Matthewson sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “It came straight out of the lying mouth of Humphrey Wilkins. He told us about your fight with Brain Masters on the street, about your drug habit and how close your business was to being repossessed and the two of you kicked out on the street.”
“And you believed him?” Meggie said, jabbing her finger accusingly at the sergeant’s chest.
“He believed it because it’s true,” Crystal said. “Maybe not in the way that the toerag spun it, but everything he told you checked out. That he was the cause of the worst of it was the only thing he omitted.”
The sergeant shook his head. “I can’t believe how easily I let him fool me. Not to mention, how I didn’t spot Dale and his bad habits. He was right under my nose.”
“Sometimes, that’s a difficult place to see clearly.” Holly shifted in her chair. “He fooled me too and nearly got me killed.”
A flash of the terror she’d felt as the car plummeted down the hill recurred, and Holly shivered. “At least everything is sorted now. We can get back to picking up the pieces and getting on with things.”
“I hope that the press doesn’t make too much of a field day out of this. Full disclosure I’m okay with, but if they play it up for too long, the whole township will suffer.”
At that, Holly laughed.
“What?” Matthewson squinted at her.
“There’s hundreds of more horrible things happening around the world right now, than this mess of a conspiracy. Sure, it’s a big deal for Hanmer Springs, and the odd tourist might think twice, but I just don’t think it’s going to be the lead story anywhere. Not unless the whole world takes a hiatus on horribleness.”
Holly stretched and got up from her seat to fetch a fresh cup of coffee. With it warming her hands she turned around, leaning her back against the bench.
“The problem is that it’s so lovely here, anything like this seems far worse than it would in the real world. Believe me, that’s a good thing!”
“I hope you’re right then,” Matthewson said, taking her movement as a cue to leave. “I’ll keep you updated with anything that affects you. Otherwise, it’s back to normal as quickly as we can manage.”
After he left, Crystal looked downcast, tracing her finger along a curiously dark line in the stained wood of the table. “I’m glad to be out of prison, but that’s not going to help much with the bakery. We’re still financed up to the hilt, and it’ll take forever to work our way out from under the debt.”
Meggie’s shoulders slumped. “Don’t remind me. I was really hoping when we turned up to Humphrey’s last night, he’d have a stack of cash on him that we could divvy up and return to its rightful owners. I can’t believe that it’s all just gone. Even when we tracked down the culprit, it leaves us both in just as bad a state.”
“I suppose that means that selling the house and the bakery is back on the table?” Crystal asked, looking at Holly.
Holly frowned down at what was left in her cup. “Maybe.” She shrugged. “It’s not a decision that we need to make today. Since we’ve excused ourselves from our duties, what did you feel like doing? Did you ever make it onto that hike the other day?”
At the suggestion, Crystal feigned a collapse on the table. “You’re joking? You want me to traipse into a forest for hours on this little sleep?”
“I’m going to the pools,” Meggie said. “If we’re both going bankrupt and losing everything, I want one last day to remember how spectacular this town felt when I first arrived.”
She clapped her hands together. “So, for today, I’m a tourist. Impress me.”
“I still haven’t made it to the pools,” Holly mused. “And I’ve been living just a few streets away for weeks. That’s absolutely unforgivable!”
“Well, fetch your togs then, lovey. We’ll make a day of it.”
Holly went to fetch her swimsuit, calling back over her shoulder. “Or fall asleep in the warm water in ten minutes flat!”
When the three of them relaxed in the hottest pool, it turned out Holly won that bet.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Holly and Crystal were both in the back of the bakery the next day when a tentative tap came on the front door. A female voice called out in case of a misunderstanding, “Knock, knock.”
Holly walked out into the shop, pulling on a fresh pair of gloves. The last had been covered with a thick layer of ganache where she’d tried to flatten out the edge of a cupcake determined to be lopsided. Licking off the remains wasn’t the best advertisement for hygiene.
“Wendy! Good to see you.”
“I hope I’m not intruding,” the woman said in a shy voice. “I just got a fright yesterday when I saw the shop was closed. I wanted to stop by and check that everything was okay.”
“Of course, you’re not intruding. Anytime you want to stop by, you’re most welcome, whether you’re buying anything or not.” Holly waved her to the table in the corner. “We had a few tasks to sort out with the police and far too little sleep, that’s all.”
“That’s a nasty business,” Wendy frowned. “I don’t like to think of all that going on in a family that my Sheila is about to join.”
“On the other hand,” Holly said. “You could look on it as that poor, unfortunate Derek getting to add to your lovely family, instead.”
“Speaking of which”—Wendy reached into her bag—“I’ve got the approximate numbers for the wedding. I’m not sure how many flavors of cakes or things you have but I thought you’d be able to sort that end out for me.”
“Of course.” Holly picked up the folded note that Wendy slid across to her and opened it up. She kept her expression very still, just nodding. When she felt confident she could speak, Holly said, “That looks fine. I’ll just check with Crystal. She’s out the back baking at the moment.”
On shaky legs, Holly scampered into the rear of the bakery and leaned against the wall. “Look at this,” she said, holding the note out with a shaking hand.
“What is it?” Crystal asked, taking it from her. “Is this the amount of money that Humphrey owes us?”
“No,” Holly squeaked. “It’s the number of guests coming to Derek and Sheila’s wedding. These are the cupcakes that we need to make.”
Crystal stared at the paper in disbelief. “No,” she said finally. “You’ve got that wrong. Is she still out there?”
Holly nodded.
“I’ll go and check with her. Watch the oven for a moment.”
Holly knelt down in front of the oven, watching the cakes inside start their slow creep up the tin walls as they expanded in the hot air.
“Okay.” Crystal returned and sagged against the wall. “You’re right. They’ve invited two thousand guests to a wedding.”
Crystal reached a hand up to her forehead. “I think I’m running a fever in panic already.”
“How do they even know that many people? This wedding must be costing her a fortune. Oh, no!” Holly raised a hand up to her mouth.
“What? What’s the matter?”
“Meggie offered to do the wedding party’s hair and makeup for half price. I wonder how many that will be?”
Crystal’s look of horror started to dissipate. She pulled a notepad toward her and began to make the calculations.
“Right. We’ll need to start baking around the clock three days out, so we’ll start with the long-keeper varieties and freeze them if we need to. Then we do the shortest-term flavors on the night before.”
She quickly totted up a few columns and passed it over to Holly to check. The figures looked right. “That’ll do it. We’ll have to keep our fingers crossed that nothing goes wrong in the meantime.”
“We can’t afford it,” Crystal said bluntly. “What with the losses we’ve already taken, even if we sold the business and the house now, we might still end up owing money. We can’t add the amount of ingredients we’d need to the order. I’m scared to death that the electricity company is going to renege on our
current agreement and the power will go off at any minute.”
“I’ll take care of that,” Holly said. She twisted the folded paper between her fingertips, solidifying the decision that she’d been making from the first moment she pulled back into town.
“I want to move here permanently.”
“That’s lovely,” Crystal said. “But I don’t understand how that helps us out, right now.”
“I have a partnership share in a legal business and half the proceeds from a house that we get offers on every week, even though it’s not on the market. When I invest that all in the business, then we’ll be operating from profit. Even if it takes a while for those sales to come through, the bank will be happy to offer bridging finance when they see how much it’s worth.”
The relief at saying it caught Holly by surprise. She’d been thinking that cutting off the road that could lead her back to her old life would hurt, or even plunge her down into sadness.
It didn’t. All Holly felt was the hope for the future filling up her heart.
What was it that Dale had told her the other night? “Go home, Holly.”
Well, here she was. Home.
Thanks for reading!
I hope you enjoyed the first outing of Holly and Crystal Waterston in the beautiful township of Hanmer Springs.
If you’d like to read another story from the sisters, then please follow me on Amazon and they’ll let you know when the next book in the Sweet Baked Mystery series is available.
About the Author - Katherine Hayton
Katherine Hayton is a middle-aged woman who works in insurance, doesn't have children or pets, can't drive, has lived in Christchurch her entire life, and resides a two-minute walk from where she was born.
For some reason, she's developed a rich fantasy life.
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Read all the Things!
Cupcakes and Conspiracies (Sweet Baked Mystery)
The Only Secret Left to Keep (Ngaire Blakes Mystery)
The Second Stage of Grief (Ngaire Blakes Mystery)
The Three Deaths of Magdalene Lynton (Ngaire Blakes Mystery)
All I Want for Christmas (Ngaire Blakes Short Mystery)
Christchurch Crime Thriller Boxset
Breathe and Release (Christchurch Crime)
Skeletal (Christchurch Crime)
Found, Near Water (Christchurch Crime)
Writing as Lee Hayton
Nerves of Steel (Misfits of Magic)
Magic Dude
Sigils and Spells: featuring A Spell of Sickness
Murder and Mayhem: featuring Shattered Imprints
Mrs Dracula: featuring Come With Me
Close to the Bones: featuring The Dark Imprint
Ivy Kingdom’s Not-So-Fairytale Boxset (Grimmer Fairy Tales)
Sleeping Beauty’s Not-So-Weak Prince (Grimmer Fairy Tales)
Snow White’s Not-So-Evil Stepmother (Grimmer Fairy Tales)
Hansel & Gretel’s Not-So-Old Crone (Grimmer Fairy Tales)
Cinderella’s Not-So-Ugly Stepsister (Grimmer Fairy Tales)
Red Riding Hood’s Not-So-Bad Big Wolf (Grimmer Fairy Tales)
A Mongrel, A Bard and Witches, Oh my! (Face the Music)
WereEagles Fear to Tread (Face the Music)
Gun
Cupcakes and Conspiracies Page 15
