The Cupcake Conspiracy

by Sara Bourgeois

  “Those pancakes and syrup were so good. Can you email me the recipe?” Hannah asked as we brought her bags into the living room.

  “Sure. Just make sure you get your parents’ permission before using the bourbon in the sauce, okay?”

  “Deal,” she said with a smile.

  Hannah helped me clean up the kitchen since I’d helped her pack. Around the time we were done, her parents showed up to retrieve her.

  Paul and Karrie looked happy but exhausted. Gracie was happy to see them both and was tickled by all of the extra ear scratches and belly rubs she got.

  “As much as we’d love to stay longer, we’ve got to get home and unpack,” Karrie said. “Paul and I both have to be back at work tomorrow. For some reason, we didn’t schedule a buffer day off.”

  “We’ll remember that for next time.” Paul said. “Thank you so much for having Hannah. We really appreciate it.”

  “You’re welcome. We had a blast, and once you’re settled, I’d like to talk to you about doing it more often,” I said with a smile.

  “Goodbye, Hannah.”

  “Bye, Aunt Cathy. I can’t wait to see you again,” she said and hugged me. “Oh, and will you tell Mark I said goodbye. Tell him I’ll remember not to grow up too fast.”

  “I’ll do that sweetie.”

  My sister and I said our goodbyes and then the apartment was quiet again. Gracie was worn out by all the excitement, so she moseyed over to the sofa to take a nap.

  I ran the vacuum and then spent some time browsing the web for recipes. A short time later I got a text from Tom that he was on his way over. I remembered that I needed a recipe for the pheasants, so I looked that up really quick. Then, I made sure there was room in the fridge for the birds.

  Tom arrived, and I was pleased to discover that he’d already had the birds cleaned. They were ready to cook. I had hoped he didn’t expect me to clean them, but I would have.

  “I think I found a good recipe for them,” I said.

  “Let me have a look,” Tom answered. “Not that I don’t trust you.”

  “I’ve got it pulled up on my laptop. You can look. I’m going to make us some sandwiches for lunch. We should eat early so we’re good and hungry by dinnertime.”

  “Good plan,” Tom said.

  I made us roast beef sandwiches while Tom played with Gracie. He said the recipe looked great, and he couldn’t wait to try it.

  When we were done eating, Tom did the dishes while I cut up strawberries. I’d brought home creampuffs from the bakery, and I planned on making them into strawberry shortcake for after dinner. Tom kept stealing strawberries, but I still had plenty to sugar and set aside for dessert.

  “So, Mack set up an interview with Mitch Dean for tomorrow,” he said and swiped another berry. “We weren’t able to reach Alex Grant over the weekend. We’ll try again.”

  After lunch, Tom and I went for a long walk with Gracie. When we got back, we watched an afternoon football game for a while. It wasn’t our team, but I didn’t mind.

  When it was time for me to roast the pheasants, Tom took Gracie out again. They came back a while later, and he chopped vegetables and herbs for me.

  The recipe was simple. It involved a lot of butter and herbs, but it wasn’t a complicated dish.

  Camille and Carl showed up at dinnertime. They brought wine and their appetites.

  “Oh, if that pheasant tastes half as good as it smells, it’s going to be divine,” Camille said as she went into the kitchen to open the wine.

  The pheasant was delicious, and Carl and Tom beamed with pride since they’d bagged the birds for me to roast. Of course, everyone insisted it was my cooking that made it truly special. The dessert was exquisite too. I’d nailed the amount of sugar in the strawberries perfectly.

  After dinner, we were sitting around chatting, and the topic of conversation turned to Doug’s murder. “We should go over the suspects,” Camille said. “Maybe a puzzle piece will fall into place.”

  “That’s a good idea,” I said. “I’ll start with Susan. She was definitely having an affair and there were serious problems in her marriage. Since Doug died, she’s never going to see his inheritance from his parents, but she’s going to collect on a nice insurance policy.”

  “Then there was Mitch Dean,” Camille said. “He would have wanted Doug out of the way so that he could have Susan all to himself.”

  “David Malm had been involved in a lot of shady deals with Doug,” Tom said. “They weren’t really getting along, and we’re wondering what kind of bad deeds Doug could have told people about David. Maybe he was hiding more than he let on.”

  “Alex Grant was the last customer to be harmed by Doug,” Carl said. “He’s known for having a quick temper. He could have done something stupid in a fit of anger.”

  “What about Randy Rose?” Tom asked. “I think he was feeling emasculated because Doug had hit on his wife, Liz. From what I understand, it had been bothering him for a long time. He might have wanted revenge.”

  “That’s still a lot of suspects,” I said. “I hope you guys are able to narrow it down soon.”

  “I hope so, too,” said Tom. “I really do.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Monday morning arrived, and Gracie’s nose arrived in my eye at ten minutes to four. “Okay, all right,” I said with a laugh. “I get the picture. I’m up.”

  I got out of bed and we went for our morning walk. When we got home, I decided to shower first and then grab a quick breakfast. It didn’t feel like it would be as fun to make anything fancy for just myself.

  Instead, I fried myself a couple of eggs and ate them with avocado toast. I put lemon pepper on the avocado toasts, and it was simple but delicious.

  After a quick shower, I put on my favorite long sleeve t-shirt and jeans. It was time to go to work.

  Once I was at the bakery, I went through my list of custom orders for the week. I had an order for a massive wedding cake for Saturday, and while it was too early to get started on the cake, I figured I'd have Ginny and Camille get started on all of the sugar roses we needed that afternoon.

  After reviewing everything else, I had to get started on Bruce's cupcake order. There was nothing more pressing and no excuse for me to put it off.

  They didn't take long as they were just vanilla cupcakes with blue icing. The icing was even vanilla with blue food coloring. He hadn't asked for any particular flavor, so he got vanilla. Not that there was anything wrong with vanilla. It's a delicious flavor that doesn't get the credit it deserves. People think of it as plain, but it's actually a complex and rich taste. It took just a few minutes to put the little sugar firetrucks on the cupcakes, and then I was able to set it aside and forget about it.

  The rest of the morning was uneventful. I made some more baked goods and the daily soup. The girls and I waited on all of our usual customers. For a little while, I was able to forget there even was a murder. Everything seemed so normal. Even Crystal came in and took her usual table. She sat there and drank coffee while working on her schoolwork. At some point, she and Ginny would take Ginny's break together.

  Around ten, I asked Ginny to take Bruce's cupcake order to his office. His building was only a few blocks away, but I didn't want to go there. While I wasn't still upset about our divorce, I enjoyed not having to see or interact with him too much to put myself in that position.

  "Can I take Crystal with me?" Ginny asked.

  "Sure, that's fine. You can take your break when you're done too,” I said.

  "Thanks, Cathy."

  "Hey, but you guys do your best not to find any dead bodies this time, okay?"

  "You've got it, boss,” Ginny said with a salute.

  They walked out of the store with the boxes of cupcakes in hand. I went back to helping Camille with counter orders, and a little while later, Tom called.

  "Do you want to meet me for lunch today? We could get Burger Barn and then eat in the park. It seems like a really nice fall day."
/>   "I'll get Gracie and meet you at the usual time? It's going to have to be a quick lunch, though. I've got special orders to work on this afternoon."

  "Tell you what, I'll get your usual and meet you in the park? That should cut down on time. I can leave a few minutes early and we'll just meet at the regular spot?"

  "Sounds good. I'll see you then."

  When lunch time came around, Ginny was back. She mercifully spared me from any details about going to Bruce's office. She and Camille had everything covered, so I headed out to get Gracie and go to lunch.

  After the usual small talk, Tom filled me in on his interview with Mitch Dean. "So, what we got from the interview with Mitch Dean was that he didn't want Susan all to himself. He didn't want to be with her full-time or get married at all."

  "Wow, really?" I wiped a blob of ketchup off the side of my mouth with my napkin. "That is interesting."

  "Yeah, he said she is an incredibly demanding woman, and that he was fine with the arrangement they had. He didn't know how long he was going to stay with her now that she doesn't have a husband to keep her busy. So, I have serious doubts he killed Doug, but it also seemed at times that he protested a little too much."

  "So, you still think it's possible that he's the killer?"

  "Yeah, he's moved down on the list, but I'm not ready to cross him off,” Tom said. "We also found out today why we might not have found a murder weapon."

  "Oh, wow, why is that?" I asked.

  "The coroner said the wound was consistent with a rock. They even found fragments. But we didn't find the rock. You would have thought the killer would have dropped the rock right there when they left the body, but we weren't that lucky. We didn't find any rocks around him that were large enough or that were bloody."

  "Maybe the killer chucked it into the lake," I offered. "That would have been easy to do."

  "That's possible, but either way, Mack and I agree that a female can't be the killer,” Tom said.

  "Why is that?"

  "Because a woman couldn't have swung a rock hard enough to kill him,” Tom said with a shrug. "Well, that's what Mack says anyway, and I guess I can see his point."

  "Hey, now," I protested. "That's not true at all, and I wouldn't go letting Susan off the hook just because Mack has some seriously antiquated ideas about women."

  "You're right,” Tom said. "I'm sorry."

  He started scanning the ground around us. I watched him turn all the way around on the bench and then back to face me.

  "What are you doing?" I asked.

  "Making sure there aren't any big rocks around."

  "Oh, now you're asking for it,” I said with a chuckle. "You better watch it, mister. Women are stronger than you think."

  After lunch, I took Gracie back to the apartment and returned to work. While I was baking, I couldn't stop thinking about the rock. If I was the killer, I'd have thrown it in the lake. It was just too bad that even if they found it, the water probably would have washed away all of the evidence.

  When things had slowed down for the day, Ginny and Camille joined me in the back to start working on the sugar roses. The topic of conversation for the day was romance.

  "So, I think Greg Johns and I are going to get back together,” Ginny said. "We broke up a while back, but I'm ready to give us another try."

  "Did you break up with him because he was emotionally unavailable and unemployed?" I asked.

  "Yeah, but he's got a good job now. He's actually managing the bowling alley in Clarkson. The pay is decent for the area, and he enjoys it enough that he never even mentions quitting. I think he just had to find something he liked and that he was good at. As far as his emotional availability, getting a job that he enjoys has made him far less standoffish. I think before he was just ashamed to be in a relationship that couldn't go anywhere because he couldn't afford to support a wife or family,” Ginny said.

  "That's great. I'm so glad that he's doing better. He always seemed like he could be a really good guy, but he did seem depressed."

  "Yeah, he's not depressed at all anymore. Greg has something to be proud of, and it shows,” Ginny said with a smile.

  "You guys, Carl sent me those roses the other night on Halloween, and... I think I'm really in love with him,” Camille held her breath.

  "That's so great, Camille,” Ginny said. "You deserve to finally have someone as great as Carl."

  "I am so glad you are off the jerk of the month club,” I said. "Good thing you gave Carl a chance."

  "Yes! Thank you so much for not backing down on that, Cathy. I could have missed out on the greatest guy I've ever dated."

  "You're welcome,” I said. "Ginny is right, you deserve it."

  "What about you and Tom?" Ginny asked. "You guys have been dating for a while now."

  "We have, and he is wonderful. I love him, but I haven't told him that yet. I want to keep taking things slow. It's better that way."

  "Because Bruce keeps coming around and scaring you?" Camille asked.

  "He does keep reminding me of how badly relationships can go,” I said. "I wish he'd stop coming around."

  "Then tell him that,” Ginny said.

  "No. I mean, he only comes into the bakery. It's a business. I'm afraid if I tell him to stop coming in, he'll do something to hurt my business. His ego wouldn't be able to take it. I've just got to grin and bear it."

  "Well, you let us know if you ever want us to deal with him,” Ginny said. "Camille and I will tell him to take a long walk off a short pier. Won't we, Camille?"

  "Yep, you just say the word Cathy. We'll run him off."

  "Thank you. You guys are the best."

  After work, I was happy to go home and have nothing to do but veg out. Even Gracie just wanted to do her business and then go back inside. So, I heated up some dinner and the two of us sat on the sofa. I watched some trashy reality TV while Gracie chewed lazily on her favorite bone. It was a good night. It would have been perfect if not for the fact that there was still a killer on the loose.

  Chapter Twelve

  The next morning, my alarm clock woke me up and not Gracie. She was still snoozing away, and I practically had to drag her out of bed to go on her morning walk. Once she was up, though, she was raring to go. The extra rest gave her a ton of energy, and we made it around the block in half our normal time.

  It was Tuesday which meant it was a studio day. I sang to myself, and Gracie, as I fried up some bacon and eggs for my breakfast. I even made an extra egg for Gracie which she loved.

  After my shower, I rolled my hair up and clipped it. That way, when it was time to go on camera, I could take it down and it would be nice and wavy.

  "I'll be back for you later,” I said and kissed her on the head before heading out for work.

  When I got into work, I decided to make a creamy cauliflower soup for the day and serve it with crusty on the outside and tender inside yeast rolls. That combination seemed perfectly cozy and fall-like to me.

  I had to run to the market to get cauliflower, and I lucked out that it was on sale. Also, the store was dead at that time of the morning, and the whole errand only took me a few minutes.

  The soup was simmering and the bread rolls were baking when Ginny and Camille arrived to open for the day. Camille got everything going up front, and Ginny assisted me with making more dough in the kitchen.

  Surprisingly, Tom was my first customer of the day. At first, I thought something might be wrong, but he had a smile on his face.

  "Good morning, beautiful,” he said as I opened the door for him.

  "What brings you in?" I asked.

  "I thought I'd take a dozen of your delicious cinnamon rolls into the office for everyone,” he said. "Today I'm a paying customer."

  "Well, I can help you with that,” I said. "What's the occasion?"

  "I have to be in early for Alex Grant's interview, and so does Mack. I figured I'd surprise everyone. Try to keep morale up as we work on this case."

  "That'
s a great idea,” I said. "My cinnamon rolls will do that. Let me get them boxed up for you."

  "Can I get three large dark roasts too?" he said. "I think Mack and Carl will appreciate it."

  "I can do better than that. Let me grab one of the big catering coffee Thermoses. You can take coffee for everyone on the house."

  "That's sweet of you, but you don't have to,” he said.

  "I know, but I want to do it. Got to take care of our men in uniform."

  I put together his order while Ginny waited on other customers that came in. Tom left and I wished him luck with his interview. "Maybe you'll finally get a break in the case,” I said as I leaned across the counter so he could give me a quick kiss. "Need any help getting that stuff out to your cruiser?"

  "Nope. I got it. Thanks so much, though. I'll call you later."

  After Tom was gone, we got a big rush of customers. Ginny and Camille both mentioned in passing that they wanted a chance to speak to me when I had time. Of course, I had no time during the rush, and I told them we could talk in the afternoon when we were working on special orders.

  An hour or so later, Tom called. "Okay, now I know there's got to be something wrong,” I said when I picked up.

  "Nope, not at all. Sorry to make your worry,” he said. "I just wondered if I could pick you up from the studio after your segment. We could take Gracie for a walk around the lake?"

  "That sounds great,” I said. "You know the time and place."

  "I'll see you then, gorgeous."

  When it was time for my television spot, I took everything I needed to make a pecan pie to the studio. I also had a pecan pie already done because there was no time to bake it during the short spot.

  After we were done filming, I gave the completed pie to the crew, and I put the unbaked pie in the break room fridge for the receptionist. On my way out. I left her the directions to finish baking it.

  Tom picked me up and we swung by the apartment to get Gracie before heading to Jimmy John's to get sandwiches to go. Then it was on to the lake to eat and walk.

  We found a picnic table in the sun which helped chase away the slight chill in the air. While we were eating, Tom told me about the interview with Alex Grant.