A Cake Caper

  A Cake Caper

  by

  Constance Barker

  Copyright 2020 Constance Barker

  All rights reserved.

  Similarities to real people, places or events are purely coincidental.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

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  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Thanks for Reading

  Catalog of Books | Old School Diner Cozy Mysteries

  The Grumpy Chicken Irish Pub Series

  Chapter 1

  “Alright folks, we’ve got to get this massive cake figured out for the quinceañera party order, and we need to make sure that we get things sorted out for the photoshoot ASAP. Let’s make sure that we’re prioritizing that right now, okay?” I channeled my inner Rose, making sure talk of priorities were in line.

  I did a walkthrough and made sure that things were running smoothly, and much to my delight they were so far.

  The Mad Batter was in an absolute state of chaos, and I was loving every single minute of it, because the inner Coco is a little cuckoo.

  This wasn’t the kind of chaos that was a result of a missed order or an irate customer, it was the good kind of chaos. The kind that came with preparing and getting the place ready for my first cookbook.

  Okay so it wasn’t exactly my first cookbook. It was a segment piece in Angie, my famous cousin’s newest cookbook, but it was still just as exciting and I was still just as proud. Not to mention the fact that being in her cookbook would put me and The Mad Batter on the map.

  “Oh Laney, be careful with that butter cream. It’s not set yet and I don’t want the flower petals to lose their shape.”

  On top of that there was a new girl—Laney— helping out at the bakery, so there was a bit of a learning curve. On the bright side though, having Laney there to help me meant that I had some extra helping hands for running errands, which was exactly what I needed to do that day.

  “Hey Rose, Laney?” I asked with a smile and nodded towards the door. “Let’s head over to Reggie’s discount store to find some more supplies for the photoshoot.”

  They happily agreed and we made our way there, chatting and making small talk along the way. We got there and Laney set out to go and find some of the baking supplies while Rose and I decided to look for props. We were able to find the perfect prop fairly quickly—seasonally appropriate, eye-catching but not tacky and simple—so I was pretty happy about that.

  My happy mood was gone as soon as it had appeared, though.

  “Oh come on, Oliver.” I sighed as I nodded to the prop he held in his hand. “You know I was reaching for that, give it back.”

  He looked back at me with that cocky and smarmy grin of his, and he shrugged his shoulders and shook his head.

  “No, I don’t think I will. I grabbed it first.”

  I frowned at him and felt myself tense as frustration welled up, and my hands clenched into fists at my side as I stood there, stewing.

  “I’d say that I’m surprised that you’re acting the way you are,” I sighed with a scoff, shaking my head, “but I’m not. This seems perfectly in character for you, Oliver.”

  Oliver had grown up in the town his whole life and didn’t have the greatest reputation. He was rude and wasn’t afraid to start a fight when something didn’t go his way, so most people avoided him if at all possible.

  He was a good plumber though, so he got away with being a jerk because people didn’t want to have to go out of town to fix clogged toilets or other issues worse than that.

  He didn’t look like he as going to give up, if the stubborn sneer he was giving me was any indication, so I turned around to leave and go look for something else. Rose on the other hand, had other plans.

  “Listen here Oliver,” she snapped, glaring. “You’re going to give that back to Coco and you’re going to apologize, do you hear me?”

  He rolled his eyes and laughed, and then shook his head.

  “No I’m not. What are you going to do about it, Rose?”

  It didn’t take long for their snapping and growling to turn into yelling, and they were starting to draw a crowd. Rose was distracted and Oliver grabbed the prop again and stalked off, leaving Rose and I standing there frustrated. As if on cue, Laney came down the aisle as well with an armful of intriguing baking supplies, and she looked at Rose and I with a sigh and shook her head.

  “I heard.” She said as she pursed her lips together. “Oliver can be so, like, needlessly mean sometimes. And I would know, considering I’m his girlfriend. Ugh.”

  I looked back at her with confusion and a rising feeling of disgust permeating my entire being. Yes, I might be a tad dramatic, but lawd, you're dating Oliver of all people?

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well he’s always rubbing it in my face that it’s his dog that wins the dog show every year and not mine. It’s not like I’m trying to sabotage him or anything by entering myself.”

  I shrugged my shoulders with a nod and then gestured towards the cash.

  “Look, let’s just pay for our finds and go back to the bakery. I just want to get on with my day and forget about Oliver.”

  Rose nodded and we went and paid, and then headed back to The Mad Batter.

  “Coco, what are you doing here?”

  Scooter came rushing over with a grin, brows raised, and Masie was right behind him.

  “Yeah Coco, you should be going home, you’ve got that date with Logan. Go and get ready, girl. You don’t want to keep your handsome man in uniform waiting, do you?”

  I chuckled and blushed.

  “My date is still a couple hours away, guys.”

  Masie giggled and pointed to the door, grinning ear to ear.

  “Who cares? Go home and get ready, we’ve got the bakery.”

  “Thanks, guys.”

  So I headed home and took the fact that I still had a few hours to relax, and slowly got ready. I took a quick shower and got into a new change of clothes, nothing fancy, just something that wasn’t covered in flour and sugar. I put on a tiny bit of liner and blush and pinned back my hair, and when I looked in the mirror I smiled, happy with what I saw. I was looking forward to being able to finally have a date with Logan, just the two of us, so when it was time to go I had an extra bounce in my step.

  I had just locked the door to my place when my phone rang, and when I picked it up I was met with a frantic sounding Rose. She was freaking out and I could barely understand what she was saying, and her voice almost sounded shaky.

  “Whoa whoa, Rose, Calm down. What’s going on? A
re you okay?”

  “I am, but Oliver isn’t.”

  I frowned and stopped walking.

  “What do you mean, what are you talking about?”

  “Coco, Oliver is dead. I just found him in my grooming salon. Someone drowned him in the cleaning station.”

  “Oh my gosh. Okay Rose stay calm, I’m coming over I’ll be right there.”

  I hung up and sighed as I realized that my date with Logan was about to turn into a crime scene investigation.

  Just like old times.

  Chapter 2

  As soon as I had gotten off of the phone with Rose I called Logan, who of course was already on his way to Rose’s grooming salon, Pawfectly Groomed. It didn’t take me long to get there...I may have been driving a bit over the speed limit but I didn’t tell Logan that.

  When I pulled in, I saw Logan flagging me down. I walked over to him with a forlorn smile, and I got one back.

  “So much for that date, huh?” He said it with a sigh and gestured towards the salon. “Can you believe this?”

  I shook my head in disbelief as I looked around, police roaming around and looking for clues and inspecting the scene of the crime. My gaze fell to Rose, standing outside of the entrance to the store, and I rushed over with Logan to her.

  She immediately threw herself into me and I wrapped my arms around her, and I could feel the gentle shuddering against my shoulder as she held back tears. It was odd to see Rose like that; she was always so intense and composed, and never one to show any weakness. Though I guess that all went out the window when someone found a dead body in their place of business.

  I ran my hand gently along her arm and tried to calm her down, and after a moment she stood back up, looking a little bit more composed but still very obviously furious.

  “Who would do this?” She huffed, her hand waving towards the store. “And why did they do it in my grooming salon?” After a bemoaned sigh, she wailed, “Pawfectly Groomed is a place of order, bringing shiny perfection to chaos. Not for gruesome murder.” Her eyes were so red.

  Logan stepped forward then and gently gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze, and then he nodded towards the car.

  “Look Rose, I’ll need to get a statement from you but we don’t need to do it here, alright? Why don’t Coco and I take you back to your place and we can do it there?”

  I looked to Rose with a smile and she nodded back with a sigh, and started to walk towards the car.

  We took her back to her place and once we were inside Logan sat her down on the couch while I went into the kitchen, and I made everyone something to drink. I decided on hot cocoa. It was simple and comforting, and it wouldn’t keep Rose up all night either.

  I was just bringing the mugs into the living room when Logan had started to have her recall what had happened, and I sat down next to Rose.

  “So Rose, walk me through exactly what happened, and don’t leave anything out, even if it seems silly or unrelated. Okay?”

  Logan offered her a reassuring smile and brought out his little notepad, and Rose nodded and took a deep breath as she steeled herself to try and go through everything again. She fidgeted with her hands in her lap a moment, only starting to speak when I gently nudged the mug of hot cocoa into her grasp. She gave me a weak smile in thanks and then she looked back at Logan.

  “Well, I’d been helping Coco out at the Mad Batter, so by the time I was done and went back to Pawfectly Groomed, it was fairly late. I’ve got a few appointments tomorrow and I wanted to get a head start on things, so I figured that to make my day easier I would get some of the cleaning done, and I tidied up the waiting room too. Or, I was tidying up the waiting room.”

  Logan sat forward and raised his brows, waiting for her to continue.

  “That’s when you heard the noise?”

  She nodded and took another breath.

  “Yes, I heard the alarm sounding from one of the neighboring stores, just down the way. It wasn’t far and I didn’t stay long before I headed back to my place.”

  She shuddered then before she continued, and took a pause to take a sip from her mug.

  “When I got back to my salon...” She scrunched up her nose and took another breath, her frustration and anger clearly written all over her face. “Well, you saw it. The place was completely trashed, and Oliver was dead. Drowned.”

  Just then Logan got a call and Rose looked relieved to not have to talk for a moment and I leaned into her, trying to offer moral support and comfort. I didn’t know if it was working or not, but she didn’t push me away so I went with it.

  Logan hung up the phone with a sigh and dragged his hand down over his face, and then he looked at both of us with a shrug.

  “That was one of the other officers that was there. Your prints are all over the place, Rose.”

  She scoffed at him and her eyes went wide.

  “Of course they’re all over Pawfectly Groomed, Logan.” She snapped and her hands went up in frustration. “It’s my business. The owner, of course, would have their fingerprints all over it.”

  I gave him a concerned glance and he stood up and gathered his things as he headed for the door.

  “Here’s the thing, Rose. It’s not looking good right now so I’m going to go and join the investigation and see what I can find. I’ll update you two later, alright?”

  I nodded and we watched as Logan left the two of us there on the couch, and it didn’t take long for us to start trying to figure out what had happened. It was true that Oliver wasn’t well liked—he wasn’t really liked at all—but I hadn’t thought that someone would want him murdered.

  “I just don’t get it,” she mused, shaking her head. “Oliver is a jerk. He overcharges people, starts fights, and can’t seem to keep his nose out of people’s business, but to kill him? And in Pawfectly Groomed?”

  She looked back at me with a furrowed brow and worry written all over her face, and I couldn’t blame her one bit. I knew exactly how it felt to be mixed up in a murder investigation, and it was one of the worst feelings in the world.

  “Yeah, it’s all a huge mess. He’s upset nearly everyone in the town at least once, and don’t get me wrong I don’t like the guy, but I didn’t want him...,” she paused and gulped. “Dead.”

  “Sam might, though. Remember when Oliver ripped him off over with the pricing when he did the plumbing in Sam’s restaurant? He was fuming.”

  She was right and I nodded, still unsure about whether or not I knew of anyone who was cruel enough to do such a thing.

  We went back and forth for a few more minutes, but then I glanced at the clock.

  “Rose it’s late, let’s get some sleep. Why don’t I stay with you tonight?”

  “Thanks, I appreciate that.”

  We got set up for bed and I could hear Rose tossing and turning, until finally she spoke.

  “What am I supposed to do, Coco? What happens if they think I did it? What if they don’t find out who it is? I’ll lose my business, I’ll lose everything.”

  “Shhh. It’ll all be okay, Rose. We just need to get some sleep tonight and then tomorrow we can start fresh on figuring out who did this, and we’ll make sure that your name is free and clear. I promise, just get some sleep. Tomorrow is a new day.”

  And hopefully it would be a better one, too, though after the day she had that wouldn’t take much.

  Chapter 3

  After I spent the night at Rose’s place I decided that perhaps I should keep her company for a bit and make sure that she was okay. She had a lot of trouble sleeping. So did I, because we couldn’t stop worrying about what would happen if the killer wasn’t caught. I tried to calm her down as best as I could but let’s face it...when someone local is killed in your own business, you’re going to worry regardless. I knew that first hand.

  So I got dressed and headed down to the bakery to tell Masie and Laney to watch over it for a while that day so I could stay with Rose for a bit. On my way into the Mad Batter, I ran into Clive,
who was on the phone, chatting to a friend. Considering the fact that someone was just murdered the night before he seemed awfully cheerful...so he earned my side-eye as I walked past him.

  “Yeah I know, right? I’m glad that jerk is out of the way.”

  I held my tongue, not wanting to start any trouble and especially not outside of my place of business, so I just sighed and walked inside and left Clive outside to be a jerk on his own.

  As soon as I walked inside I could hear them gossiping and chatting about what had happened, and I braced myself for Laney to be a mess, understandably. Her boyfriend had been murdered the night before, so I didn’t expect much in the way of productivity.

  “You know, you didn’t have to come in,” I told Laney, rubbing my hand on her shoulder. “I would have understood.

  To my surprise though she didn’t even seem that upset, just a bit out of her element. It seemed odd but I supposed that maybe that was just the way she coped with things. Or it was shock.

  “It’s okay, really,” Laney said with a shrug. Her eyes went back to Masie.

  Masie was going on and on about the murder despite the fact that neither her nor Laney had any details about what happened, so when I approached the counter I leaned onto it and cleared my throat.

  “Crazy what happened isn’t it, Coco?” Masie raised her brows and shook her head in disbelief. “I can hardly believe it. I wonder what happened.”

  I gave Masie the eye. When I caught her line of sight, I nudged toward Laney, but Masie shook her head and continued. That's my Masie...completely oblivious at times.

  I was in a madhouse, so I sighed, stood up straight again and started to make myself a coffee.

  “That’s actually why I’m here.”

  They two of them both looked at me with confusion and Masie kind of shrugged and laughed a bit.

  “What do you mean that’s why you’re here? You moonlighting as an investigator now with your handsome cop boyfriend?”

  She giggled and I fought the urge to roll my eyes, though I knew that she was only trying to be funny and lighten the mood. I poured my coffee and took a sip, and then I sighed and looked her in the eye.