“Sure, there’s not much left. If you don’t get back by the time I see the judges come around, I’ll put the sugar sculptures on top and make an excuse for you.”
“OK, I think it’s time for me to go.” Lexy felt her stomach roll as she stood up.
“Good luck,” Cassie whispered.
Lexy squinted, looking down the long aisle toward the back of the stadium where she could see the crew setting up the cameras for the initial taping. Satisfying herself that Westmore was among them, she turned, hurrying in the direction of his office.
Slipping inside, she crossed to the filing cabinet. It had been locked when she had come here at night. She crossed her fingers, hoping Westmore kept it unlocked during the daytime hours. Her heart pounded in her ears as she took the little black book from her back pocket.
Holding her breath, she tried the top drawer. It slid open and she let her breath out in a big whoosh.
Now if she only knew what she was looking for.
Lexy rifled through the folders trying to find anything that looked like an accounting ledger. She wanted to compare what was on the actual ledgers to the few entries from the black book that Ida had deciphered for her.
The first drawer didn’t have what she was looking for. She moved to the second. Inside, an accounting ledger caught her eye. She pulled it out. Running her fingers down the side, she looked for a matching date. Bingo! Comparing the numbers next to the date in the ledger with the numbers in the black book, she could see they were different. Surely that must mean-
Her thoughts were interrupted by a noise in the hall. She shoved the ledger back in the drawer, rammed the drawer shut, and spun around just in time to see the doorknob turning.
Lexy felt her legs go weak as she watched the door open. Evan Westmore stepped into the room. She watched his mouth drop open and his eyes go wide when he noticed her standing there.
They stared at each other in stunned silence for a long second.
“What are you doing here?” he demanded.
Lexy felt dizzy, her mind spinning to come up with an excuse for her presence in his office.
“Someone said I could find the challenge enrollment forms in here.” She blurted out the first thing she could think of.
Westmore’s eyes narrowed. “Who said that?”
He took a step toward her. She shuffled sideways around the desk, holding the black book behind her.
“O-one of the other bakers,” she stuttered.
Westmore looked at the filing cabinet she had been leaning her back against.
“Did you find them?” He moved toward her again and she backed farther behind the desk.
“N-no.”
“What do you have behind your back?”
Lexy felt a jolt of electricity pierce her heart. She slipped the black book into her back pocket. “Nothing.” She spread her hands at her sides.
Westmore’s eyes narrowed. “You’ve been checking up on me, haven’t you?”
“No,” Lexy lied. Looking down at the desk, her eyes caught the notepaper she had noticed on her previous trip to his office. Suddenly she remembered Jake telling her about the expensive paper that was clutched in Saunders’s hand…specialty paper just like the notepaper she was looking at.
Lexy felt everything click in place like the pieces of a puzzle. The book with coded numbers and dates, the expensive items in Westmore’s office, the expensive clothing Saunders had been buying, the specialty paper. Westmore and Saunders weren’t lovers - they were pulling some sort of embezzlement scam on the Bakery Battles contest.
Lexy felt a jolt of panic - Westmore was the murderer. She knew she had to get away, but her legs felt like lead.
She edged around the desk toward the door, praying the look on her face didn’t give away the fact that she had figured out what Westmore had done.
Westmore moved between her and the door. The twisted grimace on his face and evil gleam in his eyes made her stomach plummet - Westmore already knew she had figured it out.
Nik reached across her desk to grab the manila folder filled with information they had gathered on Westmore. She pursed her lips, leafing through the papers.
“See if you can get a list of Westmore’s purchases and bank account transactions,” she said without looking up.
“And hurry,” she called after Jake as he ran off to do her bidding.
Nik stared out the window, her mind racing. Westmore had a shady past. He was in the stadium when Saunders was murdered, but so were a lot of other people. Corinne claimed to have seen him the night the cake was sabotaged. Most importantly, Amanda Scott-Saunders had been clutching a piece of paper Westmore had purchased at the time of her death.
She tapped her fingernails impatiently on the desk. Where was Ryan with that bank account report? If her theory proved true, then it was a safe bet Westmore was the killer, and she didn’t want to waste any time bringing him in.
Out of the corner of her eye she saw Jake rushing across the squad room, a long piece of paper in his hand. She stood to greet him.
“Check this out. He’s made some pretty big deposits over the past few weeks.” Jake shoved the paper in front of her.
Nik scanned the bank account summary. “He certainly has - much more than his salary would account for. This proves my theory. Westmore was embezzling money from the Bakery Battles competition.”
“But why kill Saunders?” Jake asked.
Nik bit the inside of her cheek. “Well, we don’t have any proof that he did kill her. But my gut instinct says he did. Maybe she was in on it with him and he wanted to get her out of the way so he could have all the money, or maybe she caught him at it.”
“What about Conners and Baker?”
“Hard to tell how many people were involved…speaking of Baker, have Styles and McManus checked in yet?”
As if on cue, the small two-way radio attached to Jake’s belt squawked. “Ryan, you there?” A distorted voice sounded from the radio.
Jake plucked it from his belt, pressing the button on the side. “Yep.”
“The subject is on the move. Went to Westmore’s office about five minutes ago. Several minutes later Westmore met her there.”
Nik felt her heart freeze. She looked at Jake.
“A rendezvous? Maybe Ms. Baker was in on it with Westmore - they could have been fixing the contest for her to win. Maybe they framed Corinne Conners to get her disqualified and chased Pearce off,” Jake said.
“It could be that, or Ms. Baker could be doing some amateur sleuthing, which could prove to be fatal. Either way, we better get to Westmore’s office pronto. Have Styles and McManus meet us there.”
Nik grabbed two bullet-proof vests from the hooks on the wall and tossed one to Jake. Shrugging her arms through the vest, she watched Jake wrestle with his while issuing the order to the other detectives through the two-way radio. Then she grabbed her gun and ran to the car. Jake jumped in beside her and they sped off, sirens blaring, toward Bakery Battles Stadium.
Lexy felt dizzy. She grabbed the edge of the desk for stability. She had to stall Westmore - keep him talking until she could figure out how to get past him to the door.
“I had a feeling you were on to me. Too bad you didn’t heed my warning,” Westmore sneered, taking a step toward her.
“Warning?”
“The cake. I tried to warn you off, but you couldn’t stop meddling, could you?”
Meddling? There was that word again. Lexy straightened her back, her cheeks growing pink with anger.
“You ruined my cake?”
Westmore laughed. “Too bad it didn’t get you kicked out of the competition…but you won’t be in it much longer anyway.”
Lexy kept her eyes on Westmore, feeling along the desk for something sharp. Where was a good old-fashioned letter opener when you needed one?
“But why?” Lexy could feel the twitch in her eye start up and squeezed her eyes shut to try to stop it. When she opened them, Westmore was almost besid
e her.
“You were getting too close to the truth. It could ruin me and I can’t let that happen.”
“Truth?” Maybe if she played dumb he’d let her go.
“Don’t play dumb. I know you took my black book. The one with my second set of numbers. In fact, I bet that’s what you are hiding behind your back.” He lunged forward. Grabbing her arm roughly, he shoved his hand into her back pocket and pulled out the book.
“I knew it!” He seemed almost gleeful.
“So you were embezzling money?” Lexy tried to twist her arm free, but Westmore was surprisingly strong for a wimpy-looking guy.
“That’s right.”
“And Saunders was in on it with you…you killed her so you could have all the money to yourself.”
Westmore laughed. “That bitch. She wasn’t in on it; she was blackmailing me! Demanding money every week. She was bleeding me dry. That morning, I met her with a payoff. She was so smug…I just couldn’t let her continue. I handed her the money, but when she turned to leave, I grabbed an apron from the hook and choked the life out of her. Then I took my envelope of money from her, shoved her body under the shelving, turned down the thermostat, and left.”
Lexy’s eyes went wide. The scrap of paper in Saunders’s hand was from an envelope, not a piece of paper.
“That’s why it was so cold in the freezer; you knew the body wouldn’t smell,” she said.
Westmore sneered.
“But why did you use my apron to kill her?”
“That was just coincidence. I merely grabbed the closest one. Of course, I had no idea it would cause you to continuously stick your nose in where it doesn’t belong.” Westmore tightened his grip on her arm. His eyes looked past her at something on the wall. “If it wasn’t for your meddling, the body might not have been discovered until the contest was over. And now, unfortunately, I’m going to have to kill you, too.”
He reached past her grabbing a necktie hanging on the wall. Lexy pulled back and kicked out. She heard him grunt as her steel toed stilettos connected with his shin. His grip loosened enough for her to wriggle away. She turned to run.
Pain exploded in her head as he grabbed her pony-tail, yanking her back toward him and leaving her neck exposed. He threw the tie around her neck, wrapped both ends tightly in his hands, and pulled.
Lexy felt like her esophagus was being crushed. She clutched at the fabric around her neck, her vision going gray around the edges. She heard a big bang just as she was beginning to black out and wondered if that was what death sounded like.
“Let go of her, Westmore!”
Lexy figured she must have gone to hell when she heard the voice of Detective Nik Stone blaring in her ears. She felt the tightness loosen around her neck as she dropped to the floor. She inhaled a big gulp of air and opened her eyes.
The room had burst into a hive of activity. Nik Stone had Westmore up against the wall. Two police officers were inspecting the office. Jake Ryan scrambled to her side.
“Are you OK?” he asked.
Lexy’s hands went to her raw, bruised throat. “I…think…so.” The words came out in a croak.
Jake helped her up as they watched Nik roughly handcuff Westmore and hand him over to Styles and McManus, who escorted him out the door.
Lexy felt a quiver of fear as Stone fixed her with an angry glare. “You’re OK?”
Lexy nodded.
“What did you think you were doing, coming in here?” Stone demanded.
Lexy swallowed. “I suspected Westmore was embezzling money.” She pointed to the black book on the top of the desk. “That book has coded transactions…a second set of books for accounting.”
Nik raised an eyebrow. “And you thought you would come here and catch him all by yourself?”
Lexy felt her cheeks burn. It did sound kind of stupid now that she thought about it. “I just wanted to find more proof to show you. I thought I could compare the ledgers in the filing cabinet and find out for sure.”
Nik sighed. “Well you did do one thing for us. You let us catch him in the act of trying to kill you.”
“How did you guys know I was in here?” Lexy wrinkled her brow, marveling at the precise timing. A few minutes later and she would have been a goner.
“We had Styles and McManus following you, but we might not have been here if Conners didn’t raise my suspicions by telling me that she saw Westmore the night your cake was sabotaged.”
Lexy felt her eyes grow wide. “So Corinne had nothing to do with this?”
Nik shook her head. “We don’t think so.”
Lexy looked at her watch. “Oh, no, the contest! I have to get back-the cupcake challenge has already started!”
Lexy shook off Jake’s hand which was still resting on her arm and bolted out of the room. As she ran down the hall she could hear Nik yelling after her: “Wait! We still have some questions for you!”
15
Lexy skidded to a stop beside Cassie just as she was about to place the sugar sculptures on top of the first batch of cupcakes.
“Wait…don’t put those on.”
Cassie turned in Lexy’s direction, her brow wrinkled. “What?”
“Just put them out without the sculptures. The judges are only two booths down.”
“I think we still have time-“
“No,” Lexy cut her off, “let’s just get them on the stands and out to the table.”
Cassie shrugged and turned her attention to stacking the cupcakes neatly on the tiered stands they had bought especially for the cupcake presentation.
“Did you find what you wanted at Westmore’s office?” Cassie asked.
“And then some. Westmore caught me in the act and tried to kill me! The detectives showed up just in time and arrested him. Lexy whispered sharply, her hand going to her throat.
Cassie spun to face her, concern flooding her blue eyes. “What? Your neck is bruised! Are you OK?”
Lexy nodded, “I’m ok. Detective Stone saved the day just in time, but the important thing is Westmore admitted to being the murderer. He’s also the one who ruined our cake.”
Cassies eyes went wide. “Why did he kill Amanda?”
Lexy lowered her voice. “She caught him embezzling money from the contest and was blackmailing him.”
“Holy crap.” Cassie opened her mouth to say more but was interrupted by the judges appearing at their booth.
“Your cupcakes make a lovely presentation with the paper and the stand,” Judge Lutner said. Lexy felt her heart warm as the others nodded their approval.
“The cupcakes themselves are nice but perhaps a little plain,” Grace Harvey said.
Lexy watched the head judge Tim Gartner purse his lips while he looked the cupcakes up and down, then jotted notes on his notepad.
Finally the judges smiled, nodded, and moved on.
Lexy felt like she had been holding her breath the whole time.
“Looks like we did OK,” Lexy said.
Cassie shrugged. “Judge Harvey did say they were plain. Those sugar sculptures would have jazzed them up.”
Lexy glanced back wistfully at the refrigerator where the sculptures were. They would have improved the appearance, most likely giving her high points for aesthetics, but Lexy had her reasons for leaving them off.
“Well, hopefully we will make up for it in the tasting portion of the challenge.”
“If we make it that far.”
Cassie leaned her head toward Lexy. “Tell me more about Westmore…what happened in there?”
Lexy explained how she had gone to the office and found the ledger, only to be surprised by Westmore, who admitted to killing Saunders before he tried to kill her.
“I hate to admit it, but Nik Stone saved my life,” Lexy said.
“Lucky thing. Maybe Jack is right about not getting involved in these investigations.” Cassie raised a pierced eyebrow at Lexy.
Lexy felt her cheeks flush but was saved from further admonitions by the sight o
f Tim Gartner heading toward their booth.
“You’ve made it to the tasting round, so please bring your cupcakes over,” he said.
Lexy and Cassie sprang into action, loading the cupcake displays onto a stainless steel cart, which they wheeled across the stadium to the taste judging area.
On the other side of the stadium, Lexy was pleased to see that Corinne was one of the contestants who had made it to the tasting round. Lexy wheeled her cart over and took her place in between Corinne and another baker she had only met fleetingly. Corinne cast a worried glance in Lexy’s direction, but Lexy smiled at her reassuringly.
Lexy shuffled her feet nervously as she watched the judges take their places at the table across from them. The area behind them was filled with various spectators. The camera crew was already recording the activities.
Lexy watched Tim Gartner take the podium, marveling at how quickly the contest had adjusted after the excitement of Westmore’s arrest.
As Gartner made the usual introductions, Lexy’s thoughts turned to Westmore. Her hand went to her throat; the skin felt raw and she rubbed it uneasily. She felt her stomach churn as she realized how close to death she had come. Maybe Jack was right…maybe she should stop meddling in murders. She hated to admit it, but it was becoming somewhat of a fun hobby and she loved working with Nans and the Ladies Detective Club. Perhaps she would just try to be more careful in the future.
“…wonderfully light lemon filling.” The words took Lexy out of her thoughts and she smiled at the judge’s compliment.
“The taste combination is perfect and your chocolate espresso is rich and moist - one of the best cupcakes I have tasted today,” Judge Harvey said.
Lexy smiled and nodded. “Thank you.”
With a start, she realized she hadn’t even paid attention to what the judges had said about the other contestants’ cupcakes-she had been too lost in her own thoughts.
Gartner stepped to the podium, the scorecard in his hand. Lexy felt her mouth go dry realizing they were about to announce the winner of this challenge.
Lexy Baker Cozy Mystery Series Boxed Set Vol 1 (Books 1 - 4) (Lexy Baker Cozy Mysteries Boxed Sets) Page 24