by K E O'Connor
“Let’s go, Meatball. Time for your food.”
“Woof woof.” He jumped to his feet.
I rounded the corner and walked straight into Rupert, who stood with his head down reading a book.
“Holly! Lovely to see you.” He smiled at me. “You’re up early today.”
“It’s the finals of the baking competition,” I said. “I’ve still got lots to do before I’m ready and wanted to have a quick stretch before I got started. Get my baking muscles ready to go.”
“Of course.” He glanced around before reaching inside his jacket pocket. “I was hoping to see you. I got you this.” He pulled out an envelope and handed it to me.
I opened it. “An annual membership to the Giddy Goat Sanctuary? What’s this all about?”
He chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. “Oh, it’s nothing. I just happened to read about it online. I remembered you liked goats.”
“Sure, I like goats. I like all animals.”
“And you took part in that goat yoga,” he said. “I had a go, but I don’t have the coordination for yoga. The goats were sweet, though. And I was thinking, well, perhaps when you have a free day, we could go to the goat sanctuary together and indulge in your passion.”
“Wow! That sounds fun. Would this be a friend date or a ...?” How could I ask if Rupert had romantic feelings for me without making this super awkward?
“Oh! I mean, it can be whatever you want. And there’s no expectation that you have to say yes. I mean, I like goats, you like goats, so why can’t we simply like goats together? Of course, if you want it to be more, that could be arranged. I don’t want to force you into anything. I mean, I’d like to—”
“That’s really kind of you.” I placed a hand on his arm, taking pity on him as he struggled to form a complete sentence. “And yes, I’d love to see some goats with you.”
He let out a huge sigh and grinned. “That’s the best news I’ve heard all week. The sanctuary is only an hour away. We could make a day of it.”
“I’d like that.”
“I’ll get it organized.” He rubbed his hands together, turned away, and then turned back and stared at me, seeming reluctant to leave.
“Would you like to see the cake I’m entering into the competition? I’ve been working on it most of the night,” I said.
He nodded. “A preview? Of course.”
“Give me ten minutes,” I said. “I need to take a shower.”
“Excellent. May I help you?”
My eyebrows shot up. “You want to help me take a shower?”
“Oh! I’m such an idiot. I didn’t mean that. I don’t want to take a shower with you. I mean, unless, well, would you like that? No! Of course not. That’s inappropriate. Oh, dear. I’ve forgotten what I meant to say.”
I blew out a breath, feeling exhausted from watching Rupert struggle. “I can manage just fine on my own. I’ll meet you in the kitchen.”
“Yes! Quality idea. I look forward to it.”
I dashed away, trying not to think about what had just happened. It was weird. Exciting, but weird. I stopped at the door to my apartment. A small toy goat stood at the entrance.
Meatball raced at the goat and grabbed it in his mouth.
I gently extracted it and groaned as I picked it up. It looked like I’d be getting goat gifts now Rupert thought I loved them. And I did, but they weren’t my passion.
I had a super-fast shower, rough dried my hair, threw on my work uniform, and jogged back to the kitchen, with a quick detour to set Meatball up in his kennel.
Rupert was waiting with a mug in his hand. He smiled as I entered and handed me a full mug of tea.
“Thanks.” I took a sip, eyeing him over the top of my mug as I did so. “And thanks for the toy goat. It’s cute. Meatball also loves it. I might have a fight on my hands to keep it in one piece.”
He glanced away, his cheeks glowing. “It came with the subscription to the goat sanctuary. I thought you might enjoy it. You could give him a name.”
“A name! I hadn’t thought about that.”
“Maybe Rupert junior.”
I snorted a laugh, which I quickly stifled as hurt flashed across Rupert’s face. He was being serious. “Um, I’ll give it some thought.”
An awkward silence drifted around us, the only sounds coming from the early morning staff setting up the café for the day.
“So, where’s the cake? I can’t wait to see it,” Rupert said.
I set my mug down. “Close your eyes. I’ll get it out of the chiller cabinet.” My heart thudded with excitement as I hurried over and opened the door. I pulled out my three-layered chocolate and peanut butter drip cake and placed it carefully on the counter.
I turned it a few times until I got the angle just right. “Okay, you can take a look.”
He blinked and stared at the cake in silence.
My stomach flipped when he didn’t say anything. “You don’t like it?”
“I’m speechless. Holly, this is incredible. I think I’m in love.” His gaze flashed to me before dipping back to the cake.
I grinned. “I hope it’ll do. I need to add the gold roses as decoration, but it’s almost done.”
“I’m sure you’ll win. You’ve already won my heart with it.”
“I’ll make sure to save you a slice once the judging is over.” I grabbed my mug and took a slurp.
“I look forward to trying it,” he said.
The kitchen door banged open, and Saracen walked in.
“Hey! Should you be here?” I asked.
He nodded. “The doc’s okayed me to come back to work. We need to talk.”
Chapter 16
After carefully placing the cake back in the chiller cabinet, I hurried out of the kitchen after Saracen. “Is something wrong?”
He raised a hand and pulled his phone from his suit jacket pocket. “We’re both here, Campbell.”
My eyebrows shot up. “I thought Campbell was busy saving the world and shouldn’t be contacted?”
“I can be contacted. I just prefer to be the one who does the contacting,” Campbell said on the other end of the phone. “Holly, you’ve not been following my orders.”
“Um, remind me what my orders were again?” What had I done wrong? We’d caught the killer.
“To update Saracen as to your movements and progress with questioning suspects in Pete Saunder’s murder. Note the heavy emphasis on questioning only.”
“I have been doing just that! I’ve been checking in with Saracen all the time. We even had breakfast together the other morning. We talked about the case.”
“You’re making him breakfast? Why don’t I ever get breakfast from you?” Campbell asked.
“Because Saracen’s a lot nicer to me than you are,” I said.
Saracen grinned. “The police and our security have been working together. Dennis is still protesting his innocence, though.”
“What about his alibi?” I asked.
Campbell muttered something I couldn’t hear. I doubted it was complimentary. “Yes, tell us about that, Saracen.”
“Dennis claimed he was on his food truck at the time of the murder. He packed up early because sales were slow.”
“Any witnesses?” Campbell asked.
“None that can confirm he was there at the time of the murder. However, there’s a problem.”
“What’s that?” I asked at the same time as Campbell.
“There are no fingerprints on the laptop that are a match to Dennis.”
“He must have taken it,” I said. “Otherwise, what was it doing in his truck? Maybe he wore gloves when he used it. I used some food prep gloves when we were looking at the laptop, so I wouldn’t leave fingerprints. He could have done the same.”
“I didn’t know you’d been snooping around on Pete’s laptop,” Campbell said. “Was that something I instructed you to do?”
I winced. “It was only for a few minutes. I didn’t do any damage.”
“Nothing,” Saracen said. “No hairs, no skin fibers. If he took the laptop, he didn’t use it.”
“You know, I’ve been thinking.” I tapped my fingers together.
“This sounds dangerous,” Campbell said.
I glared at the phone. “Dennis was shocked when I sat on the laptop.”
“You sat on the stolen laptop?” Campbell said.
“By accident. Dennis was getting a bit full on when we were found in his food truck. I stumbled backward to get out of his way. The laptop was under the cushion I landed on. Which is a terrible hiding place. Anyone who did a search of the truck would have found it. What if ...” I wasn’t sure whether to voice my concerns. “What if somebody put the laptop in the food truck?”
“I thought everyone was convinced that Dennis killed Pete?” Campbell said.
“I’m not disagreeing with that,” I said. “He has been going around telling people he’s glad Pete was killed. But the lack of evidence on the laptop and his shock when it was found got me wondering. How much have you looked into Ricky Stormy’s background?”
“You still think he could be a suspect?” Saracen asked.
“He has a pretty good alibi, but he may have snuck out of the pub and gone to the food fair. If he used a car, it would only take fifteen minutes to get there and back. Elspeth might not have noticed he was gone. Then there’s the issue with the money. We looked at Pete’s bank account. He was making monthly payments to Ricky. I wondered if Ricky had loaned him more money and that’s what he was having trouble getting back from Pete.”
“Saracen, have you been in the loop on this the whole time?” Campbell asked. “Holly’s telling me things I’ve not heard before.”
“Don’t blame Saracen for not passing things on. I may have forgotten to tell him a few tiny things. And you can hardly blame him if he’s struggling. You whizzed nearly the whole security team away from the castle on your top secret mission. Saracen’s doing an amazing job.”
Saracen’s eyes widened, and he cleared his throat. “Everything’s good here, boss. I’m not struggling with anything.”
“It is. And I’ve been looking after things when Saracen’s not been well. I mean, when he’s not been around. You know, busy keeping everyone safe.” Oops! I shrugged an apology at Saracen. I’d just put my foot in it.
“What’s this? What’s going on over there?” Campbell’s tone was suspicious. “You’re sick, Saracen?”
“Nope. Good as new, boss. Everything’s under control. Dennis is still the prime suspect. That’s our focus.”
“Good job. Keep an eye on Ricky, though. Just make sure the police keep their attention on Dennis. He’s a solid suspect. He was found with the victim’s laptop in his possession, and he has a lousy alibi.”
“Just playing devil’s advocate for a second, but why did he take the laptop?” I asked. “We couldn’t find anything on there.”
“Leave that to my tech team,” Campbell said. “You might have missed something.”
“That’s very possible. After all, I don’t have a team of cyber tech experts on standby, ready to drop everything and help me save the world.”
“Very true. Saracen, tie up any loose ends and let’s finish this.”
“But what about—”
“That’s an end to it.” Campbell cut me off. “Dennis will be charged. Get back to the kitchen, Holly. You do your best work there.”
My jaw dropped. Had he really just said that?
Saracen winced. “I’m on it, boss.” He ended the call and turned to me. “Campbell can be abrupt when he’s mission focused. Try not to hold it against him.”
“Don’t worry, I know my place, tied to the kitchen table just like Campbell wants.” I flushed. “I didn’t mean it like that. I see now that Campbell only makes use of me when it suits his schedule. This is the last time I’ll help him.”
“Holly, cut the guy some slack. He’s stressed. He’s dealing with an ... No, I can’t tell you.”
“Go on! If I know what he’s dealing with, I might be more understanding.” I longed to know what secret mission Campbell and his team were on. “It has to be something huge. Has a member of the royal family done something they shouldn’t?”
“I can’t say. But the mission is going well. And you put in the leg work on this and solved the murder. Campbell won’t forget that.”
“He’s already forgotten,” I said. “I still think we should look more closely at Ricky. We need to cover all the bases.”
“They’ve been covered. You did great work.” He ducked his head. “And thanks for not revealing what’s wrong—”
I slapped a hand over Saracen’s mouth and shook my head.
He removed my hand and glared at me. “What are you doing?”
I circled my finger in the air. “You never know who could be listening.”
Saracen looked along the empty corridor. “No one’s listening into our conversation.”
“It’s probably best not to talk about ... personal matters.”
Saracen’s head jerked back as he roared with laughter. “No way! You think Campbell’s got the castle bugged?”
“Shush! He’ll hear you. He has bugs everywhere.”
He clutched his middle and bent over, the laughter continuing. “Holly, you’re hilarious. Of course he hasn’t done that. That’s illegal. This is a private family home. I can guarantee, Campbell doesn’t bug the castle.”
“How come he knows things he shouldn’t? Unless he’s listening at keyholes when I’m having conversations, he must bug the place. That’s the only explanation.”
Saracen continued to chuckle. “Campbell’s crazy over the top observant. And he’s like a silent, deadly panther. If he doesn’t want you to know he’s around, then you won’t. That’s how he gets the inside information in the castle. It’s got nothing to do with bugs hidden in the light sockets.”
I sighed. It was a stretch of the imagination to imagine Campbell skulking around and hiding bugs everywhere. “Maybe you’re right.”
“I am. This case is as good as closed. And you do need to get back to your cakes. I know you’re representing Audley Castle today.”
“Not in an official capacity,” I said. “I have made something, though. Hopefully it’ll be good enough to get a place.”
“Hey, I’ve never heard you so full of doubt before. Your cakes are amazing. They were worth me upsetting my diabetes.”
I stared at him and pointed around the ceiling. “Remember, someone is always listening in.”
“Campbell isn’t listening to this conversation.”
“Well, if he suddenly mentions your health condition, you’ll know how he found out about it. These walls have ears.”
“No, these walls are just solid, so you don’t hear when someone’s walking past the door when you’re having a private conversation. That’s all it is.”
I was still going to be careful about what I said. “I should get back to the kitchen. I left Lord Rupert on his own. He must think something strange is going on.”
“Good luck with your baking competition today,” Saracen said.
“Thanks.” I turned and headed back into the kitchen. I was worrying about nothing. I hadn’t mentioned Lady Philippa’s warning about my safety; it would only make Campbell laugh at me. But that was the reason I was having some doubt about Dennis’s guilt.
Rupert walked through the external kitchen door as I entered. “I’ve being doing some undercover sleuthing on your behalf.”
“You have? Who have you been spying on?”
“The other finalists in the competition. Some of them are in the marquee.”
My stomach flipped over. “Already? But I haven’t finished. Is the food out?”
“I spotted a few things. Some of them have large cool boxes next to their tables. It’s not long to go now until they start laying out. Do you want to take a
look?”
“I absolutely do. Lead the way.” I walked to the marquee and found all the finalists were setting up.
There were three different categories that would be judged: savory food, the dessert category, which I’d be in, and beverages. There were ten finalists in each category, and each entry would be judged by four judges. The Duke and Duchess, and two food and drink experts who’d been brought in for the contest. All the taste tests would be done blind, so the judges would have no idea whose entry they were sampling.
Nerves fluttered inside me as I looked around.
“Where do you want to start?” Rupert asked.
“Let’s begin in the drinks category.” I walked past tables representing sparkling wines, locally produced white wine, and a variety of spirits. Everyone looked very serious and professional.
“There’s less than hour to go until judging,” Rupert said. “How are you feeling?”
I groaned. “Sick now you’ve told me how little time I have.”
He patted my arm. “You’ll be amazing. How about we take a look around the savouries, see who your competition is there?”
Although most of the food wasn’t laid out, Colin’s cheese table was there, as was Maisie’s pie stand, only missing the pie. It looked like she’d been up early decorating the stand. There were several other savory pie entrants, a dried pork entry, and a seed company, promoting roasted, flavored produce.
“My mouth’s watering,” Rupert said. “It’s a shame I’m not a judge.”
“It is. Then I’d be able to bribe you into letting me win.”
“You wouldn’t need to bribe me,” he said. “You’re bound to win.”
I was buoyed by his enthusiastic support. “Okay, I’m ready. Let’s take a look at the desserts.”
There were two speciality chocolate stands, a sweet pie seller, three cake stands, my own stand, and the remaining finalists looked like they’d be serving cookies or pastries as their entry.
The displays looked professional with banners, printed signs, and decorations. I hadn’t given any thought into what I’d put on my stand. I was hoping the cake would speak for itself. Now, I felt a bit amateurish.