Bakery Detectives Cozy Mystery Boxed Set (Books 1 - 3)

by Stacey Alabaster

  "Oh, you will though!" Pippa grabbed my hands and started jumping up and down. She was clearly still on a post-nuptial high. And I had to admit her newly rejuvenated enthusiasm for life was rubbing off on me, even though I was still skeptical about the stranger who was waiting in the next room.

  "Where is he going to...fit?" I whispered, peering out the door. All I could see was the back of Marcello's head, all dark curls.

  Pippa shrugged. "He's just going to have to snuggle up on the sofa with me!"

  "Right…"

  It wasn't the right time to have a talk about her maybe finding her own place and moving out, though I knew that moment would have to come.

  I heard something breaking in the kitchen. "Oh," Pippa said, making a face. "Sorry about that. He’s a little clumsy. But that's all part of his charm." She patted me on the arm. "You'll get used to it. After all, we're going to get very cozy, the three of us living here together!"

  I took a deep breath and smiled at her. "Yes, we are."

  There was another crashing sound, followed by a loud, "Sorry about that!"

  I wondered how much sleep I was actually going to get.

  "Honey. You look terrible. Straight into makeup. That should take care of most of it." Justin shoved me towards a makeshift tent that was brimming with men and women in black shirts holding panels of powders and bronzers and looking even less awake then I was.

  "Remember, we want her looking twenty-two!"

  It was a long morning. And I mean LONG. When it was finally time for me to scurry my way past the line of hopefuls that thought they actually had a chance of making it onto the show, I felt like I was going to keel over. Two hours was the amount of sleep I'd gotten the night before. And right then I was running on caffeine and Justin's barked orders.

  "Now," he said, brushing my hair off my shoulder and examining my face in his hands. "Do you remember what you have to tell the judges?"

  I nodded groggily. "I'm twenty...two..."

  Justin nodded. "What else."

  "I own my own bakery. Baking has been my passion since I was a little girl. I baked my first cake when I was only three..."

  Justin let out a long sigh.

  "What?" I asked, a little offended.

  "It's just not very exciting, is it?" He waved his hand in the direction of the crowd that lay outside the studio. "I mean, that might pass for excitement in this place, but it just doesn't make for very compelling TV, does it, darling?" Another sigh. "Are you sure there's nothing else interesting about you, honey?" He looked upwards and clucked his tongue. "Maybe we can make something up. Did your parents die when you were very young?"

  "No!" I said. "And I'm not going to pretend they did. It's gotta be bad karma or something."

  "Well, we have to think of something quick." He dared a look inside the judge's room. "Something that's going to impress them."

  "What about my baking?" I asked, as though that should be the obvious answer. "I thought I was supposed to impress them with my super skills in the kitchen. Isn't that kind of the point of the show?"

  Justin laid a hand on my shoulder and shook his head slowly. "Oh, sweetie, you really have no idea how this TV thing works, do you?" He consulted a list on his tablet. "Maybe you're a lost cause. One of these other guys might have an interesting back story...maybe something tragic in their past that we can get them to open up about."

  "Wait!" I placed a hand on top of his tablet. "I do have an interesting sort of hobby,” I said reluctantly.

  There was a slight glimmer of interest in Justin's eyes. "Go on."

  I took a deep breath and quickly told him everything that had happened in Belldale over the past year: the three deaths, the paranormal mysteries, and my part in solving the cases.

  Justin's jaw was wide open by the time I'd finished. "Now, why didn't you lead with that?" He placed a gentle hand on my shoulder and guided me to the judging room before lowering his voice. "I had no idea this town was so interesting. Huh. I've only been here a couple of days and I almost died of boredom."

  "Yeah, well, it's definitely not boring all the time."

  He raised an eyebrow. "I guess I just came at the wrong time of year then."

  I shifted uncomfortably. "Things have been peaceful here recently. I don't want to jinx it. Besides..." I trailed off, a little reluctant to continue.

  "Besides what?"

  I shrugged. "All the deaths and stuff kind of gave the town a bad rap. I don't think certain members of the police department would like me bringing all that stuff up on national TV."

  I could see the glimmer in Justin's eyes growing stronger. "Oh, honey," he said. "What 'certain members'? A man, I take it." He shot me a knowing look. "One that you dated, maybe?"

  "No," I said quickly, wrapping my arms across my chest. "I just want to respect their wishes."

  Justin nodded. "Don't worry, honey, I understand. We won't sensationalize anything." Then, into his walkie-talkie, he announced my audition number and name to the judges. "Up next we've got, Rachael. Belldale's very own number one Murder Expert!"

  "Justin!"

  There were three of them.

  I tried to focus on the "nice" judge, a blonde lady named Dawn who was late middle-aged. She was known for giving the contestants constructive, rather than downright vicious, critiques. And I tried to ignore the glares of Pierre, the judge who was known for giving no holds barred criticism and occasionally reducing contestants to tears with his caustic barbs. Not that it dulled his popularity. Of the three judges, he was by far the most famous and the most beloved on social media.

  Then there was Wendy. Nobody really paid much attention to her.

  "Go on, dear, tell us a little about yourself," Dawn encouraged. "What is all this stuff about murders we've been hearing so much about?"

  "I, erm..." I caught Justin's glare out of the corner of my eye. "Don't stammer," he had told me.

  "Why don't you try one of my cakes?"

  I turned around to fetch the cakes I'd prepared the day before but which the producers made to look like I'd baked that day. I knew the judges had already tasted them the day before and made up their minds, but we had to go through the motions.

  "Delicious," Wendy said, pushing her long dark hair out of her face. "Wouldn't change a thing, darling!"

  A nice, but fairly hollow—and, let's face it, useless—comment.

  I focused on Pierre, who screwed his face up as he slowly chewed the chocolate cake I had presented him with. I wondered why he had to make such a show of it when he already knew what it tasted like and already knew what he was going to say.

  He finally placed his napkin down and swallowed. Then he stared straight at me for a good ten seconds before he finally delivered his verdict.

  "That was...fine," he said. Nonplussed. No expression on his face except a dead stare. "Tell me, Rachael, why you deserve to be on Baking Warriors over the thousands of auditionees outside?"

  The nine other auditionees, I thought. But with his stare on me, I was in no state to be smart with him. Or even to defend myself.

  "I...I...um, I've been baking since I was three years old," I said rather meekly. "It's...it is my passion...."

  Pierre leaned back and shook his head. I saw his gesture for a producer, then heard him whisper, "Can we use any of the murder stuff?"

  Justin shrugged. "If she gets through." He shot me a look over his shoulder then returned to Pierre. "Though I really don't think she will. Shall I bring in the next contestant?"

  Pierre nodded. "I've had enough of this one."

  "Thank you for your time," I said softly before Justin led me swiftly out of the room and told me to return to the green room. I didn't even get to hear Dawn's verdict.

  I was red-faced and annoyed by the time Justin finally joined me for a debrief. He just shrugged. "It's dog eat dog, honey. You should have led with the murder stuff."

  I sat down on a soggy sofa. "I'd rather not get through than use any of that stuff." I was aware tha
t I was acting sulky but it had been a long day and I just wanted to go home. "I don't know why I'm still here. I obviously didn't get in."

  Justin sighed and looked down on me in pity. "Look," he said. "Just between you and me, you've still got a shot. A good shot. Look, I do NOT say this to everyone..." He lowered his voice. "But you are going through to the next round. Just sit tight and relax. You look good on camera and the judges really liked your cakes. That's all there is to it."

  I looked up at him in shock. "But Pierre didn't seem impressed at all!"

  Justin waved his hand dismissively. "Oh, that's all just for TV, honey. Pierre's the executive producer. If he likes you, you'll go through. Just relax. Have something to drink." He fetched a bottle of wine from the cooler.

  "No, thanks. I’m afraid if I drink I'll fall asleep."

  "Come on, just a little sip! Honey, you'll have to start drinking if you get into TV."

  I reluctantly accepted half a glass.

  Just as Justin was plugging the cork back into the bottle a high-pitched squeal sounded from the direction of the judging room.

  Justin let out a loud, exaggerated sigh that said, "I don't get paid enough for this." He threw the wine bottle back in the cooler. "Probably a rejected contestant. Or a judge who hasn't got their lunch on time. Wait here while I deal with it. I won't be a minute."

  But Justin was way longer than a minute. After ten minutes had passed and Justin hadn't returned, I started to get worried.

  Then I saw the ambulance.

  "Are you okay?" I said, running towards a stricken-looking Justin with his headpiece in his hands. "What on earth has happened?"

  Justin, white as a sheet, slowly looked over his shoulder and, with a trembling voice, simply said, "Pierre's dead, Rachael. Somebody killed him."

  Chapter 3

  "I'm just asking, Pippa. It's a simple question. WHY does he lose so much hair? Where does it even come from? He wasn't even in the house today."

  Pippa put her hands up in a shrug that said 'I have no idea why Marcello molts like a llama, but gosh isn't he so cute for doing so?'

  Which, I mean...sure. If you're in love. But I wasn't in love with the guy. I was just the girl who ran around after him with a vacuum cleaner twenty-four hours a day.

  "I'm sorry, Rach. I'll vacuum more." Pippa plunked herself down and let out a deep sigh of contentment. "Isn't he just the greatest?"

  Ermmm. "Yes. The greatest."

  Pippa folded her legs underneath her so that I could squeeze onto the sofa next to her. "We're not taking up too much space, are we?"

  Well, I was currently squeezed up onto the tiny sofa that doubled as her and Marcello's bed and I couldn't move around the apartment without banging into one of them. But I forced a grin. Pippa was happy. That was all that mattered at the moment. "No. It's fine."

  "You'll let me know if it gets to be too much, won't you?"

  I was just about to reassure her that I would when we both heard another smashing sound from the kitchen. Pippa started to giggle, making another 'isn't he just so cute' expression. "He has this thing," she said, laughing so hard that she could barely get the words out. "Where he tries to place an item down on the bench—like a knife, or a cup, or a plate, you know, whatever—but he totally misjudges where the end of the bench is! So it ends up on the floor!" Now totally full of mirth, Pippa threw her head back in throes of laughter.

  I just stared at her. "Is that thing called bad eyesight?"

  Pippa just started laughing even harder. She even slapped her knee. "No, Rachael! It's just one of his cute, little, quirky things."

  Yeah, it was pretty cute and quirky that he was breaking everything I owned. I sighed myself. I had bigger things to worry about anyway.

  Marcello appeared with a bowl of chips for us and placed them down on the coffee table with an apology. "I broke the jar of salsa. I'd better go finish cleaning that up." He paused. "Unless you want me to scoop the salsa up and pick the glass out, and I can bring that in for you?"

  "No," I said quickly. "Thank you, that's fine."

  He disappeared into the kitchen again and I just shot Pippa a look of disbelief. Even she was making a face at the suggestion of eating glass-shard-filled salsa that had been scraped off the kitchen floor.

  Remind me to never offer him a job at my bakery.

  He'd apparently been job-hunting that day. I shuddered at the thought of the sorry soul who'd have to employ him.

  I picked up a chip and stared at it sadly. So this was what it had come to. Ever since I'd been diagnosed with a severe allergy to gluten, I'd basically had to switch from sweet snacks to savory. For a baker, it was almost a fate worse than death.

  Pippa seemed to read my mind. About the death thing, that is, as she crammed a chip into her mouth and started to talk with a mouth full of crunchy potato. "So what are you going to do?"

  I placed my chip back down and leaned back against the sofa. "Nothing, Pips. This isn't my circus. It's not my monkey."

  She just stared at me. "It very well IS. Rachael, you were practically cast on that show before that guy went and died! You can't tell me you're just going to sit back and do nothing! What happens if they delay filming entirely? Or worse, redo all the auditions."

  "Yes, that's the great tragedy of today, Pippa. Not the poor dead guy. The poor dead guy who was poisoned, by the way."

  "You know what I mean." Pippa sat up and grabbed my arm. "You're the PERFECT person to solve this murder, Rachael!" She held up her fingers as she listed off the reasons. "One, you were there. You probably met the killer. It's got to be a fellow baker, right? Two, you can't let this opportunity slip through your fingers. Where else are you going to get a chance to become a reality TV star?" Then she got to the item she clearly considered the most important of the lot. "Three, you have plenty of experience in this area. I can't believe you're not already out there interviewing suspects."

  I huddled up against the back of the sofa and muttered to myself.

  "What was that?" Pippa said, leaning closer to me.

  "Jackson doesn't want me interfering anymore, okay?"

  Pippa opened her eyes wide. "Since when has that ever stopped you before?"

  Pippa had been gone for over six months, so I didn't blame her for not understanding my change in attitude regarding sticking my nose in police business. But a lot had chanced in Belldale over the last six months. With two high profile murder investigations, the entire town had changed in character. It had become more withdrawn, somehow darker and less open.

  "With Baking Warriors coming to town, I think Jackson—all of us, actually—hoped the town could be seen in a more positive light," I tried to explain.

  "Well, that hope was short lived." Pippa threw another chip into her mouth and raised her eyebrow.

  "Yes, but an amateur sleuth sticking her nose in this, one who might be about to become a minor celebrity no less, is not a good look for the police department. They are trying to revamp their image. Jackson wants them to appear more competent. To assure the town that they can keep them safe. I should just keep my distance."

  Pippa gave me a long skeptical look that made me squirm. "Rach, I keep hearing a lot of 'Jackson wants' coming out of your mouth. What do YOU want? Why do you even care what he thinks anyway? Hasn't he gone and shacked up with that skinny detective with the red hair?"

  Detective Emma Crawford. Yes.

  "I don't care about that," I said unconvincingly.

  "Sure sounds like it."

  I sat and thought for a moment. Why was I so happy to keep my nose out of the investigation? Even though my feet were kind of itching to get into the fray, and I had to keep trying to stop my mind from racing—thinking over all the events of the day, trying to figure out who had access to Pierre, who was close enough to him to poison him, and who had a motive to do such a thing.

  The truth was, I didn't want to see Jackson. So when he'd asked me—politely, mind you—to keep my nose out of cases, I hadn't really minde
d. I didn't mind keeping my distance from him one bit. He was happy with another woman now. And I was fine with that. Just fine. I hadn't seen him in months.

  There was another smashing sound from the kitchen.

  I leaned back against the sofa and closed my eyes while Pippa laughed hysterically. "I think we might owe you a new set of dishes by now."

  Maybe I needed to invest in some headphones.

  "What...the..."

  The entrance to the road where my bakery stood, Pillock Avenue, was totally blocked off by vans and people racing around with boom mikes and cameras.

  "What’s going on?" Pippa asked from the passenger side.

  "It looks like they are filming Baking Warriors here or something," I said, which was the only thing that made sense to me in that moment. Because that's what the swarm of people and cameras and producers wearing earpieces running around reminded me of filming on the show.

  "Well, can we get through? Should we let them know that we actually work on this street?"

  It was still early in the morning, 6:30 or so, and even though we had a hot day ahead of us, the fog and dew from overnight caused a smog to appear over the street. So it took me several minutes to realize that it wasn’t the Baking Warriors film crew at all, but was, in fact, several dozen separate film crews, all with different garish logos plastered on the side of their vans.

  "OH," I said, sucking in my breath. "Pippa, they’re news crews."

  "Oh," she said warily, leaning forward to see if there might be any space where we could fit the car through. I already knew there wasn't.

  "I guess news of Pierre's death has broken," I murmured.

  Pippa spun back to me. "Of course it has. Did you really think people wouldn't find out that a beloved celebrity has been killed? Did you not think that people would be incredibly interested to find out what happened to him?"

  I turned the ignition off and groaned a little. "I don't know. I thought the police had ways of keeping this sort of thing quiet for a little while. Or at least controlling the media presence a little."