MYSTERY: COZY MYSTERY: WOMEN SLEUTHS: Madeline's Secret Recipe Series (Cozy Humor Kitchen Detective Mystery) (Suspense Sweet Cove Short Story Culinary Comedy)

by Lorrie Bannett

  After what seemed to be an entire hour, Madeline finally got to the door and peeked through the glass. To her surprise, she saw Edward standing there with a flashlight. The door was already open, and that made her almost collapse with surprise. The gruesomeness surely wasn’t a good site to see.

  As soon as Madeline got out of the door, she ran towards her restaurant past Edward and into the place. It was still dark, but Madeline could sense that something was muddled. So she took the liberty of switching the lights on.

  What Madeline saw made her heart crash and broke into a thousand pieces. Her place got ransacked and torn apart. And the only thing that was left standing was the counter that they must have had trouble moving. Nothing was missing, but the message was clear. Someone wasn’t happy with the financial moves that Madeline was making and was more than happy to break them down.

  “I also heard all about this and came as soon as I heard. I think they left as soon as they heard me coming. I am sorry Madeline. I truly am.” Edward confessed, rubbing her shoulder to offer as much comfort as he could.

  At that point, all Madeline could do was cry like the baby she wasn’t. What had she ever done to people to piss them off? What has she ever been apart from kind and generous? Is this how her people could repay her for everything she had done for them?

  “I think the strange men who were here are the ones responsible for this. I am sure of it. We should call the police and get to the bottom of this. I think we shouldn’t open the following day so that we can pave the way for investigations. That way, we will be in a position to have ample time to figure out our friends and enemies.

  “No. I don’t think that is a good idea. We will not cow down. We will clean the place and reopen as though nothing happened. And if they ever set foot in my mother’s restaurant again, I will have them arrested!”

  Edward couldn’t remember the last time he saw Madeline pissed. But he could tell from her tone and her body language –she was shaking with anger – that she was pissed. And if intimidating her was the main purposes of the ambush, and then the perpetrators were in for some very rude surprise. They had challenged the best player in the game, and they were surely going to lose this battle.

  “Game on Edward, game on!”

  Chapter 8:

  -A date with the sponsors-

  It took the two about three hours to get the whole place in order. Thankfully, there were no broken windows or anything only furniture being thrown all over the place. And eventually, it was time to open and act as though nothing bad had happened.

  There were some interested financiers who were coming over to access the business and discuss the prospects for the future. And Madeline figured that maybe it was the reason the strange men had shown up at her restaurant. Was it because they wanted to sabotage her plans? If that was the case, then how on earth did they get to know all about her plans?

  There were only two people who had an idea of what was going on. It was Madeline and her stepdad Edward. But Edward wasn’t the kind of person who would plot against her very own flesh and blood. It would have been ridiculous.

  Did someone snitch on her? If that was the case, then it was such an unfortunate thing to have happened. The last thing she ever needed was to get attacked when she was on the verge of achieving her mother’s dream. But she made the right call after all. It was all about going out there and making sure that she was on top of her game even if it meant that she was still shaking after that uncanny attack by the strange men.

  Thankfully, Madeline had Edward to give her a shoulder to cry on. As far as she was concerned, it was also part of Edward’s investment because he had initially invested in it. And eventually, things were going to look up when they were in a position to thrive and make lots of money. Madeline made sure that she dressed in the very best clothes and went straight to the kitchen to cook with her apron.

  It was a good idea for the sponsors always to come and find you working hard or else they weren’t going to take your proposal with a pinch of salt. That was something that Madeline had discovered online as she was researching about impressing the sponsors.

  Despite everything that had happened, the customer turn-out kept on increasing with time. And eventually, it reached a point where they had no other choice but to expand. And that was the reason they needed sponsors as fast as humanly possible. Things were looking up. And it was their responsibility to act as fast as possible so that they can prevent the eventuality of having clients eat from the outside.

  Edward didn’t know a damn thing about business. And so he was left with no other choice but to turn Madeline’s offer to meet with the sponsors. Instead, he offered to pray for her while she tried to convince these people to invest in their restaurant.

  Finally, mercy saw three range rover vehicles pull up short in the driveway, and she ran to inform her aunt. Delighted, Madeline put out the stove and washed her hands vigorously right before she flowed her niece to the entrance. And as usual, Madeline greeted and acknowledged her diehard customers, patting their backs and asking if they were having a good time with their meals.

  Finally, she got to the entrance and looked outside with a smile on her face. Three very handsome men stood out of the luxury vehicles and checked out the lay of the land. They were from the posh Tarpon Core area that wasn’t that far from Tarpon Bay area.

  But despite being so near to the place, these three very wealthy men had never set foot in Tarpon Bay until then. And it was such a surprise to see that the place was underdeveloped.

  Madeline walked gracefully towards the men and greeted them. They seemed overly excited to see her and didn’t mind the mess on her apron.

  “Please. No need to apologize. As a matter of fact, it is a good thing getting here and finding you working. It just goes further to assure us that we are about to invest in a very good investment. Well, are we going to stand here the entire day or are you going to be kind enough to show us around. At least give us a grand tour.”

  “Forgive my manners. Well, come in. The place is really small, and the tour will be very brief.”

  “That would be a good idea since we have already made up our minds to invest in your food business. All you need to do is just show some commitment, get to sign a couple of forms when you are ready, and then you will get it posted to us. But we advise that you get a lawyer to go over them first before placing your John Hancock on it.”

  “Agreed. Well gentlemen, kindly follow me.”

  Chapter 9:

  -Dream come true-

  A month after the meeting with the sponsors, the restaurant opened three branches in three major cities countrywide. And everything seemed to be going according to plans. The McDougal family was in high spirits, and they needed some boost in their lives, and Madeline had just given them one.

  But this very amazing occurrence meant that the family secret was at risk since many people were starting to get attracted to their pastries and their competitors were having a difficult time getting even close. But Madeline remained firm. There was absolutely no way she was going to tell no matter how hard they pushed, even if it meant that they were sending thugs to wreck her place of business.

  And speaking of thugs, Madeline made sure that she didn’t repeat the same mistake twice by first of all getting a good security system to get everything all sorted out. There was absolutely no way she was leaving the place unguarded. And so she made sure that the security was reinforced and the restaurant doors much formidable to withstand any intrusion.

  And once she completed renovating, it was time to sort out the other problem that seemed to be hanging over each and everyone’s head. And that had everything to do with the secret recipe. With the three other stores out there, Madeline had to make sure that the secret stayed in the family.

  And so she didn’t have a choice but to call back two of her older sisters. They got married but thankfully, they weren’t living that far off. And so getting them together wasn’t that much of a hustl
e. And her sisters showed up considering that Madeline said it was an emergency. Once they got there, it was all business as usual.

  “We are so proud of you and whatever you are doing with mama’s recipe. We sure wish you the very best in your endeavors.”

  “No dear. It’s not the time to say goodbyes yet. As a matter of fact, if you are with me, then I don’t think that we need to say our goodbyes just yet. I need you guys…”

  Madeline’s sisters sat down and carefully listened to whatever their little sister was saying and weighed the options. It was a good idea, but they had families to take care. That was the main issue.

  And for that, I understand. But I need one of you to take care of this restaurant. I will go to New York or Los Angeles. Or you guys get to pick wherever you want to go and then I will pick last. The bottom line is that I don’t care where I work, all I need to do is getting that opportunity to keep the secret family recipe with us. That is all.

  And as I have already told you guys, I can’t be in three places at the same time. Meaning that you guys will have to help me out. I know that’s what mom would have wanted.”

  Damn Madeline. She just had to drag their mother down into their discussion. Now there was no way they were going to bail. It felt as though it was some obligation that they needed to fulfill so bad.

  “Ok girl. We agree. On condition that we get to move with our families to those places. And we will be in need of your assistance since it had been a while before we made pastries. The kids have always liked eating yours, so we didn’t see the need to cook back at home.”

  “It’s ok sister. If you want to have some polishing up, you can come over and work with me for the next week. The branches will open in three weeks’ time. That means that you would have had enough time to polish up before relocating.”

  “Ok, we agree. Now to more serious matters. Little girl, when are ever getting married?”

  And just like that, the serious discussion turned into an argument filled with laughter and glee. It had been a minute before they had so much fun, and now that they had it, they never wanted to stop. It seemed as though growing up had taken up so much of the fun that they used to have when they were girls.

  “But seriously, if our mom were still here with us, she would have been very proud of you. I remember just how sad you used to be when she kept you busy learning her secret recipes while we were out playing. It seems as though she knew that this day would come.”

  “Yes, sister. And she knew that I was going to make you come over no matter how hard you guys would have protested. And now that we are all here, I need for us to make a pact never to reveal the secret recipe to anyone else. It stays in the family irrespective of what people say. I know this is a little bit absurd, but you will receive bribes for the family’s secret recipe. And so you need to swear that you will always be discreet with it to the point where you will always be loyal to us.”

  “We promise. No amount of money is going to make us betray you or mother. We got this baby. Don’t sweat it at all!”

  “Great. Now who wants tequila to wash down these pastries huh?”

  Chapter 10:

  -Trouble in paradise-

  As soon as the three outlets opened, business started booming. The kind of money that was flowing in was more than Madeline, and her sisters could handle. It was just too good to be true. At first, she thought that it was a joke when her new financial advisor told her the kind of money that they had brought in. That was impossible to comprehend.

  The sponsors had used their influence to ensure that they were getting things all sorted out in terms of advertisements as well as television interviews. Things were going on according to plans and needless to say, the McDougal family was working their way towards the Forbes. They were now sure of that.

  Edward, the girls’ stepfather kept at bay. He never showed up in interviews or tried to ride the wave at any given moment. As a matter of fact, things were going to be better now that they were getting back on their feet. Madeline was the first one to notice that her stepfather wasn’t reacting the way everyone else expected him to react.

  Just like he was really good at telling when she was having problems, so was she. So one evening, she decided to ask him what was up. Madeline knew that Edward was going to try and trick her since she had a lot on her plate to start minding her problems. But at the end of the day, they were family, and that was what mattered to them the most.

  “I miss him. He hasn’t called or texted.”

  For some reason, Madeline knew that it had something to do with Lewis. But he was a grown man who had to stand but the choices he made. So she went ahead and picked his hands up and placed them on hers, squeezing them as gently as she possibly could to make sure that Edward realized that she loved him.

  “Look, papa, we both know that Lewis is always up to no good. We gave him a shot to be a part of this, but he spat on our faces. There is always a limit that a person is built to take. After that, it’s just another problem after the other. We can’t keep on living like this papa. And you know it.”

  “But he is my son.”

  “…and my brother as well. But let’s do not forget that he is a man. A grown man needs to make their decisions. That’s just the tough thing about reality-that we cannot change any matter how hard we try. The sooner we accept that he has made a decision to be whatever he wanted to be, the better since we will come to terms with the fact that we didn’t fail him, he failed himself. We did all we could to help but it just didn’t work out.”

  Edward squeezed Madeline’s warm, tender hand back in agreement. It seemed as though everything that they had talked about was right on. And now the only thing that was remaining was making sure that they were all focusing on making their brand the best in the country in honor of their late mother.

  ***

  It was time for yet another interview and Madeline finished preparing for it and was ready to get a cab to the place. And needless to say, she was more than excited since this crucial interview was going to put them on the map and get to open possibilities of not only opening more outlets in the country but beyond.

  In just two months, it appeared as though Madeline and her sisters had become a household name because virtually every home in New York and Los Angeles were getting to consume their product. And that was the reason they had brought her to the show to give encouragement to young entrepreneurs about how they can start up and proceed to have a big company like hers.

  And as she was going past the living room, she couldn’t help but notice the news. It was a story about food poisoning on a large scale in New York. But she was in a hurry and didn’t get to see the full story. She didn’t want to be late for the interview.

  There was no traffic at all, and so the car virtually whisked towards the venue in just ten minutes. Thankfully, the journalist had visited Tarpon Bay, and everyone was now looking at the McDougal family as their savior since they made the outside world gain some interest in them. They found everyone ready and after a couple of minutes, they were ready to roll.

  The interview went well. It seemed as though Madeline McDougal had learned the art of thriving in an interview and needless to say, she was blowing everyone away with her antiques. And it didn’t take long before they got their point across.

  “Now Miss McDougal. As we come to the end of the Out and About Show, what can you advice the young people from Tarpon Bay since they seemed to look up to you and your family.”

  “I know it might be hard for some of you growing up in this place. I also had to undergo the same tribulations that most of you are, and I kept on going. The trick is finding something that you are great at. And once you have done so, then the rest will be history. You won’t have to worry about getting the money because trust me if I started cooking because I wanted the money, it wouldn’t have come. So focus on your skill first. And once you have done it the right way, then the money will come in.”

  That was all Madeline need
ed to say. Everyone clapped at her, and the journalist had to cut the show since they had run out of time. And that was when the unexpected twist happened. Two police cars pulled up short on set, and the police officers came out in haste, bearing down towards Miss McDougal.

  Everyone went silent for a moment, just watching in shock as their local hero got rounded up by the men in blue. But in as much as it was shocking, the audience was too smart to try and intervene. The police officers finally got the guts to face Madeline and read her the Miranda rights.

  “Miss Madeline McDougal, you are under arrest for food poisoning using unauthorized substances in your line of business. You have the right to remain silent.”

  << The End >>

  Madeline’s Secret Recipe (Book 2)

  Chapter 1:

  -The Aftermath-

  Madeline was taken into police custody. And needless to say, this story makes it to the front pages of the news as well as other news outlets. It is most definitely going to be the stumbling block of the sensational cook that for the past one month, everyone seemed never to stop talking.

  Madeline McDougal had just managed to take over the entire country. But as they say, easy come, easy go as most of the people would be heard saying. What they didn’t know about Madeline McDougal was that she had worked her ass off to make sure that she had gotten to the point she was.

  Most people suspected foul play, but the rest thought she deserved whatever came to her. And just like that, the family was back into the limelight once again. But this time round, they were there for all the wrong reasons. Now the gossip grind mills were conjuring up flimsy stories about the secret recipe that the McDougal family had been using to make their pastries stand out.