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Book: Death by Chocolate Cake: A Bakery Detectives Cozy Mystery by Stacey Alabaster
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Authors: Stacey Alabaster
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again for a second.
Pippa murmured thoughtfully for a second. "Huh. It really seems that having the auditions done over would benefit a couple of people, doesn't it?"
I nodded and reached for my glass of white wine, taking a sip. "It certainly benefits the people that missed out behind me."
"Say, Renee and Adam?"
I nodded again. I still hadn't had the chance to talk to Adam. I explained what I'd learned about him to Pippa.
"So he DID know you were there that day?" Pippa's mouth dropped open a little. "I knew it."
"Seems like it." I placed my noodles down. I was stuffed. Savory dishes had a way of filling me up far quicker than sweet foods ever had.
"So, are we going to talk to Adam again?" Pippa asked. She picked up her phone. "He's been bugging me actually, sending me texts and emails to follow up, asking if I am going to buy one of his cakes."
"And are you?" I struggled not to laugh.
She sighed and leaned back on the sofa. "No!" she said with a laugh as. "They’re overpriced and not half as good as yours. But I suppose I could pretend I'm still interested if it helps us investigate. Can you stomach going into his shop again? Dealing with all that taffeta and ego?"
I leaned back on my wrists on the floor. "I guess I'm going to have to."
* * *
B ut it didn't come to that. At 7:00 AM the following morning, it was Pippa and I who found Adam Ali at OUR place of work, not the other way around.
Pippa jumped in fright as she stood up from placing a cake in the bottom display shelf to find Adam with his beak pressed up against the glass. His eyes seemed particularly small and beady that morning as he scanned the contents of our store through the window before stalking towards the door and pulling it open with a quick yank.
"I thought you said you didn't supply wedding cakes here!" he said, pointing to the cake that Pippa had just placed in the display cabinet.
I watched the scene quietly from the register as I counted the change. Pippa was better at talking her way out of trouble in situations like this than I was.
"That's not a wedding cake," she replied.
"Well, it's white."
"That's because it's white chocolate," Pippa said quickly. "Other cakes besides wedding cakes can be white, you know."
Adam narrowed his eyes and bowed down to get a better look at the cake. "That looks like fondant to me," he said.
"It's not. It's white chocolate. Regular old icing. It's just extra smooth. We have a special spatula that we use." Pippa looked over at me for help.
"Adam," I said, and he finally turned his attention to me. "Can we help you with anything this morning?" I was thinking that he could certainly help us with something, but I didn't want to make him any crosser than he already was before I started to interrogate him.
He finally managed to pry his nose away from the display stand. He pointed to Pippa before saying, "I was trying to track down this one. To see if she had any actual intention of purchasing one of my prestigious wedding cakes. But now I can see she has no intention to. Why would she buy from me when the shop she works in supplies wedding cakes?" He finished pointedly, glaring at me with his icy blue eyes.
Seeing as he was already irritated and had no plans of backing down or playing nice, I decided I may as well come right out and ask him.
"Why did you lie about knowing I was at the audition?"
With his red hair and pale skin, it didn't take much of a blush for Adam to turn bright red. "I didn't lie," he said feebly, reaching out to tap his fingers on one of my counter tops. "I had no idea you were there, darling. Why would you say otherwise?"
I straightened up and exchanged a look with Pippa. "Justin told me. He told me that not only did you know I was there, you knew that I did better than you. That I was going through and you weren't." I hesitated, wondering if I ought to really stick the boot in. "Justin told me that you bombed your audition, actually."
Adam performed the motion of flicking
Pippa murmured thoughtfully for a second. "Huh. It really seems that having the auditions done over would benefit a couple of people, doesn't it?"
I nodded and reached for my glass of white wine, taking a sip. "It certainly benefits the people that missed out behind me."
"Say, Renee and Adam?"
I nodded again. I still hadn't had the chance to talk to Adam. I explained what I'd learned about him to Pippa.
"So he DID know you were there that day?" Pippa's mouth dropped open a little. "I knew it."
"Seems like it." I placed my noodles down. I was stuffed. Savory dishes had a way of filling me up far quicker than sweet foods ever had.
"So, are we going to talk to Adam again?" Pippa asked. She picked up her phone. "He's been bugging me actually, sending me texts and emails to follow up, asking if I am going to buy one of his cakes."
"And are you?" I struggled not to laugh.
She sighed and leaned back on the sofa. "No!" she said with a laugh as. "They’re overpriced and not half as good as yours. But I suppose I could pretend I'm still interested if it helps us investigate. Can you stomach going into his shop again? Dealing with all that taffeta and ego?"
I leaned back on my wrists on the floor. "I guess I'm going to have to."
* * *
B ut it didn't come to that. At 7:00 AM the following morning, it was Pippa and I who found Adam Ali at OUR place of work, not the other way around.
Pippa jumped in fright as she stood up from placing a cake in the bottom display shelf to find Adam with his beak pressed up against the glass. His eyes seemed particularly small and beady that morning as he scanned the contents of our store through the window before stalking towards the door and pulling it open with a quick yank.
"I thought you said you didn't supply wedding cakes here!" he said, pointing to the cake that Pippa had just placed in the display cabinet.
I watched the scene quietly from the register as I counted the change. Pippa was better at talking her way out of trouble in situations like this than I was.
"That's not a wedding cake," she replied.
"Well, it's white."
"That's because it's white chocolate," Pippa said quickly. "Other cakes besides wedding cakes can be white, you know."
Adam narrowed his eyes and bowed down to get a better look at the cake. "That looks like fondant to me," he said.
"It's not. It's white chocolate. Regular old icing. It's just extra smooth. We have a special spatula that we use." Pippa looked over at me for help.
"Adam," I said, and he finally turned his attention to me. "Can we help you with anything this morning?" I was thinking that he could certainly help us with something, but I didn't want to make him any crosser than he already was before I started to interrogate him.
He finally managed to pry his nose away from the display stand. He pointed to Pippa before saying, "I was trying to track down this one. To see if she had any actual intention of purchasing one of my prestigious wedding cakes. But now I can see she has no intention to. Why would she buy from me when the shop she works in supplies wedding cakes?" He finished pointedly, glaring at me with his icy blue eyes.
Seeing as he was already irritated and had no plans of backing down or playing nice, I decided I may as well come right out and ask him.
"Why did you lie about knowing I was at the audition?"
With his red hair and pale skin, it didn't take much of a blush for Adam to turn bright red. "I didn't lie," he said feebly, reaching out to tap his fingers on one of my counter tops. "I had no idea you were there, darling. Why would you say otherwise?"
I straightened up and exchanged a look with Pippa. "Justin told me. He told me that not only did you know I was there, you knew that I did better than you. That I was going through and you weren't." I hesitated, wondering if I ought to really stick the boot in. "Justin told me that you bombed your audition, actually."
Adam performed the motion of flicking
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