Bake Off

by S. Y. Robins

  Walking up to the hills now, Milly decided to head over towards the stone circle first, then head in the direction of the barn Mr. Carpenter usually met his conquest at. She’d noticed he hadn’t been going out for his morning routine lately and wondered if he’d perhaps lost his ladylove to a younger man. Going up the hill soon took her mind off of Mr. Carpenter, as the slope of the hill made her body work harder, but she kept her eyes in constant movement, searching for anything that might have signalled Davina was near.

  There’d been talk in the beginning of doing a search for the poor woman but, as the detectives reminded them, there was no guarantee she’d be found, or that she was even dead. The reports on the evidence found at the scene suggested Davina had been injured but not that she was dead. The detectives had even pointed out that this may be a case of insurance fraud because they’d not been able to track down the other man in Davina’s life and now suspected he may have been a figment of Davina’s imagination. Milly doubted this and had finally determined that if nobody else was going to look on the hills for the woman then she was.

  The day was overcast and grey, but Milly didn’t mind. A bit of chill to the air made the walk more enjoyable for her, and knowing she wasn’t going to get sunburned was an added bonus. The atmosphere also matched her mood, she thought, as she made it to the top of the hill. She could see from here that there was nothing at the stone circle and carried on in the direction of the barn. She started to talk to her pets as she ambled, directing them to follow her or to stop gnawing at rocks.

  “Mildred, do put that stick down and stop smacking Edgar in the head with it. He will claw you, you know?” She warned the playful dog. Edgar may have enjoyed the walks but he still took exception to Mildred’s habit of hitting him with sticks. Mildred thought it was a game but Edgar did not. As she walked, Milly considered whether Davina had named Mildred after her. Her name was actually Millicena but Davina did not know that, so perhaps Davina hadn’t named a dog after her?

  Milly called Edgar as he ran off towards the barn, circling in front of a door barely clinging to rusty old hinges. She knew something must be important there but couldn’t see anything out of the way as she looked in through the door. The barn was entirely empty, nothing jumped out at her as a clue, and she turned away, wanting to know where the dogs were. She saw that Daisy now had Mildred’s stick and was running away with it, straight towards the edge of a rock face where the ground simply disappeared. She dismissed the barn and carried on after Daisy, calling to the hyper creature to come back to her. These dogs were going to give her a heart attack!

  * * *

  Three days later, Milly knew she wasn’t going to find Davina on foot. Her feet were now soaking in a hot bowl of salt water and she had a warm blanket wrapped around her shoulders. All three of the animals were asleep on the couch beside the rocking chair she occupied, snoring away in peace. She’d crossed the entire village in her spare time before opening and after closing the shop and had even crossed into other villages. She’d been to the quarry, through forests, looked in abandoned houses, and had come up empty handed. There was nothing out there to find unless you counted the evidence of teenage parties in some of the abandoned houses.

  Milly now sat in her house with sore muscles, blistered feet, and an aching head. She had nowhere else to look. Milly perked up a bit when she heard noises coming from the rooms across from her own. The walls weren’t exactly thin in the apartment next to hers, Davina’s apartment, but she knew moving furniture around could produce a lot of noise. Fright made her heartbeat increase and her blood pound, but she dried her feet off to hobble over to the wall and put her ear to it.

  Milly had to smother a yelp as something knocked against the wall on the other side and she stood back, away from it. Even Edgar, Daisy, and Mildred reacted with Mildred going so far as to give a half-hearted bark. Milly looked down at Mildred and asked her what she’d do if the person next door responded. Mildred responded with a comical growl and a twist of her head.

  Milly didn’t believe in ghosts but something was happening over there. Either Davina had come home or someone was in her apartment. Excitement warred with fear in Milly’s brain and she had to control the urge to run over and greet her friend. Milly reminded herself to act rationally and remember that Davina couldn’t possibly be alive; if she was and had just abandoned these puppies like this she was going to be so cross. She decided to sneak out to the patio that ran along the back of the two apartments and see if she could see who was inside. If it was Davina she’d knock, if it wasn’t, she decided she’d make up her mind about what to do when she got to that point. Bracing herself, taking several deep breaths, Milly reached for the door handle, meaning to push the sliding door across. She couldn’t make herself do it, however, and ran back to the couch and hugged Edgar close as the dogs stretched up to lick her face. What if it was a ghost?

  A loud bang and a shout from the other side of the wall had Milly jumping away from the couch and staring at the wall again. Right, she was going to have to be a woman and take a look. Marching over to the door before she could talk herself out of it, Milly pulled the door open, walked out on the patio, and snuck over to Davina’s door to peer in from the side, hoping her face was hidden. She didn’t see anything at first then she saw a man walk across the hallway from one room to the next. He was carrying a table from one room to the room closest to Milly’s sitting room wall. She watched for a while as he moved furniture around but didn’t take anything downstairs. Odd for a burglar to walk into a house and move your furniture around, she thought.

  Using her mobile, she called Callum as she quietly went back to her own side. Sitting in her bedroom, well away from the other apartment, but she still spoke quietly when Callum answered.

  “Hiya Callum, it’s me, Milly.” She answered his hello.

  “Hiya Milly, what can I do for ya, duck?” Milly felt special for a moment then reminded herself he called all females duck.

  “Well, there seems to be someone in Davina’s apartment moving furniture around. Do you know anything about that?” She asked, hoping he had an explanation that made sense.

  “Oh right, that’s Davina’s grandson, Thomas! I forgot to let you know he was coming. He’s taking over the business until we find something out about Davina.” Callum said with a laugh.

  “Well, you could have informed me! He nearly gave me a heart attack banging around over there!” Milly said with mock severity. She couldn’t really be mad at Callum, not with that cheeky grin and those deep brown eyes of his. She loved his eyes. Callum interrupted her reverie about his eyes with one of his deep laughs. That was just as distracting as how wonderful he smelled, she thought. Oh right, phone, she remembered as he spoke again.

  “I do apologize, Milly. It slipped my mind, bit of family trouble lately and I just forgot about it, duck. I am sorry.” His voice in her ear made Milly’s knees shaky and she wished she could talk to him on the phone more often.

  Sighing again she said, “Alright then, I’ll forgive you this time but don’t let it happen again. Is there anything I can help you with?” Was she really just flirting with him then? Had she become that bold?

  Standing up to look in the mirror she could see she wasn’t sick or anything so what had come over her? Flirting with Callum Davidson. Maybe she was just gaining confidence finally, she thought as he started responding.

  “No, but I do appreciate it, Milly. I may need some help in a few weeks but for now, I can handle it. Oh, there’s Maria, I have to go, Milly, talk to you later.” Milly could hear Maria’s snarky response to learning Callum was on the phone with her but it was cut off half-way through. Milly blushed as she heard “mooning bloody cow” and felt shame and sadness.

  Callum was back with Maria, again then. Disappointment flooded her and she berated herself for flirting with a taken man. She hadn’t known they were back together. It must have happened recently then because nobody had said at tea today. Or maybe they had known and pe
ople were starting to realize she had a crush on him so kept quiet? Either way, Milly determined she was not going to let this make her sad anymore. She had a good life, her own home and business, she was getting fitter, and she had every right to be happy. Perhaps it was time to find herself an unattached man and get a life instead of chasing after a ghost and mooning over a man she could never have.

  * * *

  The next day Milly was in her shop, reading a book on her tablet, when a man came in. The man she’d seen in Davina’s apartment the night before. She wasn’t supposed to know who he was however, so she pretended just that.

  “Hello, what can I do for you then?” She asked with a smile. She’d been to plenty of shops in England where the staff didn’t smile. She was determined that nobody would get that treatment in her shop. Sometimes that proved harder than others but on most occasions it proved fruitful. She was doing well on internet rating boards even though her service had slipped a bit lately. She still served with a smile and that made people happy.

  “A cuppa please, and maybe some information? I’m Davina’s grandson, Thomas, and I’ve been going through her things, trying to find answers to what’s happened to her and I came across some pictures. I remember her talking about you over here, and thought I’d see if you knew who they all were.” Thomas had grown up in France with his parents, and Milly knew that Davina had made the trips to France to keep the family from having to travel with small children. Davina’s only daughter, Rebecca, had married a Frenchman and fallen in love with the country. Very little could drag Rebecca away from it.

  Milly once met the daughter, a long time ago, but had not seen the family since. Milly also noted that, although Thomas grew up speaking French, he spoke unaccented English. He must have learned that from his mother. Milly sat down in front of Thomas and took the stack of pictures from him.

  “Of course, here’s your tea, now let me have a look at these pictures. Ah this one, see here? That’s Jimmie Eckols. This is Callum, that’s Mrs. Andrews, oh there’s one of me with your grandmother; I’d like a copy of that.” Milly said looking up with a smile. Going back through the pictures Milly listed off various people but stopped when she got to the last picture. It showed Davina in what looked like Spain or Portugal, on a sun lounger holding hands with the man beside her, in front of a very inviting pool. The pool didn’t hold her attention for long, however, because the man beside of Davina was now Milly’s suspect number one.

  Taking the picture out of the pile and putting it on the table in front of her, Milly stared down at the picture, thinking back over the last year or so. Davina had often gone on holidays, far more often than she normally did and to places she’d normally never go to. Everyone had just assumed Davina felt confident in leaving the shop to Callum to run and hadn’t thought a lot about it. There’d been no questions about the sudden trips or the odd places. Well, not odd really, just places that Davina had never mentioned wanting to go to. They were all far away, requiring flights and several days stay. Milly looked up as Thomas spoke her name.

  “Ms. Dupont? What’s so odd about this picture? What’s startled you so? You’ve gone as white as a sheet.” Thomas declared.

  “Hmph. Well. I don’t know how to say this to you, really, duckie. This man is married; he lives here in the village. He’s often been on business trips lately but he works for an international company. Nobody ever questioned his trips. But now, thinking back, I have to guess that some of those trips included your grandmother and this picture is the proof. They were gone at the same time but as far as I know, none of the villagers ever caught wind of an affair or even suspected it or we’d all have known about it.” Milly ended on a sad note, very confused by her friend’s choice in companions.

  “Ah, I see. That is a bit awkward for you, one presumes. I am sorry to put you in a difficult situation.” Thomas apologized.

  “Oh no, love, don’t apologize to me, I’m quite sorry to tell you all of this. She wouldn’t tell me a word about the man she was seeing and I never would have guessed the man was taken. I still can’t believe it with the proof staring me right in the face. Would you mind if I make a copy of this? Detective Barnes is coming around later, and I’d like to give her a copy of it. I’m sure she’ll want to question Mr. Carpenter after seeing this.

  * * *

  Milly went to bed that evening with a heavy heart. She hadn’t turned the picture over to the detectives who came in just after she closed the shop, after all. She wanted to think about it a bit more before she took that step. Milly warred with herself over whether she’d made the right decision or not. She knew that the news of an affair and possibly a murder would tear the Carpenter family apart and she’d feel as though she were to blame.

  Oh, she knew that Mr. Carpenter and Davina were actually to blame but still, she was the one that was about to hand over the picture to the police. She’d be the one that turned the man in. Many might even say that Davina had deserved her fate for such an unkind act and that Mr. Carpenter only acted out of a need to protect his family, but Milly knew Davina might be a bit wild but she wasn’t cold-hearted. She hadn’t deserved to die, not at all.

  As she tossed and turned, Milly’s thoughts turned to what might have caused Mr. Carpenter to kill his lover. Perhaps Davina had threatened to tell his wife. She must have grown tired of the secrecy; the pre-dawn meetings at the barn, for Milly now suspected that it was Davina that Mr. Carpenter was meeting in the mornings, and far away trips must have finally worn Davina down. Davina had broken it off with Jimmie so perhaps she had planned on exposing the affair and Mr. Carpenter had killed her to keep her quiet.

  Then the evidence left on the counter occurred to Milly. Perhaps it had not been murder but an accident. Perhaps Mr. Carpenter then took the money and wrecked the shop to make it look like a robbery, thinking he’d be accused of murder? Oh, I’m putting too much thought into it; Milly scolded herself, punching her pillow into the shape she liked best. No doubt he pushed Davina, and if he pushed her, he murdered her. It’s as simple as that. The man is no innocent in this; I don’t care what he has to say for himself. I’ll hand over the picture tomorrow, she promised herself.

  Milly tried to hold back the tears she’d been swallowing for weeks now but finally the dam broke and great sobs filled the night air. Davina was really gone. She knew that now and any hope she had, fled when she saw that picture. A desperate man had taken her friend’s life and she was never going to hear the woman’s croaky voice again, harsh from 35 years of smoking, or see her lined face, each crack filled with the makeup Davina hoped hid her age or at least made her attractive anyway. The woman had been loud, garish, with dreadfully dyed purple-red hair cut into some kind of rock star style but she’d been sweet, genuine, and Milly’s friend. Milly had nobody else and sometimes Davina had taken the place of Milly’s dead mother. Now she didn’t even have that comfort and she felt incredibly alone as she fell asleep, tears staining her face and her pillow.

  4

  The next day Milly tensed as Mr. and Mrs. Carpenter came into the shop to get some cream cakes for his family’s evening dinner. He would often come in and purchase cakes on his way home, and lately he’d been acting very strange. Tonight he even had his wife with him. Milly hadn’t paid any attention to the man’s behaviour lately other than to think that he was distraught over the loss of his lover, but she’d dismissed the behaviour. Milly had assumed the man had taken a young woman as a lover, as most men did, it had never crossed her mind that he may have taken an older lover. She thought he’d got what he deserved and the fallout was some small punishment for his betrayal of his wife. Now she suspected he was on the verge of cracking under the pressure.

  She stared up at the balding man, unable to crack a smile or greet him. She just stared up at Mr. Carpenter, speechless and unsure what to say. Milly’s eyes darted over to Mrs. Carpenter who was staring back at her, suspicion on her face.

  “What’s the problem, Milly? You look like you’ve se
en a ghost!” Mrs. Carpenter said sharply.

  Oh that silly line again! Milly stammered but finally answered, “No…nothing, it’s just been a long day, how can I help you?” Milly shooed Edgar out of the way, and walked to the case where the cakes were kept. Edgar had been coming down to the shops in the evenings ever since Davina disappeared. Milly had tried to make sure he couldn’t get into the shop but he’d appear there every evening, no matter what she did to keep him in.

  Edgar now jumped on the counter, hissed at the couple, and ran back to the stairs that led up to the apartment. Milly was as shocked as they were and apologized quickly, assuring the couple that she must have got his tail somehow.

  “You shouldn’t allow cats in here anyway, Milly. What are you thinking? It’s unhygienic!” Mrs. Carpenter scolded Milly.

  Looking up at Mr. Carpenter, Milly knew now that something was amiss. Edgar did not hiss randomly at people, only those he did not like. That hiss was all she needed to know about Mr. Carpenter.

  “Yes, he’s usually upstairs but he managed to escape tonight. Would you still like cakes or would you rather not?” Milly asked, hoping they’d just leave so she could get out from under Mr. Carpenter’s drilling stare. He’d grown suspicious it seemed.

  “No, not tonight but thank you. Maybe tomorrow. Come on Peter, we’ll just have some ice-cream for pudding, shall we? Good night, Milly.” Mrs. Carpenter led her husband out by his elbow but the man turned to glare at Milly before the door closed. Putting a hand to her throat she ran over to the door to watch them walk down the street and locked the door. Looking over she saw that Callum was just closing the shop and called over to him.

  “Callum. Callum, come quick!” She said in a loud whisper.