by Vreni Fox
“Saputra?” Horst sounded surprised. “The classy guy who runs the Hotel?”
“Yeah, that guy.”
“He hadn’t even crossed my radar. What makes you think he’s involved? Wasn’t he heavily invested in making sure this wedding went off without a hitch?”
“That’s just it,” I explained. “I heard that this girl was running him ragged. Staying at the Hotel in their best suite for free, eating every single meal for free, and complaining about everything. I heard that she was practically treating him like her slave. Then she wrote a bad review about the Hotel and told him that she needed fifty thousand bucks to reconsider.”
Horst whistled through his teeth while taking all of this information down. “Fifty thousand big ones. That much money can drive a man to do some crazy things. Okay, good Hildi, this is just the kind of stuff I need. I’ll take a closer look at him, start sniffing around the Hotel. See if I can get any more info, or at least see if he knows anything.”
He took a minute scribbling notes into his book and when he was done, looked considerably more relaxed than he did when he came in.
“You got anything else like that? Anyone else you can think of.”
“Actually yes,” I leaned in on my elbows as though I was sharing a secret even though there wasn’t anyone else in the shop to hear us chat. “Have you taken a look at Moritz?”
“I don’t even know who that is.”
“The guy she brought with her to Drachenfels.”
“The photographer? The one who worked for her?”
“Well,” I clued Horst in, “I’m not quite sure he was strictly working for her.”
“What do you mean?”
“He comes by the shop every afternoon for coffee and I struck up a conversation with him. Turns out, he’s not just her photographer and he’s not her employee… he’s her ex boyfriend.”
“That guy?” Horst clearly felt the same way about Moritz as everyone else. He wasn’t a very remarkable guy, and shallow as the thought was, I could see why Mandy Nussbaum thought that he was off brand and would not appeal to her fan base. The guy wasn’t very handsome or likable.
“That guy,” I confirmed. “I know; I was surprised too. But he had a lot to say about her. Actually, he got a little creepy. He thinks that it was a mistake for her to break up with him and he seemed like he also thought that they were destined to one day get back together.”
“But if he wanted to get back together,” Horst reasoned, “then why on Earth would he murder her?”
“He kept going back and forth between pining for her and being very, very angry that she broke up with him. Like, he was scary angry. And then the next second he would be waxing rhapsodic about how they belonged together. I think you should just talk to him. It’s probably the kind of thing you need to see in person to understand.”
“Got it,” Horst continued to scribble away. “Anyone else?”
I considered a few more suspects but decided that it probably wouldn’t be a good idea to name every person in town.
“Just those two really stood out to me.” I could always add names to the list later. “But Horst,” I took a chance, “do you think that I could come with you when you talk to these guys? I mean, I might be able to get them to talk. We could do like a good cop, bad cop routine. I would be the good cop.”
“What? Hildi, no, I am not going to deputize you. Have you completely lost your mind? How am I going to explain to Munich that I took their number one suspect with me to interrogate the other suspects? Especially the ones who weren’t even on their radar? How is that going to look? Really?”
“It was worth a shot,” I conceded. “But Horst, please, let me know if there are any advancements on the case. I’m going nuts over here with worry, feeling like I can’t do anything but watch my own life slip away right before my eyes.”
“I get it,” Horst was sympathetic. “I’m doing everything I can, Hildi. I’ll let you know if we get any leads or crack the case, though, I promise.”
With that Horst had to be on his way. At least I was a little bit comforted by the fact that he seemed committed to proving my innocence. I was pretty sure that he no longer considered me a suspect at all, not even by a long shot.
I put my apron back on and got back behind the counter. After all, I still had my regular job to do, and soon that regular job involved me creating one of the most important cakes of my life.
Wedding cakes weren’t exactly my specialty, but they were, in terms of income, part of the backbone of my business. There wasn’t a wedding that took place in Drachenfels that didn’t include one of my lovely cakes.
Thanks to our stunning landscape and luxury Hotel and Spa, people from all over Germany and even occasionally international guests held their nuptials in our town. I made wedding cakes on a near weekly basis. My reputation was sterling, and I wasn’t willing to do anything to tarnish that reputation, even if I was currently being investigated for murder.
I needed to get this particular cake perfect, like my life depended on it. My life may very well actually depend upon it. Well, that was maybe an exaggeration, but I did know that I would be in serious trouble if I didn’t impress the Mayor. She had been pleased with the previous four wedding cakes, but this one seemed even more high-stakes.
Mo might have been responsible for telling me how the cake was supposed to look, but I still needed to figure out how I wanted the cake to make people feel. I popped open my family recipe book and began browsing, looking for the perfect combination of herbs and enchantments for a fifth wedding.
“Basil, Senna, Magnolia…”
Why don’t you just ask him out? Or better yet, put a move on him.
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, Pudding, good idea. He’s trying to clear me of murder. I’ll just throw myself at him; I’m sure it will turn out just like in a romantic comedy.”
At this point, I can’t see things getting much worse. For your case or your love life.
“Oh my God, can you please just stop? What are you, my grandmother? Why do you even care if I ever get a boyfriend?”
I just know that you want a family and children, and that’s not going to happen if you can’t land yourself a man.
“I don’t think right now is the time for me to concentrate on ‘landing myself a man.’”
I’m just trying to help.
“It’s not helping.”
You’re not getting any younger.
“Yeah, well, neither are you. Why don’t you go find yourself a mate.”
I find myself mates every night when I go out.
“Ew. Gross, Pudding, I did not need to hear that.” Now that he mentioned it, though, Drachenfels did seem to have a lot of big, ugly, grey cats.
Well then you shouldn’t have brought it up.
“Let’s just agree not to discuss our love lives.”
Okay, but just so you know, I can hear your biological clock ticking from—
“Shut up Pudding.”
From here.
I shot Pudding a dirty look and shooed him out of the kitchen.
Just saying, I could hear him howl on the way out.
Chapter Fourteen
The entire afternoon at Zuckerfee was dead. I didn’t get a single customer, not even any of my regulars. I tried to keep my mind occupied, prepping some of my more elaborate recipes and doing some deep cleaning on my refrigerators that I had been putting off for too long, but I couldn’t help but worry.
Were people avoiding the Zuckerfee?
I took every single item out of my refrigerator and sprayed down the surfaces with stainless steel cleaner. They weren’t very dirty to begin with; I was always a very neat person, but the scent of the cleaner calmed me and at least made me feel like I had control over something in my life.
No one wanted to buy cake from someone accused of poisoning a customer. If this investigation didn’t land me in prison, I still risked losing all of my business and thus my livelihood.
W
hat would I even do if I wasn’t a baker?
I didn’t really have any other skills. I had never had any formal training, even in baking, and there weren’t a lot of jobs available in Drachenfels. Plus, I wasn’t even a very good witch. My spellcasting skills were quite remedial. I had extensive knowledge of plants and herbs because I loved gardening and baking magic, but I was a total failure when came to any other type of magic.
Enchantments, rituals, alchemy, divination; forget it. I was capable of reading and following basic instructions if I had a spell available, of course, but more often than not, my spells failed.
I continued scrubbing my fridge until it shined as an act of penance. I was kicking myself with regrets.
I should have paid attention when Conrad invested all that time into teaching me how to use my powers.
But no, good enough had always been just fine for me. I just wanted to tame my power and live my quaint little life peddling cakes to my neighbors on the mountain. I wasn’t like the Mayor; I had never been ambitious in any way and I was satisfied with simple pleasures.
Then it occurred to me… I was so dumb. Obviously I lost the Zuckerfee because everyone believed that I was a poisoner, I wouldn’t be looking for another job on the mountain. Who would even consider hiring me?
I’d have to leave my home and start over somewhere else.
I knew that crying wasn’t going to solve any of my problems, but I couldn’t help it. Fat, futile tears welled up in my eyes and spilled down my cheeks.
I had never felt so helpless.
Hey.
I wiped my tears on my apron and smiled at Pudding.
I’m sorry about earlier.
“Don’t worry about it.”
No, I know you’re under a lot of stress and you were right. You have more pressing issues than finding a man.
“Yeah, I’m just so lost. I can’t believe that my friends think I killed someone for basically no reason.”
I don’t think anyone really believes that. Everyone else is just as lost as you.
“But it looks like I might be the one taking the fall.”
I know. That’s why we need to act.
“Really?” I hadn’t felt like Pudding was completely in favor of me getting involved in the case. If he had changed his mind, the situation must have been dire indeed.
We need a concrete plan.
“Okay. What are you suggesting?” I pulled up a stool to sit on and Pudding hopped up on my counter.
I think our first step is to list all of our suspects, our evidence, and our reasons for believing that these people could possibly be involved. Then, when we see what kind of material we have, hopefully we’ll get a clearer picture of what our next step to be.
“You’re absolutely right,” I agreed. “We need to get organized so that we’re not just flailing around in the dark. I’ll get a pen and some paper.”
Pudding’s idea grounded me. I now felt like we had an actionable plan and we might actually make some progress on this thing. We sat down with pen and paper and here is what we came up with:
1.Eno Saputra: The manager of Drachenfels’ beautiful five star luxury Hotel and Spa. I had known Saputra for years and, though he was irascible and snobby, I didn’t sincerely believe in my heart that he could be responsible. I had heard from my trusted neighbor and friend Mitzi that Mandy Unterwegs had attempted to extort fifty thousand euros after staying in his best suite for free for a week, indulging in spa treatments, and gorging herself on free meals. She also allegedly treated him like her personal servant during her stay. Worst of all, Mandy gave the Hotel a bad review. Saputra had probably never received a bad review for his work in his entire life.
2.Moritz Mahler: The ex boyfriend and photographer of Mandy Unterwegs. My evidence was weak here, but I really had a bad feeling about this guy. When I first met him, I had assumed that he was Mandy’s very patient and unflappable assistant. She treated him like dirt while he tried to get good shots for her Instagram page. Then he came into my shop for coffee and explained that, no, he was her ex boyfriend who had learned his profession specifically to support her. She dumped him for being ‘off brand’ and he continued to photograph her, believing that she would one day realize his value and take him back. Was he even being paid for his work? Was this guy obsessed with getting her back or was he angry enough to kill her? To make matters more complicated, I had been in their private room and I believe that they were still sleeping together. Plus, as a photographer, he had access to cyanide.
3.The Mayor and her Fifth Groom: The Mayor of Drachenfels is getting married for a fifth time to a man who despises being photographed. At first, the Mayor seemed like an unlikely subject. Mandy Unterwegs was her distant cousin, Chantal Nussbaum. Plus, the Mayor was obsessed with making this wedding some kind of internet spectacle, which she believed would bring Drachenfels into the twenty first century and attract new, younger tourists. On the other hand, the Mayor’s new beau, Viktor Vega, was extremely sketchy. He hated social media so much that he practically thanked me for murdering Mandy. I suspected him of being involved with organized crime, but Pudding suspected something much darker… One thing was for sure: there was no way I could point my finger at the Mayor without concrete proof.
4.Me: Drachenfels’ pastry queen. I didn’t want to add myself to the list, but I thought that it was necessary just to keep track of who seemed suspicious and why. Before Mandy was murdered, we had a very public disagreement. She threatened me and demanded an outrageous sum of money. Witnesses place her on the way to my closed shop where we were supposed to meet privately. Then she turned up dead on my property. Plus… everyone knew that I have an extensive knowledge of plants and the poison may have come from a mushroom that I was growing. I knew that I was innocent, but I would be suspicious too if I were the police.
These were my strongest leads so far. They weren’t the only ones I had, though, so I decided to also make a secondary list that I called the ‘maybe list’ of people who were still on my radar:
1.Sabine Natter: The assistant manager and culinary director of the Drachenfels Hotel and Spa. Natter basically had the same motivations as Saputra, but she had mentioned her personal disdain for Mandy Unterwegs several times. I had to admit to myself that I just didn’t like Sabine and I didn’t want that personal conflict to color my suspicions. Still, I added her to the list. Maybe she was working together with Saputra?
2.Detlef Mauer: The handyman at the Drachenfels Hotel and Spa. I actually had very little personal knowledge of Detlef, since he avoided all carbs. He was the bodybuilder handyman who worked at the Hotel. I added him to the list of ‘maybe’ suspects because I couldn’t explain why Mandy would have him on her list of people to extort. Detlef didn’t have his own business that he wanted to advertise on social media as far as I knew. Plus, he had a reputation for losing his temper and getting into fights. Since it involved poison, the murder must have been premeditated, so I didn’t feel that it was likely that Detlef killed Mandy in some kind of rage. Nevertheless, he was suspicious.
3.Other Citizens of Drachenfels: I had heard from Mandy that several people in town were being shaken down by Mandy Unterwegs. I didn’t have a complete list of her victims, so I couldn’t discount the possibility that someone I hadn’t even considered was involved here. I would need to get more information about other peoples’ experiences with her.
4.A Random Psycho: This possibility was actually quite high on my list. Why was everyone assuming that Mandy was murdered by a local? Personality aside, she was a very pretty girl. Sad as the thought was, she could have been murdered by some anonymous person just passing through. Fortunately, according to everything I heard about the investigation, there was no evidence that Mandy had been assaulted in any way before she died. Still, the world was full of crazies.
“So,” I addressed Pudding, “there we have it. Our list of suspects so far.”
Pudding looked the list over. We don’t really have very strong evi
dence that any of these people is responsible. Based upon the evidence we have, it looks like you are the most likely murderer.
“Thanks, Pudding,” I rolled my eyes. No, we don’t have enough hard evidence. We need more information.”
I know that you aren’t guilty. Pudding studied the list again. After eliminating you, I’d say we have the best lead with… the boyfriend. He gave me a creepy vibe too.
“Plus he has all that dirt on everyone else. He’s the one who has the list of people she was ripping off. And who knows what kind of photos he got! If it wasn’t him, he might have the clues we need to figure out who was responsible without even knowing.”
True, Pudding agreed. But what are you going to do now? Project again? Pudding gave me a skeptical look.
I really didn’t need him reminding me of how I had messed up so bad the first time. I didn’t feel confident trying the astral projection spell again, let alone finding and memorizing evidence. Not to mention, if we wanted to start proving that someone else was responsible, we needed hard evidence. I couldn’t go accusing people of such a serious crime without some paperwork or photographs or something, and I certainly couldn’t just tell Horst that I found proof while breaking into someone’s hotel room
“I need to get in there. Not an astral projection, but I need to physically get into that room. I need to grab those documents and I need to rifle around all that stuff she left in there. It’s a total mess and who knows what’s buried under all that junk?”
So how are you going to get in? You think you can just have a frank discussion with Saputra? Bribe a maid?
“No way. Remember, Saputra is still a suspect. Plus, that guy is so professional, I don’t think that he’d compromise his integrity even if it was necessary to save his own hide. I need to sneak in.”
Pudding and I looked at each other for a moment.
A skeleton key?
“A skeleton key.”