at me. "That's what you've been wanting to ask this whole time, isn't it?" He narrowed his eyes. "Why are you so obsessed with me and Ann?"

  I gulped. "Why didn't you tell the rangers you knew her? After her body was discovered."

  He just stared at me. "Isn't it obvious, Rachael? Because that would make me look as guilty as heck."

  You're telling me. And bringing me down here to the lake, all alone, doesn't?

  Beside me, the water glistened in the moonlight. This is where he brought her.

  I looked around, wondering how long it would take me to run back to camp. How far I could run for before I collapsed.

  It wouldn't be far.

  "Did you...did you speak to Ann much? How well did you know her?"

  Robert edged towards me slowly. "What's with all the questions, Rachael?" There was a glint in his eyes. "What are you, some sort of undercover cop?"

  Kind of, I thought. Whatever I am, I've given myself away.

  "I'm just worried about what happened to Ann...like everyone else there is," I said as he inched closer to me.

  "You seem a little more worried about it than everyone else is, Rach...so are you?"

  "Am I what?"

  "Are you worried?"

  "What are you doing?" I asked, backing away slowly. "Robert, you're scaring me."

  He stopped walking. "Scaring you?" There was a dark look on his face. "So, you do think I did it," he said, coming towards me again.

  I screamed and took several steps backwards, and then suddenly, I was falling backwards, still screaming as my legs went out from under me and my face went underwater.

  "Rachael!" I could hear Robert yelling as I went under the water again, desperately flailing my legs as my dress weighed me down and got caught in the rocks and sticks.

  "Help!" I screamed out, pushing Robert away as he suddenly appeared at my side. "Not from you!" I screamed. "Help!" I yelled again, desperately trying to push myself up with my hands. The lake wasn't deep in that part, but I was stuck to the bottom, my hands slipping in the mud and my dress tangling in the sticks.

  I felt the water slide over my face and I panicked, taking in a deep breath that filled my lungs with water. A hand reached down to pick me up again and, I struck out at him to get away. If I was going to drown; suffer the same fate as Ann.

  "Rachael!" The voice was murky through the water and I was starting to lose focus.

  The hand grabbed at my wrist again and I struggled to get free, but I was starting to gasp for air and the strength was draining from my body. My arm went limp and I no longer struggled as the arm reached down and dragged me out of the water.

  "Rachael," Pippa slung me over her shoulder and I collapsed, coughing and spluttering. "Come on, let's go back to the hotel."

  She dragged me all the way back with me over her shoulder, while I watched Robert standing behind us, staring at us until we were all the way back to the hotel.

  Chapter 9

  Pippa and I burst back in through the heavy glass doors, with her panting with the exertion of dragging me—we REALLY needed to get some exercise—and me still struggling to breathe, growing more and more red-faced as I realized what had actually happened out there on the lake. Robert hadn't drowned me. I'd just fallen into the water and refused help.

  What the heck must he think of me?

  "I told you not to go out there with him," Pippa whispered frantically. We were trying to stay out of the sight of the other guests, some of whom were still limply hopping around the dance floor, but it was a little hard to ignore the dripping wet girl and the angry woman yelling at her in the corner. "It was just lucky I came to check on you."

  "It was nothing," I tried to tell her. "He wasn't going to do anything to me. I think he was actually trying to help."

  Pippa shook her head. "If I wasn't there, he would have pushed your head under the water, Rachael!"

  Definitely an exaggeration.

  "You need to tell the rangers." Pippa tried to put a blanket around me to dry me off. She started to rub my shoulders with the prickly thing, made of coarse materials and smelling like an old, damp dog. I don't even know where she'd found it.

  I shook her and the blanket off. "No." I turned to stare at her. "They aren't going to be any help. What I need to do is figure out who killed Ann." I glanced back over my shoulder to where Robert was still standing beside the lake. "That's the only way there's going to be an end to all of this."

  "OH!" Vikki said, digging her elbow into me when I tried to gently push past her to reach for a frying pan over the top of the stove. "Watch where you're going. We have a system, you know."

  "Ow," I cried out, rubbing at my ribs, which were still delicate from my fall into the lake. "Some system," I said. "There's no leadership in this kitchen at all."

  Vikki slammed down the pot she'd been holding, causing soup to spill out of it. We were under the gun—guests were arriving in the dining room and we had nothing to serve them. The hungrier they got the louder they got, and Vikki didn't work well under pressure.

  "There is a leader," she snapped at me, as she started chopping celery to chuck into the watery soup. It was supposed to be pea and ham, but instead of a rich, thick consistency, it was viscous and lumpy. “And that leader is me."

  I turned away so she couldn't see the face I was making, while the flames of the open stove burned against my skin. I supposed she was technically Ann's sous chef, but she didn't even know how to dice an onion or make a white sauce—and they teach you those things the first week of cooking school.

  "So you'd do best to stay out of my way and stick to your section," Vikki snapped again, nodding to the part of the bench I'd been relegated to, the salad prep.

  "Okay, okay," I said, putting my hands up in a sign of surrender. I shot Aaron a covert look and he shrugged at me as if to say, I don't know what's gotten into her today.

  For my part, I bit my tongue and didn't mention that I'd been the one responsible for the buffet at the dance, not to mention the rising spirits of everyone at the resort. Vikki had seemed perfectly happy with my help until now.

  She pushed past me again and her celery soup splashed onto my white shirt, causing me to wince in preparation for the burn.

  But it was...cold.

  "Um, Vikki," I said, turning to watch her as she started to dish it out into bowls.

  "What?" she snarled, turning back to face me, the green liquid dripping from the ladle.

  "Are you sure you should be serving that?"

  "Just because you cater one dance, and everyone loves you now, you think you know everything about
how this kitchen works."

  I sighed. So, that was it. She was jealous. "Vikki, that soup's not even warm, let alone hot. It's not cooked."

  She stared at me, daring me to go on. "Yes, it is."

  "Test it."

  She just glared at me. The din from the dining hall was sounding behind us. We didn't have time for this standoff. Finally, she dipped her pinky finger in the soup and her face reddened as she realized I was right. It was stone cold.

  "So what?" she said as she continued to spoon it into the bowls. "We don't have time to cook it any longer. Besides, some soup is served cold."

  "Yeah, gazpacho," I called out. "But that's not it! There's meat in that soup, Vikki! Ham needs to be heated properly. We don't want to kill anyone!"

  I saw the color drain from Vikki's face at the words 'kill anyone.' She took her apron off and threw it down. "I'm going out for a smoke."

  "Vikki!" I pointed to the dining hall. "We need you!"

  "You clearly don't. Good luck." She stomped out, slamming the doors so hard that the wind caused the bowl of salad I was preparing to get knocked clean to the ground. Thanks a lot, I thought.

  I didn't expect to see her back for the rest of the meal, and was surprised when she showed her face again before the second course. She seemed to think she could slip right back in and just take over again like nothing had happened, with no explanation or apology for her long absence. And I wasn't in the mood for a fight, so I just kept my head down and tried to get through the next couple of hours.

  "Well, I'm out of here," Vikki said once all the meals were out, before we'd even cleaned up or done a single dish. "I'm sure you guys can cope."

  Aaron just looked after her open-mouthed, throwing his own apron down. "I guess all this mess will be left to me to deal with."

  "I'll help," I said quietly, making sure that Vikki was truly gone and had disappeared out of the dining hall before I turned back to the mess behind us. Why did I ever agree to work in the kitchen?

  "Hey," I said, cornering Aaron in the kitchen now that we finally had a moment alone, out of the watchful eye of Vikki and without the pressure of ravenous guests ready to tear our flesh off if they didn't get their hot meals.

  Aaron looked at me in shock. "It's okay," he said, "You don't have to stay and help."

  I looked him straight in the eyes. "Tell me what you know about Ann."

  He looked shocked again and shook his head. "Nothing. I already told you everything I knew about Ann."

  "No, you didn't," I said flatly. "I know that you and Vikki have some sort of little secret going on. Don't think I don't see the looks you shoot at each other every time the subject comes up."

  Aaron looked away. "Vikki just doesn't like us talking about it, that's all."

  "Vikki's not here now," I pointed out.

  "But she'll know if I tell you. She'll find out."

  I stared at him. "Why are you so scared of her?"

  "I'm not,” he said slowly. "If anything, she is the one who is afraid of me."

  What was he talking about?

  "Scared of you talking?" I asked.

  Aaron nodded slowly. "Vikki doesn't want every one to know."

  "Everyone to know what?"

  Aaron sighed. "Ann wasn't this amazing cook like everyone says. She just knew how to make it look like she was. She kept this kitchen going all right, but it wasn't because of her cooking skills."

  Aaron refused to meet my eyes. Once he'd trailed off, I was afraid he was going to stop talking all together...right when I was finally getting somewhere. "So how?" I asked quietly. "Aaron, nothing bad is going to happen to you if you tell me."

  Aaron sighed and rolled his eyes. He didn't look so sure. But he continued talking. "She knew where to get all the stuff from."

  "Stuff?" I asked in a low whisper. "What, like, drugs?" Oh my goodness, they were using the kitchen as a cover up for their drug ring. That was why Ann was killed. Of course. It all made perfect sense now.

  Aaron just stared at me like I'd lost my mind. "No," he said. "Are you crazy? The pre-prepared food."

  "Oh. Right." Not as bad as drugs then. And probably not worth killing over. But you never know with people. I'd known people to kill for less than job security. I shook my head, trying to understand what he was telling me. "So you never actually prepared the food back here then?"

  Aaron shook his head, looking ashamed. "We all kind of liked an easy life, you know? We used all the spare time to enjoy the resort, and no one ever cared. No one ever checks on us in here. Ann took care of everything, all we had to do was show up and open the packages and put it on the plate."

  "Well, that explains why you two don't even know how to do the most basic things," I said.

  Aaron looked embarrassed. "I know. It's shameful, really." He looked up. "Vikki hated it the most. She always wanted to be a real chef. She tried to tell Ann that what she was doing was wrong, that we should be preparing the food fresh, but Ann wouldn't listen to her. She had a strong personality, you can say."

  "And you were scared that if you said any of this, you would lose your jobs?"

  Aaron nodded. "Ann had started acting strange a week or two before she disappeared." He frowned, trying to remember. "Vikki was stressing about it, because Ann was in charge of everything and there were shifts where we had nothing to serve."

  "Do you know why Ann was acting strange? Why she was taking off, missing work?"

  Aaron was quiet for a moment. "Everyone was saying she was seeing this guy. That she had a new boyfriend. But it was a secret, or something. No one knew who he was."

  That sinking feeling came back to my stomach.

  Robert.

  "You don't know any details at all?" I asked, trying to keep the worry out of my voice as Aaron shook his head. "Younger? Older? Was a name ever mentioned?"

  "No, I don't know, I'm sorry. All I know was that he was someone she wasn't supposed to be seeing."

  I took a sharp breath. "A guest?" I asked.

  Aaron considered this. "He could have been a guest, I suppose. We aren't really supposed to fraternize with the guests. So I could see why she would want to keep that a secret, if it were true." He saw the look on my face. "But I can't say for sure, Rachael. This is all speculation. I don't know who he was. I never saw the guy."

  "Thank you," I said quietly, pulling on my yellow dishwashing gloves. "You've been a big help. We ought to get this mess cleaned up."

  Pippa was sympathetic when I told her the story later that afternoon. I'd been expecting a big "I told you so," but instead she suggested we go down to the bar for a couple of margaritas. She ordered lemon and I ordered 'purple'—whatever flavor that was. I took a sip. The flavor seemed to be...sugar. I pushed it away and sighed, pressing my forehead against the sticky bar. "Gross," I said, lifting my head. We went outside to sit by the lake, a place I'd been avoiding for the last couple of days.

  I settled on my deck chair and raised my glass towards the sky. "Here's to a great vacation." I sipped violently until I had a brain freeze.

  "So you think Robert was seeing her?" Pippa asked, gazing over the water.

  I took another sip of my margarita and nodded. "Yes. I do. Why else was he up here on his own? I knew that his story didn't add up. I knew that it was strange that a young, good looking guy like him was up here all on his own." I let out a bitter scoff. "It's because he wasn't."

  "And you think he killed her?"

  I took another sip of my drink. "It's always the boyfriend, isn't it?"

  Pippa raised an eyebrow. "Or the girlfriend."

  I tossed my empty glass beside me onto the grass. "You were right. We should have stuck to the no guys rule right from the start."

  "So what are you going to do?"

  I reached down and hunted through my purse until I found what I was looking for. "Something I really don't want to do, but I have no other choice."

  I took out the business card and ran my finger against the sharp edge. I sighed. Ther
e was nothing more to do, no more reason to delay. I had to hand the case over to these two clowns.

  "Ranger Wilson?" I asked, when he answered the phone. "I've got something I need to tell you."

  Pippa and I leaned over the balcony and watched the jeep pull in to the dusty driveway. I sighed and pulled my sunglasses on. "This still doesn't seem right," I murmured. "I still think I could do a better job of solving this case then they can."

  "Rach, they are actual law authorities," Pippa pointed out. "And you're not. Skilled as you are, they are the authorities. You're a baker, remember? You shouldn't go beating yourself up over this. Tell them what you know. You could be in danger if you don't."

  Ranger Wilson climbed out of the jeep first, followed by his little mouse of a partner, Ranger Stacey, who was clearly feeling a little better today as she matched her partner in joviality, skipping along beside him.

  I sighed again. Clowns. That was what they were. Would they even take what I was about to tell them about Robert seriously? Or just dismiss it like everything else.

  "Rach," Pippa warned. "Put your shoes on and go downstairs. They’re waiting for you."

  The meeting place was a little different than what I was used to at the Belldale Police Station. Rather than being inside an official police precinct in a locked room with security and police officers around, we were sitting on a park table besides the lake.

  We were stationed right next to the place where I'd fallen in, and I tried not to look at it.

  Ranger Wilson got out his notebook. "Lovely day, isn't it?" he asked with a wide grin. "I wouldn't mind going out on the water later myself."

  He caught Ranger Stacey's eye and she nodded enthusiastically but didn't say anything. She looked shyly back at the water. "Yes, it's a beautiful lake."

  I cleared my throat. "Anyway," I said loudly. "I had something I needed to tell you."

  Wilson looked back at me. "Right!" he nodded vigorously. "Er, about the drowning in the lake?"

  Of course about the drowning in the lake. What else did they think I'd invited them out for? A picnic?

  Right on cue, Ranger Stacey reached into her bag and pulled out a thermos and several cups and asked in her meek little voice if I wanted some orange juice.