by Sandi Scott
CHAPTER 2
The next day, Ashley pulled in to the back entrance of the Gulf Coast Women’s Club, mentally replaying the highlights of their biggest catering job yet. Her only regret was that she had not seen Ryan again after she tripped over herself and hid in the bathroom; she found herself wishing she could have told him about some of the hilarious kitchen bloopers of the night. The dessert spread had been such a hit that she’d been too distracted with all the compliments to clean up properly, accidentally leaving behind a few baking trays.
She made her way into the kitchen and grabbed the trays. The kitchen door swung open, startling her. All the pans fell out of her grasp and clattered on the floor.
“Ashley? What’re you doing here?”
It was Sheriff Mueller, staring at her with a look of apprehension. Seagrass had always been such a peaceful town, so the odd time something did happen, it could be seen on Old Man Mueller’s face. Also, the fact that he wasn’t at the diner drinking coffee and brushing breakfast crumbs from his grey stubble, like every other morning, meant that something really bad had happened.
“I’m getting my pans. What’s wrong?”
His eyebrows scrunched together, wrinkling his forehead even more.
“You were here for the event last night, and you cooked the food?”
She nodded. “The desserts.”
“Why don’t you come out here with me?”
His tone was serious, but Ashley had always found a southern drawl comforting. She felt that if you had to get bad news, at least it sounded better blanketed with an accent.
A crowd of Seagrass’s small police force was gathered in front of the side hallway, which was blocked off with caution tape.
“We’re waitin’ for the state police to get here for forensics,” Mueller offered, taking a notebook from his pocket. “Would you mind answering a few questions?”
“Uh, what’s this about?” She crossed her arms, wishing that she hadn’t thrown on sweatpants and a Texans jersey.
He sighed, putting a hand on her shoulder.
“Colleen Abramson fell ill at the dinner last night. Someone found her in the bathroom this morning—deceased.”
Her mind raced with questions. “Colleen? Dead? I just saw her. Talked with her. I stood right in front of her. How could she suddenly be dead?”
“We don’t know much yet. Bobby says she grew ill near the end of the night and left to go to the bathroom. There was a miscommunication, and everyone at her table assumed that someone else had seen her home.”
“They just left her there?” Ashley’s hand rose to her forehead, “and no one found her till morning?”
“I know. Bobby feels terrible,” the sheriff said, “but by all accounts, it seems it was an honest mistake.”
She felt guilty about her harsh tone, knowing that Mr. McCay would be a million times harder on himself. Her eyes were welling with tears.
“I know this is hard, but there’s some things I need to ask you.” Mueller hesitated. “Please understand, I’ve gotta ask these questions. It’s my job.”
Ashley wiped her eyes with her sleeve. “Okay.”
“Now, by all accounts, Colleen was a healthy young lady, but who knows, it coulda been a heart attack or something.” He placed his hand on her shoulder again. “Still, I gotta ask. You made the dessert, right?”
“What?” Ashley was confused by the question. What did she have to do with any of this?
Mueller grimaced. “They said all Colleen had to eat was dessert. And then—well, she got sick. I need to know what ingredients were in the cream puffs, and you need to confirm that you used proper food safety protocol to make them.”
“What kind of question is that?” She could feel the heat rising up her chest into her neck. “Of course I did. I am trained by a world-renowned chef, you know. She’s the best in the business.”
She knew that it wasn’t Mueller’s fault, yet she couldn’t help raising her voice. It didn’t matter how good the food was; any murmurs of a sick guest could cripple a catering business, not to mention a baker’s reputation. She took a deep breath.
“What I mean—what I mean is that my food safety standards are among the highest you’ll find.”
“Even so,” said Mueller, “I just need to get this information in order to rule it out.”
Ashley rattled off the recipe from memory. “Flour, eggs, butter, sugar—” You couldn’t get any more basic than the standard pastry and cream filling recipe. The decorative flowers came from an organic grower, free of all pesticides and herbicides, and double washed with her own hands. It couldn’t be her fault, could it?
“Did anyone else get sick? If it was only Colleen, it must have been something she’d had before.”
“Darlin’, I know, but we’ve got to rule out something contaminating the portion Colleen ate,” Mueller said.
“Poisoning. You’re talking about straight-up poisoning someone,” Ashley said. “I don’t make those kinds of mistakes, especially not with a partner like Patty, who’s always gone above and beyond food safety standards.”
If you enjoyed this preview of Cream Puff Murder, check your local ebook retailer where it is free right now.
Recipe: Gluten Free Kumquat and Gingersnap Cookies
INGREDIENTS
2 ¼ Cups King Arthur Gluten Free Flour
¾ Teaspoon Baking Soda
1/3 Cup Butter, softened
1 Cup Sugar
1 Egg
¼ Cup Molasses
1 Tablespoon Honey
2 Tablespoons Diced Kumquats
1 Teaspoon Apple Cider Vinegar
1 Teaspoon Ground Ginger
¼ Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
1/8 Teaspoon Ground Clove
PREPARATION
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
In a small bowl mix the flour and baking soda together, set aside.
In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar together.
Add eggs, molasses, honey, and kumquats (in that order) to the butter/sugar mixture. Mix well.
Now add the vinegar and spices.
Finally, slowly mix in the flour mixture just until incorporated.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, roll dough into 1 inch balls and space evenly apart on the baking sheet.
Bake for 10-12 minutes.
Recipe from Foodista
Recipe: Easy Candy Cane Snowballs
INGREDIENTS
1 cup butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (make them gluten free and use your favorite gf baking flour. I like King Arthur Measure for Measure flour)
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup hard peppermint candies, crushed
Powdered sugar for rolling
PREPARATION
Heat oven to 400 degrees.
Beat butter, ½ cup powdered sugar and the vanilla in a large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed.
Mix ¼ cup of the crushed peppermint candies in with the flour and salt and save the remaining candies.
Stir in the flour mixture.
Shape the dough into 1-inch balls.
Place about 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake 8-9 minutes or until set but not brown.
Immediately remove from the cookie sheet and roll in powdered sugar.
Wait 10 minutes then roll in the remaining candy; reroll if desired.
Recipe from Foodista