"Yes, you are," Pippa said. "Come on, I don't want to face Simona on my own. You owe me at least this, Rachael."
I sighed. "Fine. Let's just get this over with."
Expecting to have to wade through an avalanche of customers, like usual, I was shocked to find that Bakermatic was almost empty, like a pastel yellow desert. "What’s going on?" I spun around as Pippa shrugged at me.
"Haven't you heard?" Both Pippa and I stopped at the sound of Simona's voice. She was holding a broom, clutching it like it was a weapon and we were her prey. "Word's got out that Colleen's death was no accident. She was poisoned." Simona banged the broom on the ground and began a slow, angry sweep. "So I guess that means we’re all screwed now." She shot me a low scowl. "No thanks to you."
"No thanks to me?" I asked. "You're the one who has been trying to make me look guilty!"
"Because you are," she snapped, holding the broom up straight as anger flashed in her eyes. "I'm going to lose my job if things don't pick up," she said, taking an ominous step towards me.
"Maybe we should leave," Pippa whispered, tugging at my sleeve.
"Yeah, you ought to," Simona snapped. "Before I call the cops on you."
"No," I said firmly. "Pippa needs her money. We're not leaving until we get it."
Simona let out a laugh that was so giddy it almost amounted to a giggle. "What, for that one day you managed to last here, before you screwed it up?"
"Yes," Pippa said, crossing her arms. "I worked for that money, and maybe it would be cool if I was rich enough to just let it go. Believe me, I certainly never wanted to see your face again, but I need that hundred bucks."
Simona shrugged and dropped the broom. "Whatever. Wait here while I go to my office."
"Well, this is humiliating," Pippa said as we waited for Simona to come back with the paycheck.
"At least we get to see Bakermatic empty of customers," I pointed out. "I'm quite enjoying the sight."
"Rachael, look," Pippa said, grabbing my arms. She spun me around so that I was looking out the window.
"What the heck is Deena doing?" I asked, crouching down a little so that I was out of her line of sight should she look around. "Pippa, get down," I whispered, pulling her after me.
We both watched as Deena crept up to the front of Carl's Fish shop and glanced around before pressing her face against the glass of the window.
"What is she looking for?"
I shook my head. "She's probably heard the news that Colleen's death was no accident and realizes it's only a matter of time before she is arrested. She's probably getting desperate."
Carl came rushing out of his shop, startling Deena, and they had an argument before she scurried off, leaving a puff of flour in her wake.
"What are you two doing?"
Pippa and I both bumped our heads on the table as we jumped up at the sound of Simona's voice.
"Still creeping around, I see." Simona held the check towards Pippa and told us to get out.
"Why?" Pippa said. "You don't seem exactly rushed off your feet with customers."
As I saw Simona's face fall, I actually felt kind of bad for her. I understood the feeling, and even though Simona didn't own Bakermatic (she would have been quite far down the food chain in the grand scheme of things) it still sucked to feel responsible for a business that was failing.
"Hey," I said to Pippa gently. "Don't go rubbing it in."
Simona looked up at me in surprise. "I thought you'd be the first to revel in this business's failures." A note of bitterness crept into her voice. "I thought you'd be dancing on our graves."
"I just know how it feels, that's all." I sighed. "If I did have anything to do with it., well, I'm sorry."
Pippa's mouth was wide open.
Simona held my gaze for a long moment then shrugged. "It's not just you," she admitted. "In fact, it's not just the Colleen Batters thing either. We had all these bad reviews on line in the past couple of days, saying that our food made all these people sick."
Pippa and I turned and looked at each other.
"Hang on," I said. "What do you mean, 'all these people'?"
Simona frowned. "There's a bunch of different reviewers. But they're all saying the same thing."
"Do you have a computer in here? Can I take a look at it?" I asked, already walking towards Simona's office. I knew where it was, after all.
"Er, sure," Simona said, chasing after me.
"Here we go." Simona pointed over my shoulder as she showed me all the reviews on Trip Advisor.
"Oh my gosh," I said, glancing over the comments.
"Stay away from this place!"
"Ignore my warnings at your own peril!"
"This place will make you sick—or worse!"
The same syntax as the reviews left on Deena's Sandwiches all those months ago.
All the user reviews had been posted in the past two days. I turned to face Pippa. "Don't you see, Pippa? These were all posted this week. Meaning, after Colleen died."
Pippa nodded, a grave look coming over her face. "That means they can't have been posted by Colleen."
"And neither could those comments on Deena's Sandwiches. Colleen isn't the mystery reviewer."
There was a flash of dread in Pippa's eyes. "Then who is?"
"Come on," Pippa said, "You can call Detective Handsome later. It's not like you've got anything solid to tell him anyway."
"But I'm starting to piece this all together, Pippa. I think I should tell him what I've learned." I pulled my phone out of my pocket and began tapping in the number for the Belldale Police Station again.
"It can wait five minutes, can't it?" Pippa asked as we crossed the road. "I need you for moral support again when we go to Carl's."
"What for?" I asked, pulling the phone away from my ear. "Didn't you get paid by him already? It was cash under the table, right?"
Pippa nodded a little as she rolled her eyes. "Yeah, but he only had half the cash for me that day and told me to drop by any time and collect the rest. I've been putting it off because of everything that happened, wondering if he'd throw it in my face if he saw me again!" She took a deep breath. "But I'm feeling brave since I faced Simona, so I'm gonna do it now!"
I nodded. "Right you are, Pips. You should get what you're owed. Let's go!" I said brightly, pushing the door open to Carl's, expecting to find another wasteland. But the place was bustling with customers and Pippa and I had to squeeze past them as we tried to make our way to the counter.
"Hey, no cutting!" one angry young man with a sleeve of tattoos yelled at us.
"We're not cutting in line!" I said back to him. "We're not ordering any food, just calm down."
He scoffed. "Well, you ought to, it's the only place around here that's safe to eat at."
Carl's eyebrows shot up as he saw Pippa approaching the counter. "What are you doing here?" he scowled.
"I need the thirty bucks you owe me from the street fair," Pippa said boldly.
Carl shook his head. "You've got some nerve coming in asking for that."
"If you don't give it to me then I'll have to tell the authorities that you paid me off the books that day." She nodded towards the rest of the staff. "And that you avoid paying taxes on your regular employees' wages as well."
Carl scowled at her. "Well, I'm run off my feet here at the moment, missy. You're going to have to go out the back and wait."
"Can't you just take it out of the till?"
"Out the back!"
Pippa sighed and I told her it was okay as we stepped out the back door to wait until the rush was over. There was a strong fishy smell in the lane and I wished we'd just left and come back later. But I knew that Pippa might not have the nerve to come back again if we left now.
I tried to ignore the smell, bopping up and down a little to try and keep warm. I took my phone out of my pocket.
According to the receptionist, Jackson still wasn't at the police station. I sighed and asked if I could leave a message then.
"Tell him to please call Rachael Robinson back. No, I don't want to leave any further details. Thank you." I shivered and shoved the phone away again.
Still no sign of Carl.
"Why didn't Carl have the money to pay you the other day anyway?" I asked Pippa.
Pippa tilted her head. "Apparently, the business has been suffering for a long while. They were a bit strapped for cash that day and they'd only be able to pay me half of it. I mean, whatever, I needed the job so I didn't argue with them." Pippa started hopping from foot to foot. "I hope he's actually going to give me the cash today."
I nodded towards the full shop. "Doesn't look like he has a problem with cash right now. I think you'll be fine."
Pippa let out a short laugh. "Yeah, he seems to be the only shop on the street who doesn't have a problem with bad reviews."
Pippa stopped talking as we stared at each other.
"Pippa," I said, realizing something. "How come Carl recognized you when you came into the shop?"
"What do you mean? I've met him before. At the street fair. He's the one who told me to come and collect the cash!"
I swallowed. "He told me he wasn't at the street fair. That he'd been suffering food poisoning after eating one of Deena's sandwiches."
Pippa let out a little laugh of disbelief. "I don't think anyone could ever get sick from one of Deena's sandwiches! She overcooks them all to the point that not even the strongest of bacteria would be able to survive!"
"You're right," I murmured. "Yet she got all those bad reviews a few months ago."
I glanced over my shoulder at Carl, who was eyeing us carefully. "Pippa, I think we ought to get out of here," I said, pulling her towards the door.
"What? Why? I need to get my cash."
"We have to go," I whispered to her. "Deena isn't the one who killed Colleen. And her food's never made anyone sick, unless they are allergic to charcoal."
"What are you saying, Rachael?"
I kept one eye steady on Carl as I began to plan our escape. "I'm saying, Pippa, that we need to get out of here, right now! Or losing thirty bucks is going to be the least of your problems, or mine."
Chapter 9
The back door slammed shut behind Carl as he stomped into the alleyway after us. The stench of fish had become almost unbearable.
"Just where are you two going then?" Carl asked us, focusing first on me, then on Pippa. "Don't you want your money?"
Pippa clutched her purse close to her as she took a step backwards. "Um, no you know what, I just realized that there's somewhere else I really need to be. I can come back for the money some other time, since you’re so busy." She tried to step in front of Carl as he cut her off. He was a bull now and Pippa was the red flag. I could practically see his nostrils flaring as he closed in on poor Pippa, who was inching closer and closer towards the brick wall of the alley.
Carl kept switching his gaze between Pippa and me. "I didn't realize you two were so cozy," he growled menacingly. "This certainly makes things interesting."
At the last moment before she was about to hit the wall, Pippa tripped over a box of old discarded fish guts and bones, shrieking as she went over backwards, her backside landing in the pungent materials.
"Pippa!" I ran over to her but Carl grabbed me by the collar of my peacoat. "I think you girls better come with me." He reached down and snatched Pippa up as well, dragging us both to what looked like a small shed at the end of the alley.
He stopped before he reached the door and I thought for a moment that we were saved, that he had realized that throwing two young women into a shed was insane. "Carl, please, this is only going to make things worse for you," I reasoned with him, thinking he already knew that and he was ready to agree and let us go.
But instead, he reached into my coat pocket and grabbed my phone.
"Yours too," he said to Pippa, holding out his hand as she placed her cell there with trembling fingers.
"Get in here!" Carl said, shoving us into the small building with a strength I'd never have guessed he possessed. He shut the door and suddenly we were engulfed in darkness.
"Hey!" Pippa said, banging on the wooden door. "What do you think you're doing?"
Carl's muffled voice travelled through from the other side of the door. "I'm making sure you can't cause any more trouble! Or talk to the cops. Ever again."
We heard the sound of a lock turning and then Carl's footsteps walking away.
"Help us!" Pippa called out, banging on the door. "Carl, you can't keep us in here!"
"It's no use," another voice called out, causing Pippa and I to both jump out of our skins.
"Deena?" I asked, squinting in the dark. If only Carl hadn't taken our phones, we might have had a flashlight.
And a way to phone for help.
I heard Deena groan and as my eyes adjusted, I could see that she was bleeding from a cut on the top of her head, blood inching towards her eyes. "My gosh, Deena, what did Carl do to you?"
"Nothing," Deena said, shaking her head. "Well, he threw me in here, so not exactly nothing, but I hit my head once I was already in here. I can't see a darn thing since Carl took my phone!"
"But why did he lock you in here?" Pippa asked.
Deena shook her head again. "I was just coming by to get some money that Carl owed me."
I heard Pippa let out a scoff.
"But he didn't answer the front door, so I pressed my face up against the window," Deena continued. "That's when I saw him, on his laptop, and guess what he was doing?"
I shook my head and tried to catch Pippa's eye in the dark. "I don't think we need to guess," I said. "Writing bad reviews?"
Deena nodded. "Writing a bad review of my shop, no less. I thought those days of a hundred one star reviews were all behind me! Business had just started to pick up again! I thought it was a disgruntled customer who'd made all those reviews. I never in a million years would have thought a competitor was writing them!"
"You're too trusting, Deena," I told her. "What happened after Carl saw you?"
"He came running out the door after me, chasing me down the street."
I sighed. "We saw the argument from Bakermatic," I told her. "Sorry, Deena, I never thought he would lock you up. I thought it was just a simple argument amongst neighbors."
"You don't have to apologize. We're all in the same boat now, after all. But, Rachael, my dear! What are we going to do?" Now that my eyes had adjusted to the darkness, I could see the terror forming in Deena's. "Is he going to do to us what he did to Colleen?"
I gulped. "Not if I have anything to do about it," I told her with a confidence I didn’t actually feel.
Pippa leaned against the wall, knocking over a mop that had been standing upright against it.
"I can't believe this is happening," Pippa said. "Rach, how long do we have before Carl comes back for us?"
I loved that she thought I knew. "Let's just hope that rush hour in the shop lasts a little longer."
I glanced over at Deena, who was slumped against the floor. "Deena?" I knelt down and give her a gentle tap on the face. "Deena, you need to keep your eyes open! You need to stay awake!" I looked up at Pippa. "We need to get her out of here."
"We all need to get of here," Pippa pointed out. "Or we're all dead."
I checked Deena's pulse before I stood up. She was still alive—for now. "Well, you got any ideas?"
She didn't answer. "Pippa?"
"Sorry, Rachael. I was just thinking about something that happened on the day of the fair. Oh, Rachael, this is all my fault," Pippa whispered.
"Pippa, what are you talking about?"
"I didn't think anything of it at the time," Pippa said, her voice getting more high pitched with every word. "I thought we were just innocently chatting."
"Pippa, just tell me what you did."
Pippa gulped. "It's just that we weren't selling many products and Carl started grumbling that Bakermatic was taking all the customers from all the other stalls with their fr
ee promo giveaways."
"Well, they were," I said with some indignation, before I realized I was defending a killer. "Go on."
"So I mentioned that it seemed like everyone hated Bakermatic and I sorta mentioned that you did specifically, considering that you sell almost the same products,” Pippa said. "Oh my goodness, Rachael, I'm so sorry. I didn't say we were close friends or anything, but I was telling Carl about how Bakermatic was stealing all your customers and undercutting your prices, and that you were having trouble making rent."
I sighed. I think I could see what happened next. "It's okay, Pippa," I tried to say.
She kept talking. "Carl was listening really intently, kept saying, 'well, isn't that interesting.' Then a woman walked by with a piece of your cherry pie in her hand. I recognized it, of course, as it's my favorite. It might have been Colleen Batters. I never met the woman before! But she threw your cake away before she'd even had a bite. I remember thinking that was very rude. And then Carl quickly asked me to take the trash over to one of the dumpsters, like he was trying to get rid of me. I remember being put out by the request because I wanted to tell the woman off for throwing one of your cakes away."
"So you didn't see what happened next?"
Pippa frowned, deep in concentration. "Once I'd returned back from the dumpster, she was already gone." Pippa suddenly gasped. "But I do remember him grinning like a lunatic afterwards, and, Rachael, that's when he took off. I never saw him again after that for the rest of the day."
"Hmm, must be when he got 'sick'," I said, putting finger quotes around the 'sick' despite the fact that it was too dark for Pippa to see me properly.
Pippa's voice was full of guilt. "I'm sorry, Rachael. He must have heard me talking about you and Bakermatic and decided to take advantage of the fact that Colleen had one of your pies, knowing that you were under stress financially and would be one of the top suspects. I didn’t know that she was Colleen Batters, the woman who had been making all your lives hell."
"She did annoy all of us, that's true," I said. "But I never wanted to kill Colleen! Well, I suppose sometimes I did, but I never would have actually done it. I'm sure Deena felt the same way."
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