Nans heard the phone snap shut. She straightened up at the sink, pretending to fix her hair. Corinne came out of the stall and Nans held her breath, hoping the baker wouldn’t recognize her. Just as she expected, the other woman barely even glanced her way. Just another old lady in the casino bathroom.
Nans slipped out of the bathroom shortly after Corinne. Her sleuthing assignment fulfilled, she turned in the direction of the casino. She had a few hours to kill before Lexy would be done in Bakery Battles Stadium, and she could think of no better place to spend it than at the slot machines.
11
“I can’t believe Aurea tried to push off those half-baked pies on the judges!” Cassie snickered.
Lexy cracked a smile. Not one to laugh at the failures of her competitors she made an exception in this case. “I know. She didn’t even start baking them until 20 minutes before time was up. Not sure what she was thinking there, but I can’t say I’m sorry. Even her good friend Judge Harvey couldn’t save her from that one—at least not without risking her job.”
“I think the contest might be down to just you and Corinne, now,” Cassie said.
Lexy felt her heart clench. Two days ago she had felt for Corinne and her situation. She even thought the two of them were becoming good friends. But if Corinne had sabotaged her cake and was involved in the murder, then she wanted nothing to do with her.
As she and Cassie got closer to her kitchen, she saw a familiar figure standing there. Jake Ryan. Was he following her?
“Hi,” she said, her eyebrows raised.
“Hi. I heard you won the pie challenge. Congratulations.”
“Thanks…did you come all the way here just to congratulate me?”
Jake smiled, showing off his perfect white teeth and dimples. “Actually, I have some information about one of the suspects you might be interested in.”
“Oh, I didn’t realize you guys shared information about one of your suspects with another one of your suspects.”
Jake glanced around covertly, then lowered his voice. “Well, I’m not supposed to, but this one could help you with the contest too. What do you say? Come over to the bar with me and I’ll tell you over a drink.”
Was he flirting?
Lexy felt tempted by his puppy-dog look and the information he promised, but a quick look at her cart and kitchen revealed a pile of dirty dishes and bowls. “I’d love to but…” she waved her hand to indicate the mess.
“Oh, you go ahead I’ll clean this up and put everything away.” Cassie said.
“Are you sure?” Lexy asked.
“Yeah, no worries. Go.” Cassie made shooing motions with her hands.
Lexy shrugged. “OK.” She turned to Jake. “Shall we?” She tilted her head in the direction of the casino bar.
“After you.” Jake stepped to one side to let Lexy walk past.
They walked side by side down the long, wide hallway. Lexy refrained from asking who the information was about and worked at making idle chitchat.
They selected a table in the corner of the empty bar and Jake went to retrieve their drinks - a soda for her and beer for him.
He set her drink in front of her, then took the seat across the table.
“Well? What’s this big news?” Lexy tilted her head and raised her eyebrows.
Jake took a swig from his beer, then set his arms on the table, leaning in towards Lexy. “We finished looking at the surveillance tapes and we can rule out one of the suspects-Aurea Pearce.”
Lexy felt her shoulders sag. “Really? Why?” She hoped her disappointment didn’t show on her face-Aurea was one of the few people she didn’t like and Lexy would have preferred that the killer be someone she didn’t like.
“The casino surveillance tapes show her at the poker tables from 3:31 am to 6 am. That’s the timeframe Saunders was killed, so Aurea couldn’t have done it.” Jake spread his arms, then settled back in his seat.
Lexy swirled her drink, watching the ice cubes chase each other around the glass. She took a sip. She wondered if Jake knew Westmore was gay. If he did, then he knew Westmore and Peter Saunders weren’t likely suspects anymore-at least not because Amanda could have been having an affair with Westmore. Aurea had been ruled out, so that only left her as the most eligible suspect. Was that why Jake seemed to be following her?
She decided to test him. “So, that leaves Westmore and Saunders as your prime suspects?” she asked.
“We have a few others we are looking at too.”
Lexy felt the tension in her shoulders relax, relieved he didn’t say they had ruled out Westmore and Saunders.
“Corinne Conners?” She decided to add a new suspect just for some extra insurance.
Jake raised an eyebrow. “What about her?”
“When I found the sabotaged cake, there was glitter on the floor and on the handle of the fridge.”
Jake shrugged. “So?”
“I don’t use glitter, but Corinne did. Her wedding cakes were loaded with it.”
Jake sat up straighter. “Why didn’t you mention that before?”
Lexy felt a flush of heat creep into her cheeks. “I didn’t realize it until today…I was going to mention it to you.”
Jake’s eyes narrowed. “I’ll have to look into that.”
“And that’s not all.” Lexy looked down. She felt guilt lay a heavy hand on her heart, like she was tattling on a friend to save herself. Then she realized it was all true, and if Corinne was the killer, the police should know the details.
She looked up to see Jake staring at her, waiting for her to continue.
“Corinne has bad money problems. Her house is in foreclosure. I don’t know how killing Saunders could help her with that, but she definitely has a strong motive to want to win the contest. Come to think of it, Aurea Pearce has money problems too.”
“Yes, we found out she has a gambling problem. But since she couldn’t have killed Saunders, I don’t think that is relevant…unless she was in on it with someone.”
“People do strange things when it comes to money, Detective.”
“And you, Lexy…do you have money problems?”
“I assume you’ve done a check on me just like the others, so you know I don’t.”
Jake nodded. Behind him Lexy could see a figure gesturing wildly through the frosted-glass wall of the bar. She leaned over to the side to get a better look.
Jake turned around to see what she was looking at. “Who is that?”
The frosted glass distorted her view. Narrowing her eyes, she could just make out a short, older woman with blueish-gray hair, carrying a gigantic purse.
“I’m not sure, but I think it’s my grandmother.”
Lexy watched Nans take a dainty sip of the tea Jake Ryan had persuaded the bartender to make for her before he discreetly made his exit.
“Jake is such a nice young man. You sure do have a way of attracting the cute detectives. I hope you didn’t forget about Jack, though.” Nans looked at her slyly over the rim of her cup. Jack and Nans had been neighbors and Nans had a big soft spot for him.
“Of course not…I’ve just been busy.” With all the excitement going on, she had been neglecting Jack. She made a mental note to call him as soon as she and Nans were done.
“Oh good, dear. You two make a nice couple.”
Lexy remembered how Nans had been gesturing wildly outside the bar to catch her attention. “You seemed very anxious to see me; did you want to tell me something?”
Nans leaned in, her eyes gleaming. “My covert surveillance was a big success.”
“Do tell.”
“I overheard Corinne talking on the phone. She seemed very upset, like she was being threatened. I heard her say something about some piece of paper that seemed important. She also said she’d do whatever it takes to stop the foreclosure.” Nans sat back in her seat, a gleam of satisfaction in her eye.
“That doesn’t sound good,” Lexy said. “What paper was she talking about?”
> “I have no idea; she just said she had it. It seemed important somehow.”
“I’m still not sure how this ties in with the murder and my cake sabotage, but I can understand how desperate she must feel.” Lexy felt her heart drop. “It’s too bad. I was really starting to like her…”
Nans put her hand over Lexy’s. “This doesn’t necessarily mean she is the killer, or that she ruined your cake.”
Lexy sighed. “But we don’t have many other suspects left.”
Nans scrunched her forehead and paused. “There’s still Peter Saunders. Usually the husband is the first one I suspect. I wonder if the police have found out any more about him?”
“I don’t know. Come to think of it, I haven’t seen him around.” Lexy glanced over at the bar but there was no sign of Saunders.
“And there is one other clue that I think we may be overlooking,” Nans said.
“Oh?”
Nans looked around to make sure no one was within hearing range. “The black book you got from Westmore’s office.”
“That did seem important, but without knowing what it’s about, how can we tell if it has anything to do with the murder?”
“We can’t, but I think we need to give it due attention.”
Lexy sucked in an ice cube from her drink and crunched it. “That’s an idea…if only we could figure out more about what the notations in the book actually mean.”
Nans nodded. “By the way, I saw Aurea Pearce win big at the poker tables today.”
Lexy’s eyes went wide. “That explains why she was late getting her pies started.” Hopefully she’ll keep gambling and make it easier for me to win the competition.
Nans noisily slurped her tea, then wiped her mouth with a napkin. “Well, if that’s all, I must get back to the slots. I’m on a winning streak, you know.”
Lexy smiled. “Well, I wouldn’t want to keep you from that.”
As she watched Nans disappear into the casino, her thoughts turned to the murder. Something nagged at the back of her mind about the little black book. Just what did those dates and numbers really mean?
Maybe now that the police would be looking into Corinne’s involvement, she should just let it go. If Corinne was the murderer, and the one who had threatened her, the police would take care of it. Her time would be better spent focusing on winning the last challenge in the competition, not running around trying to find a killer.
Except for one thing.
Lexy had a hard time believing that the perky mother of three would commit murder. It didn’t add up. Murdering Saunders did nothing to guarantee Corinne would win the contest and get the money. Unless there was more to it than Lexy realized.
Lexy drained her glass, then pushed away from the table. Tomorrow was the last challenge and contest finale for Bakery Battles. She needed to get a good night’s rest. She’d need all her wits about her in order to create extraordinary cupcakes that would win the challenge and catch the killer all before the end of the contest.
12
“Well if it isn’t my old friend Jack Perillo. How are you doing?” Nik smiled into the phone.
“Good. Long time no see, huh?”
“Yep. Too long.” Nik thought fondly back to the days when she and Jack had worked together. They solved a lot of cases and had become close friends but time and geography had wedged theirs way in the middle, as they so often do, and the two detectives hadn’t talked in years.
“I hear you have a murder going on at the Bakery Battles contest there. Is that why you called?”
“Yes, one of our persons of interest is from your town. I think you probably know her because she’s been involved in murder cases there before.”
Nik heard a sharp intake of breath from the other side of the phone.
“Let me guess…is it Lexy Baker?”
“Uh-huh. How did you know?”
“Lexy seems to have a way of being around when murders happen.”
“Do you think she could be involved?”
Nik heard Jack laugh on the other end. “Lexy? No, she wouldn’t hurt a fly. Do you have evidence?”
“Nothing concrete, but she was the one to find the body, and the victim was strangled with her apron. Plus, the victim was a judge for the contest Baker is in and, apparently, didn’t judge her favorably.”
“That’s all circumstantial. I can assure you Lexy didn’t do it. You don’t have any better leads?”
“We have a few, but we’re checking all our angles. How can you be so positive she didn’t do it?”
“Because I know Lexy personally.”
“So you vouch for her then?” Nik felt her eyes narrowing, wondering how well Jack knew Lexy.
“Yeah, she’s not your murderer.”
“OK, thanks,” Nik said, then added, “it was good to talk to you again.”
“Same here Nikki. Good luck with your case.”
She snapped the phone shut.
Jake looked at her expectantly. “He doesn’t think she could be the killer?”
“Nope. Says he knows her personally.”
Nik saw Jakes eyes narrow. “Well perhaps his judgment is clouded depending on how personally he knows her. Ms. Baker can be quite persuasive. I can see how she could fool a man into thinking she was innocent.”
Nik raised her eyebrows. “Really? Is that what she has done to you?”
Jake laughed. “Not me, I’m immune. But she did give us another lead to check out.”
“Who?”
“Another baker, Corinne Conners. According to Lexy, there was glitter near the area where she found her sabotaged cake and Corinne Conners’s cakes were loaded with glitter.”
“Interesting.” Nik tapped her lips with the end of her pencil. “Baker could just be telling you that to throw you off track…or to try to implicate the other girl and ruin her chances of winning. Aren’t they in the top three to win the grand prize in Bakery Battles?”
“Yes, they are. It could be a ruse, but there’s only one way to find out.”
“Agreed. See if you can have someone round her up and bring her in.”
“We’ve ruled out Peter Saunders as the killer - the tapes show Amanda leaving the room alone that morning, and the electronics verify the door to the room wasn’t opened again until after the body was found. He’s been screaming holy hell about us finding the killer, so I’d like to speed things up.”
Nik leaned back in her adjustable police-issue chair, the old springs squeaking mechanically. “There’s one clue we haven’t let out to the public. I’m wondering if we can use that to trap the killer.”
“The paper?” Jake asked, eyebrows raised.
“Yes. Judging by the way the piece of paper was clutched in Saunders’s hand, the killer must have ripped most of it from her after he killed her. The lab reports just came in and the paper is a very expensive and rare stock. We’re trying to trace the source of the paper to see if we can find out who the buyer is, but the lab has a huge backload of cases to work on, so that’s not going to happen any time soon.”
“Something incriminating must have been on that paper. So, you’re thinking if the killer thinks we know what it was, he or she will do something drastic.”
Nik nodded. “Now all we have to do is dangle the bait. Since you seem to have such a good rapport with Lexy Baker, and she seems to be in the middle of things, you’re the logical person to feed it to her.”
Lexy worked the bowl of lemon filling, whipping it by hand so as to create the perfect texture. Beside her she could see Cassie mixing together the ingredients for the cupcake batter. Both girls worked silently, at breakneck speed.
Lexy was surprised at how refreshed she felt. She had slept well, despite the stress of the murder investigation and the pressure to win the final bakers challenge.
“The lemon cream filling is ready. I’ll put it in the fridge until the cupcakes are cooled.”
“OK. What’s next on the list?” Cassie asked while pouring batter into the
individual cupcake pans that had been lined with specialty paper Lexy had splurged on to give her cupcakes an elegant presentation.
Lexy looked down at the handwritten list they had devised the night before. It was a running checklist of the order in which they needed to make the ingredients for the cupcakes, which would be judged in that days challenge. It was crucial that everything go perfectly, since this was the last challenge in Bakery Battles.
The overall winner of the contest would be determined by adding up the scores from all the challenges. If they could score high on this one, Lexy stood an excellent chance of winning the entire contest and taking home the $100,000 grand prize.
“Next we need to make the batter for the chocolate-espresso cupcakes, then put together the frostings for both.”
“I’ll do the batter.” Cassie grabbed the necessary ingredients from the pantry. “I see Aurea isn’t in her kitchen yet.”
Lexy glanced over at the next booth. “Good. The less work she puts into her cupcakes the better for us. Nans told me she saw her winning a big jackpot, so maybe she doesn’t care so much about the contest anymore.”
Cassie frowned. “I still feel like we need something more to make our cupcakes stand out…even if Aurea does a half-assed job, we still have Corinne to contend with.”
“Don’t worry. I have a surprise decoration that’s sure to win us high points in the aesthetics department.” Lexy felt a satisfied smile curl her lips.
Cassie looked at her with interest. “Spill it. What?”
Lexy put her finger up to her lips “Shhh…I don’t want anyone to find out or they might steal my idea.” She beckoned Cassie over to the refrigerator.
Looking over her shoulder to make sure no one was watching, she opened the large stainless steel door, then bent down to retrieve something from the bottom shelf. Using the door and her body to shield what was in her hand from the rest of the stadium, she pulled out a long, delicate sugar sculpture.
Lexy felt pride well in her chest as she looked at the fragile piece of edible art. It was 4 inches long and consisted of thin pulls of sugar that were swirled and twisted.
Lexy Baker Cozy Mystery Series Boxed Set Vol 1 (Books 1 - 4) (Lexy Baker Cozy Mysteries Boxed Sets) Page 22