The Cheesecake Fake: A Culinary Cozy Mystery Set In Sunny Florida (Slice of Paradise Cozy Mysteries Book 2)

by Nancy McGovern

  Yale grimaced. “Yep. I was kinda hoping you wouldn’t ask that.”

  “Really?”

  He grimaced again, even more this time. “Please don’t suspect her, right? I mean, what I’m going to tell you… it sounds kind of bad, but it doesn’t really mean anything. I know Molly. I really know her well. She wouldn’t kill anyone.”

  “Tell us,” Faith said. She gave a quick glance over to the cats, to check they were all right. Cirrus had ventured out a little way onto the sand, but sat still on it, just like he had inside the carrier. Nimbus was still curled up inside.

  “Oh, boy,” Yale said.

  Laura began to trace a line on his strong bronzed forearm, and Nathan and Faith shared a wide eyed, smiling look.

  “Look, I can’t lie to you guys,” Yale said. “There was something I didn’t mention before. I wanted to check it out with her before I said anything to anyone.”

  “What was it?”

  Yale puffed out a breath. “She and Dr. Asante used to date.” Faith nodded, about to think through the possibilities, but Yale was already talking again. “But that doesn’t mean she was involved. I mean, I know they were in love. Or she was in love. He broke it off. But that doesn’t mean…”

  “She’d kill her love rival Becky, then kill her ex Dr. Asante,” Nathan finished for him. “Maybe not. But it is a pretty strong motive.”

  “No!” Yale said hotly. “Not really. My ex dumped me. I’m not going to run off and kill her now, am I?”

  “It’s unlikely,” Faith said, trying to soothe the situation. But she certainly made a mental note of everything Yale was saying, and made up her mind to go and pay Molly a visit. Even if she was innocent, Faith would like to offer her condolences as a fellow columnist.

  Nathan’s voice was firm. “We can’t rule her out, though. We can’t rule anyone out.”

  “Nathan,” Laura admonished. “I think Yale knows Molly much better than we do.”

  Just then, Faith’s flip phone began to buzz. Surprised, she slipped it out of her pocket. “It’s my mom,” she said to Laura. “Keep an eye on the kitties, won’t you?”

  Then she padded barefoot across the sand a little way off. “Hey, mom,” she said, so glad to hear from her. They didn’t usually do calls.

  “Hi, lovely,” Diana said. “Everything all right?”

  “Sure, sure, I’m fine,” said Faith. “Everything okay with you? How’s your cabin hunt coming?”

  Diana’s smile came through loud and clear as she said, “I think I’ve found it, Faith! But I just want you to check everything over for me, all right? So it’s at Atwood Lake, which is slap bang between Pittsburgh and Cleveland and Columbus. They all kind of make a triangle around it.”

  “Okay,” Faith said, getting excited. Her mom had talked about her dream of a writing and editing cabin by the lake for years. Diana dreamed of sitting out on the porch, overlooking the lake and editing her manuscripts, then taking long afternoon walks among the tall trees. Maybe take up cycling, too. To see it finally coming true was priceless.

  “So they have a big nature park with cabins for rent and things, that’s on one side,” Diana continued. “But the cabin I want to buy is on the other side. It’s not nice looking inside, but I got a surveyor who told me it’s all structurally sound. So it’ll be a great fixer upper project, which is awesome for two reasons. Obviously I’m paying less for one thing. But for another I can really make it my own.”

  “Oh, that sounds great!” Faith said. “I’m so happy for you!”

  “But I want your blessing before I go ahead with anything,” said Diana. “Mind you, it’s a one bedroom so you’ll be sleeping on the couch when you come to visit, missy.”

  Faith grinned. “Fine by me. After all, I did keep you in that two bed apartment a few years longer than you wanted.” In truth, Faith hadn’t been the world’s best employee. Before having the tearoom, holding down a steady job had eluded her, so moving out hadn’t been a possibility.

  “Yes,” Diana said, mock-stern. “Okay, so I’m going to email you the pictures now. You’ll get back to me and tell me what you think.”

  “Perfect!” Faith said. “I’m out at the beach now, but—”

  “All right for some,” her mom said with a laugh.

  Faith laughed along. “I’ll check it when I get home. I’m so excited for you!”

  *****

  Chapter 14

  As Faith drove the Chevy back from the ranch toward Paradise, she made a mental list.

  Go see Molly and dig deeper into her connection with Dr. Asante.

  Find out what Tara was doing with that cat, if it really was the cat. Maybe go see the receptionist at the veterinary clinic and see if she knows anything.

  Drop new handwritten recipe to Krystle for the column.

  At least she could tick one off: Finalize menu for open air Shakespeare. Danica and Graeme, by then much calmer, had told her they’d gone through their taste testing and picked their favorites. So all Faith had to do now was write down the master list. Laura would calculate all the ingredients they needed, and they’d go out together to get them. Danica turned out to be just as enamored with the caramel apple mini cheesecakes as Graeme, so there were going to be literally fifty-five of them. Another thing they’d gotten excited about was the goat cheese and sweet potato mini quiches, and there were to be sixty of them. “A no expense spared feast,” Graeme had said. “Our family, as you know, is enormous. And they all love to eat far too much!”

  Faith would have used the quiche recipe for the column, but Krystle said the readers always preferred something sweet. They wanted decadence, comfort food, and a whole lot of chocolate, if possible! So as she was driving along, Faith decided the recipe she’d include, one of her all-time favorites: Mini chocolate pudding cups with glazed orange slices.

  That had actually been one of her most victorious creations. Janie, her firm friend from elementary school, had seriously turned a corner that second term in high school. All of a sudden her skirts were getting shorter, and her previous crochet obsession was all chucked away in the trash in favor of eyeliner and lipgloss. It seemed her kindness somehow ended up in a dumpster, too, because she turned on Faith so viciously with her new pals that it was hard to believe she was even the same person. Faith had never been a group friendship girl – she tended to hang out with one person, or maximum two, at a time. So she found herself quite alone to defend herself against Janie’s reign of terror, which was especially painful as Janie mocked all the secrets they’d shared and fun times they’d had, saying she had been play acting all along. Faith knew that wasn’t true, but it still hurt.

  The day of the mini chocolate pudding cups was actually the day Faith had her first panic attack. When Janie had come into school that morning, she’d been all smiles and sweetness. “I’m so sorry I’ve been such a jerk,” she’d said to Faith, putting her arm around her. “This lunchtime let me show you something. You know, to make up for it.”

  Faith had been wary, but as the day went on both Janie and her giggling cronies seemed to have turned a new leaf, so she allowed herself to be glad and excited. They even let her sit next to them in science class.

  When lunchtime came, they all went outside, Faith wondering if Janie had done her some crochet or baked her something as an apology. But they all began walking toward the woods in the back of the playing field, where no one was allowed to go. Faith bit her lip as they walked and suggested they turn back, but Janie put her arm around her and told her it would all be fine. Since it seemed everything was back to normal, Faith didn’t want to rock the boat.

  Once they were deep in the middle of the wooded area, Janie shouted, “Psych!” and every single one of them began to sprint back to the playing field. Faith couldn’t keep up, and soon she tripped and fell. Her ankle twisted, and it was so painful she could barely stand up. She would have expected to cry then, but no tears came.

  Instead, it felt as if the world was closing in on her,
and her throat was about to cut off her air supply. Gasping for air, she felt her heart hammering in her chest so fast she was sure she would die. “Help!” she tried to call out, but she could only wheeze. “Help!” She was absolutely certain her time on earth was up, and the fear that filled her was like being swallowed up in a huge black hole. “Help!”

  Eventually the panic attack – not that she knew it was one at the time – subsided, and she managed to hobble back into school. She slipped into her desk just in time for afternoon roll call, feeling everything she was burning with shame. Janie and her friends laughed and smirked and made comments under their breath for the rest of the afternoon, and Faith numbed out.

  It wasn’t until she got home that she allowed herself to sob. She hurried through the apartment, her eyes blurred over with tears, then threw herself on her bed and cried her heart out while her mother was at a French language evening class. It felt like sharp stabbing pains all over her. There was no way she could ever go back to school, it felt like.

  It was only when she was thirsty and went to the kitchen to get a glass of water that things changed. There on the counter was a book, Delia Smith’s Classic Desserts and Puddings.

  A post-it note was stuck on the front: Sorry I have to be out every Thursday evening. Merci for your patience, Faith. See you soon. Love, Mom xx

  She’d burst into another little teary session then, both sad that her mom wasn’t there and overjoyed to have a new baking book. Faith did what she often did with her brand new recipe books – she closed her eyes and flipped it open at a random page, letting fate decide what she should bake. And it landed right on Mini Chocolate Pudding Cups with Glazed Orange Slices.

  Without a second thought, she dove right in. Soon the kitchen counter was cluttered with teal baking supplies, the apartment was warmed by the oven, and Faith was feeling a whole lot better. Her mom came in just when it was done, and they sat down at the kitchen table, eating chocolate pudding together in warm, comfortable silence. That might not have seemed like a victory to any outsiders looking in, but it was to Faith.

  She could still create.

  She could still be herself.

  She could still enjoy her hobby.

  They couldn’t touch her, there in her baking world.

  There, she was invincible.

  Just then, Faith saw the sign for Paradise High School. With a smirk, she wondered at just how little high school was like paradise for her. Without even thinking about it, she swung the left turn into the long street that led down to the school.

  Time to go see Molly.

  *****

  Faith had to make up a lie at the front desk. “I’m here to see Yale Trigg,” she told the lady who looked at her with suspicious eyes from behind her computer screen. “He knows I’m coming. We’re teaming up, you see… Um, I run a bakery, you see, and he wants to do a low fat baking club to combat obesity, and to include it with sports. You know, a whole healthy package.”

  The lady nodded slowly, not looking entirely convinced. “Right. Well, sign your name here and the time you came in. You’ll take a badge, and then go find Mr. Trigg over in the gym.”

  “Thank you,” Faith said gratefully, then signed her name and the time. Then she took the badge from the woman’s immaculately manicured hand, and tried to avoid her disapproving gaze. “I won’t be long. Honest.”

  The woman was already back to tapping her computer, looking less than friendly. “Take as long as you need.”

  It felt so weird to be back in a high school. Faith hadn’t been in one since she’d left her own. The kids looked so much smaller and younger than she remembered, and they mostly stared at her with guarded hostility. Some pointed and whispered, like it was mighty unusual to wear a mint green linen sundress and have freckles.

  She never thought she’d have been intimidated by kids, but she found it nerve-racking to ask them for directions. They looked like they’d just laugh in her face or give her the wrong directions, or even just stare back at her, not saying a word. So she continued down the corridor until she saw an adult, and she asked the way to the gym.

  She had to make an exit out of a side door and cross a courtyard, and soon she was standing in front of the glass double doors, feeling nervous. What was she actually going to say to Molly? Even Yale would probably think it strange that she had turned up out of the blue. Heck, she herself thought it was a little strange, but somehow she’d ended up there, and she didn’t feel like turning back.

  As soon as she stepped into the gym complex, she savored the experience, like she was stepping back in time. She had been pretty good at netball in high school, and the smell of fresh rubber equipment and the squeak of tennis shoes against the floor reminded her of some of her better times in school.

  She looked around at the class, in the middle of a basketball lesson.

  “Faith?” Yale, tanned and lean in his workout clothes, strode up to her energetically, a confused smile on his face. “What are you doing here?”

  Faith smiled. “Umm. Well, I just… well…”

  He raised his eyebrows expectantly.

  “Well, I just wanted to come and say that Laura really likes you,” Faith blurted out. She died inwardly, hearing herself sound like some silly schoolgirl.

  But Yale beamed. “Really?”

  “Yep,” Faith said. “So I was thinking of arranging another double date. A proper one this time. Maybe at The Mango Tree, you know, the Indian place?”

  “Sounds awesome,” he said. “And I’ll bring a couple horses down. We can go horseback riding on the beach after. What do you say?”

  “Amazing!” Faith said, clapping her hands. She’d inadvertently just set up the best double date ever. Then an idea popped into her head. “Oh, and another thing. I’m looking to expand our catering business, and I’m compiling a sheet of references. Since Molly was at the boat party, I wanted to get one or two lines from her, you know, about what she thought of the food.”

  Yale began to say, “Sure,” about to walk with her, but then he stopped and turned. His voice was low. “And to… ask her about what happened?”

  Faith studied his face. He didn’t look hostile. She sighed. “To be honest, yeah.”

  “Okay,” he said, then came closer to her. “You know, I really hope it wasn’t her, but… Let’s just say she’s been falling apart the last couple days. And I’m wondering if it isn’t… you know.”

  “Guilt,” Faith whispered back.

  “Exactly.” He raised his eyebrows. “But I’ll just bury my head in the sand and you can be the detective here. She’s in the office. Come.”

  *****

  Chapter 15

  Molly did not look her usual sunny self as she sat at the desk, doing paperwork. A whistle hung around her neck and she wore a dark blue tracksuit, and dark rings were shadows under her eyes.

  “Faith,” she said, looking up, trying to look glad but the smile not reaching her eyes.

  “Faith’s just come to talk to you about how you liked the food at the boat party,” Yale said. “She’s compiling a list of references for her catering business.”

  “That’s right,” Faith said. “Do you have a couple of minutes?”

  Molly looked down at her papers. “I’m swamped, but I guess a minute wouldn’t hurt, yeah.” She offered a small smile, and waved her hand at the seat across the desk. “Go ahead.”

  Faith sat down, racking her brains. At least while she thought of something to ask, she could pretend to talk about the party. “So what did you think of the food?” Faith asked.

  Yale smiled at them as he left, and Molly gave him a smile back. But once he’d closed the door it evaporated. “You’re here to talk about the murders, aren’t you?” Her eyes were sharp and piercing.

  “Um... Well, I wouldn’t mind talking about them, I guess.” Faith sighed. “Yes, all right, I am.”

  “Because you heard I used to date George, because Yale told you, I guess. Well, I didn’t kill them. I didn
’t kill either of them.”

  Faith nodded and spoke soothingly. “I’m sure you didn’t. After all, you didn’t really have a motive, did you? What would you stand to gain?”

  “I didn’t not murder them because I didn’t have a motive!” Molly said, outraged. “I didn’t murder them because I am not a murderer!”

  “Of course, of course,” Faith said quickly. “In fact, you must be grieving right now. For Dr. Asante. I’m so sorry what happened to him.”

  Molly swallowed and held her head high, rearranging some papers on her desk aimlessly, pushing them to one side, and then back to where they were again. “Well, George and I didn’t have the most amicable of break ups, but he was not a bad man. So it is very sad.”

  “Do you know who would have wanted to kill him?” Faith asked. “Or Becky?”

  Molly shrugged. “Well, we have to be honest. Becky was horrible. I think she disliked everyone and everyone disliked her, except George, for some reason. I don’t know if anyone hated her enough to kill her, but it wouldn’t surprise me. Or maybe someone came all the way from Ohio to get rid of her. I expect she’d made many enemies in the course of her life.”

  Faith nodded. “I wouldn’t doubt it.” But she still felt like Molly was holding something back. Like she was hiding something.

  “George? He doesn’t have any enemies that I know of. His family are all in Ghana. He did veterinary school in New York, and then got a placement down there, but found it too cold, so snapped up the vacancy here.” She shook her head. “He was an excellent veterinarian. So sad.”

  Alarm bells started ringing in Faith’s head. He was an excellent veterinarian?! That wasn’t the kind of comment a former lover would make, surely? Maybe an acquaintance. Maybe a colleague. But a lover? “How long were you guys together?” Faith asked.

  “Three years.”

  A bell – not in her head this time – rang so loudly that it made Faith jolt with fright.