“The judges have scored each cupcake on aesthetics and taste.” He waved the cards in the air. “I have the results here and am happy to announce the third-place ribbon. With 3 points for aesthetics and four points for taste, the ribbon goes to…”
Lexy bit her bottom lip as he paused dramatically.
“Marg Rupert.” Lexy heard a burst of applause as the baker went up to collect her ribbon. Since this was the last challenge, there were only three finalists, so that left Lexy and Corinne in the running for first place. She glanced sideways at Corinne, who was fidgeting behind her cart of cupcakes.
“Lexy, Corinne.” Tim nodded at each of them in turn. “It was a tough decision between the two of you. In the end, one of you won by a hair with a better presentation.”
Another dramatic pause jangled Lexy’s nerves.
“The second-place ribbon, goes to the baker who won 5 points for taste and 4 points for aesthetics: Lexy Baker! Which means Corinne Conners is the winner with 5 points for both taste and aesthetics!”
Lexy swelled with pride as she and Corinne went to the podium to accept their ribbons. She should have been disappointed she lost by a small margin, but in reality she was happy the other woman won. She felt her heart grow when she saw the smile on Corinne’s face, which was flushed with excitement, and she knew she had made the right decision. But when Corinne glanced over at Lexy, her smile faded.
“Congratulations ladies,” Tim said, as Lexy and Corinne made their way back to stand behind their carts.
“As you know, this is the last challenge in Bakery Battles. We will now pick the overall winner by adding up the scores from all the challenges. The baker with the highest score will win the grand prize of $100,000 and a spread in American Baker Magazine.”
Everyone applauded loudly, including Lexy and Corinne.
“There is also a generous second prize of $20,000 and a third prize of $2000. We will break for an hour and then announce the winners right here.”
Tim stepped down from the podium. The camera crew stopped filming and the crowd started to break up. Everyone would take a short break and return in an hour to hear the final judging.
Lexy saw Corinne turning to leave and called after her.
“Corinne, wait up!”
Corinne turned stiffly to face her and Lexy’s heart dropped when she saw the stricken look on her face. She forced herself to walk over to the other baker - she had some unfinished business that needed to be taken care of before the final winner was announced.
“Congratulations!” Lexy said, opening her arms to hug the other baker. She saw that Corinne was near tears. Corinne covered her face as Lexy put her arms around her.
“Oh, Lexy, I’m so sorry.”
“Why?” Lexy asked.
“I didn’t mean to cheat…I only wanted to peek at your wedding cake,” Corinne said through tears.
“Oh, that? Don’t be silly. You didn’t see anything I was trying to keep secret anyway.”
Lexy’s heart lifted when she saw Corinne’s face brighten.
“Really?”
Lexy nodded.
“So you’re not mad?”
“No, not at all.”
“Oh, thank you!” Corinne returned Lexy’s hug, a big smile on her face, the blue ribbon clutched in her hand.
“I was afraid you would be mad at me. When the police questioned me about it, they thought I ruined your cake. I swear I didn’t touch it!”
“I know. Westmore did it. He confessed to me,” Lexy said.
Corinne’s eyes opened wide. “I saw him that night. He was walking toward your booth. But why?” She looked around. “Come to think of it, where is Westmore?”
Lexy explained the whole story to Corinne, who listened wide-eyed.
“Wow. I had no idea.” Corrinne looked around. “Hey, I have to go freshen up to get ready for the final announcement.” She shook her hands out. “I’m so nervous!”
“Me too! I think we both have a good chance. Good luck!” Lexy said, genuinely meaning it.
“Good luck to you too,” Corinne said, giving Lexy a quick hug.
They walked off in opposite directions. Lexy felt like bats were flying around in her stomach. In less than an hour, the whole contest would be over and one of the bakers would be $100,000 richer with a great opportunity ahead of them. Lexy wanted to win, but she was also rooting for Corinne. The other baker needed the money a lot more than she did, plus she had three young kids to support.
Lexy smiled to herself, certain she had made the right decision, as she sped off to her room to freshen up and then gather Nans and Cassie for the final announcement.
Lexy took in a deep breath and eyed the entrance to Bakery Battles Stadium for what would probably be the last time. In a few minutes, the winner would be announced, the kitchens would be packed up, and everyone would be on their way home and back to their normal lives.
“Good luck, dear.” Nans gave her a hug.
Cassie held out her fist for a knuckle tap. “Good luck!”
“Thanks.” Lexy smiled, her stomach rolling over like a cement mixer and feeling just as heavy.
She broke off from Nans and Cassie to go to the far side of the stadium where a special section was setup for all the bakers. In the preliminary finals, there would be no taping, and the majority of the bakers would be eliminated. Only the seven bakers with the most points would continue on to the taped finale. Nans and Cassie would be waiting in the spectator stands.
Lexy scanned the crowd. Locating Corinne over in the corner, she waved a greeting and proceeded to make her way over just as Tim Gartner started to address the crowd of bakers.
“First of all, on behalf of Bakery Battles, I’d like to thank all of you. As you know, the contest has had its challenges this year.”
A murmur went through the crowd, and Lexy could see many of the bakers nodding.
“The baking has been top-notch and you’ve all done such a wonderful job that it’s been hard to choose the finalists,” he continued. “But, only one baker can win and it is time to narrow down the group to the top seven who will go on to the grand finale.”
Tim held up a piece of paper. “This card has the names of those lucky seven bakers. I’m going to read them off. If you are one of them, step over here to the right. Everyone else can start packing up their kitchens. Thank you for participating in Bakery Battles and good luck.”
Lexy clenched her hands into fists, her shoulders tense. She thought she had done well enough to make it into the top seven, but she still felt anxious to hear her name.
The room fell silent, all the bakers holding their breath as Tim read the names.
“Rudy Abru, Hanna Anderson, Jason Bach, Lexy Baker, Corinne Conners, Mandy Hudson, Bill Salida. Congratulations - you’ve made it into the top seven!”
Lexy let her breath out in a big whoosh and clapped with the rest of the bakers. She made it!
She joined the other six bakers on the right. Amidst high fives and hugs, they watched the remaining bakers file out.
“If you are all set, we can go into the other area now. The camera crews are ready to start taping. Congratulations to all of you - you did a fine job.” Tim made the rounds, shaking hands with each of them, then they followed him out into the other room where the camera crews and spectators were waiting.
Lexy took her place in line with the other bakers facing the judges. She could feel her pulse beating in her neck: her throat dried up and her hands got clammy. Could this really be the final judging for Bakery Battles? It seemed surreal to think that in a few minutes one of them would have an extra $100,000 and a magazine opportunity.
Tim walked to the podium. The cameras started to roll. Lexy listened while he announced that the final judging was taking place and then said a little bit about each judge and how the entries were judged on taste and appearance with the scores from all the challenges being tallied up to produce the grand-prize winner.
“I’d like to add, that Bake
ry Battles has been proud to host the finest bakers in America.” He waved his card at the group of bakers. Lexy smiled and nodded with the rest of them. “I’d like to give all of them the grand prize, but of course, only one can win.”
“First, I’d like to announce the four runners-up. Each will receive $250 worth of equipment for their kitchens from our sponsor, the Bakery Connection. They are…Rudy Abru, Hanna Anderson, Jason Bach, and Mandy Hudson!”
Lexy felt relief and excitement. She was in the top three!
The clapping died down and Tim continued on. “For the third-place prize, including a check for $2,000, please congratulate…Bill Salida!”
Lexy’s heart hammered in her chest; her knees felt weak. That left only her and Corinne-one of them was the grand-prize winner and the other the second-prize winner.
“Lexy…Corinne…You’ve both been great competitors. Your scores were pretty close, but one of you will be the grand-prize winner of $100,000 and a spread in American Baker Magazine. The other will get a nice prize too - a check for $20,000.”
The spectators clapped enthusiastically. Lexy forced herself to breathe - either way she was going home with a big, fat check.
“And the grand-prize winner is…”
Tim paused. Lexy held her breath, feeling dizzy with anticipation. She figured if she was watching this on television, she’d be subjected to a series of commercials before she could find out who the winner was. She was grateful she didn’t have to wait 5 minutes in real life.
“Corinne Conners!”
Lexy let out her breath in a whoosh of air. She turned to see Corinne jumping up and down. Confetti rained down from the ceiling as she embraced her friend.
“Congratulations! The prize couldn’t go to a more deserving baker.” Lexy meant every word of it. She released Corinne and watched her walk up to the podium to pose for the cameras with an oversized version of the $100,000 check.
Lexy smiled as she turned away scanning the crowd for Nans and Cassie. She spotted them in the corner, waved, and headed over to them.
“Congratulations!” Nans said. “I think you should have won first prize, but you still did pretty good.”
Lexy nodded.
“Nice work!” Cassie said.
“I couldn’t have done it without you.” Lexy smiled at her friend.
“There’s one thing I just can’t figure out.” Cassie narrowed her eyes at Lexy.
“What’s that?”
“Why didn’t you want to put the sugar sculptures on the cupcakes? I think we would have won first prize with those extra points.”
Lexy shrugged, glancing over at Corinne with a smile.
“Hey, wait a minute.” Cassie’s eyes got bigger. “Lexy…you did it on purpose, didn’t you?”
Lexy blushed, looking away. It was true, they might have won the contest, but Lexy was happy with the $20,000 and even happier knowing the big prize would go to a family who really needed the money to start over.
She hooked her arms through Cassie’s and Nans’. “Sometimes winning isn’t about getting the biggest prize. Now, let’s go pack up the kitchen, collect our check, and go home.”
Epilogue
Lexy looked down her straw at the red liquid swirling between ice cubes in the gigantic skull-shaped glass mug sitting on the table in front of her. She took a long sip.
Leaning back in her chair, she looked around the crowded outdoor bar at the Treasure Island hotel. With regret, she realized this was the first time she’d had a chance to actually enjoy her trip to Vegas. Too bad it would be short-lived. She was only killing time in the bar before their limo arrived to take them to the airport.
She breathed in the dry twilight desert air. Across the table, Detective Nik Stone raised her delicate martini glass.
“A toast to my favorite amateur sleuths.” She tipped her glass toward Nans and then Lexy.
Lexy, Cassie, Nans, and Jake brought up their glasses to clink with Nik’s.
“I still can’t believe you guys used me to do the dirty work.” Lexy glared at Jake.
“Well, not all the work. But we did find you useful,” he said.
“Come on, admit it, you wouldn’t have stopped looking no matter what. We just made good use of your efforts. And kept an eye on you so you didn’t get into trouble,” Nik said. “Speaking of which, you really shouldn’t make a habit of getting involved in these investigations, Lexy - it can be very dangerous.”
Lexy rolled her eyes. Nik was starting to sound like Jack - did all detectives talk like that? She couldn’t help but smile, thinking she’d be home with Jack-and Sprinkles soon.
“You know,” said Cassie, “there’s still a couple of strange things about the case that I don’t get. Like what really happened to Aurea Pearce?”
“And what was the paper I heard Corinne talking about?” Nans added.
“We got word Aurea took off in a hurry. She owed a lot of money to a lot of different people. People you don’t want to owe money to. When she had a big win at the poker tables, she fled. We think she might have left the country…either that or the people she owed money to caught up with her.” Nik shrugged, then turned to Nans. “The paper you overheard Corinne talking about was actually just a paper from her bank offering an agreement to avoid the foreclosure. Of course, now she won’t have to worry about that.”
Nans laughed. “Oh, it sounded so sinister on the phone in light of everything that was going on.”
“By the way, I’m curious to know more about your surveillance skills and how you and the Ladies Detective Club investigate things. Can I call you when you get back to Brooke Ridge Falls and pick your brain about a few things?” Nik asked.
Lexy saw a flush creep into Nans’ cheeks; her green eyes sparkled. “Well, of course, dear. We’re glad to be of help at any time.” Nans pulled a business card out of her pocket and handed it to Nik.
“You have business cards?” Lexy’s eyes narrowed as she craned to see the card.
“We just had them made,” Nans said. She reached back into her pocket to show one to Lexy.
Lexy read it out loud. “Brooke Ridge Falls Ladies Detective Club - We Always Get Our Man.” Everyone chuckled and the blush on Nans’ cheeks deepened.
“Well, it’s been quite a trip,” Cassie said.
“Yes, it has. The contest was fun, but I’ll be glad to get back home and back to our regular routine,” Lexy said.
“Do be sure to say hello to Jack for me,” Nik said over the rim of her martini glass.
Lexy nodded, thinking she just might conveniently forget about that.
Cassie checked her watch. “We only have about 40 more minutes before the limo comes to get us…drink up!”
Everyone raised their glasses to their lips, the sound of ice cubes clinking against each other as they drained their drinks was interrupted by a cacophony of bells coming from Nan’s gigantic purse.
“What’s that?” Nik asked.
“Oh, it’s my iPad. One of the girls must be Face Timing me.” Nans reached down into her purse and pulled out the large tablet. Setting it on the table, she moved the slider with her finger. Ida’s face appeared on the screen.
“Hi,” Ida said. “Oh, where are you. It looks like you’re in a bar!”
“We’re all checked out and waiting for our ride to the airport,” Nans said.
“Oh, good. You’ll be home tonight, then?”
“Yes, how are things there?” Nans asked.
“That’s why I’m calling, Mona. Things aren’t so good.”
Lexy felt a stab of panic. She hoped the ladies were all okay.
“Is everyone all right?” Nans voiced her concern into the iPad.
“Oh, Ruth, Helen, and I are fine. It’s not us. Bertram Glumm was found dead in his bed this morning.”
Everyone at the table exchanged worried glances.
Nans’ hands flew up to her face. “Oh, dear, Bertram seemed so young and spry.”
“He was. That’s why we
need you to come back right away.” Ida’s face grew larger on the iPad screen, her voice lowered to a whisper. “They’re saying it was natural causes, but I think we need to investigate. The girls and I…we have reason to believe he was murdered.”
The End.
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This is a work of fiction. None of it is real.
All names, places, and events are products of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to real names, places, or events are purely coincidental, and should not be construed as being real.
Murder, Money & Marzipan
Copyright © 2013
Leighann Dobbs
http://www.leighanndobbs.com
All Rights Reserved.
No part of this work may be used or reproduced in any manner, except as allowable under “fair use,” without the express written permission of the author.
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3 Bodies and a Biscotti
1
Lexy took a nibble of the pistachio biscotti. The crunch of the biscuit sounded like music to her ears. The sweet taste of the cookie combined with the contrasting creamy, soft bitterness of the dark chocolate coating created a riot of sensations in her mouth.
“Please take one, I’m trying out a new recipe and I’d love to know what you think,” she mumbled around a mouthful, shoving the tray of biscotti towards the three older women.
Ruth, Helen and Nans each picked up a biscuit, and bit into it noisily. They chewed tentatively at first and Lexy felt a pang of disappointment. Didn’t they like them?
Nans swallowed, then blotted her lips with a napkin. “It’s delicious, dear." The two other women nodded in agreement.
Lexy Baker Cozy Mystery Series Boxed Set Vol 1 (Books 1 - 4) (Lexy Baker Cozy Mysteries Boxed Sets) Page 25