Chapter 6 A Second Look at the Recipe
Mia Rossi had spent the better part of the morning doing exactly what Sheriff Briggs had told her to do.
She baked.
She measured flour.
She cracked eggs.
She whipped cream.
She answered customers.
She smiled when they complimented the pastries.
And she tried very hard not to think about murder.
It wasn't working.
She was standing at the kitchen counter, staring at a bowl of lavender cream, when Chloe walked in.
"You've been stirring that for five minutes."
Mia looked down.
The whisk was motionless in her hand.
"Oh."
Chloe leaned against the counter.
"You're thinking again."
"I'm not."
"You are."
Mia sighed.
"I can't help it."
"About Julian?"
Mia shook her head.
"That's the problem."
Chloe waited.
Mia put down the whisk.
"Julian isn't the answer."
"I told you that yesterday."
"I know."
"And you didn't listen."
"I know."
"And now?"
"Now I know."
Chloe smiled.
"Progress."
Mia wiped her hands on her apron.
"I keep thinking about what Sheriff Briggs said."
"About cupcakes and frosting?"
Mia gave her a look.
"Very funny."
"Thank you."
"He already knew about Julian's alibi."
"Yes."
"So the threatening letter doesn't prove anything."
"Correct."
"And Julian's handwriting only proves that he might have written the letter."
"Correct."
Mia frowned.
"And Greg lied."
Chloe's expression changed.
"What?"
"Greg."
Mia looked toward the front of the bakery.
"He told me he was at Harrison's tasting booth the whole time."
"Yes."
"But I saw him arguing with Harrison behind the main stage."
"Right."
"And he wasn't at the booth when I saw him."
Chloe nodded slowly.
"So?"
Mia's stomach tightened.
"So why did he lie?"
Neither woman spoke.
The question hung between them.
Mia walked toward the front counter.
She looked through the window.
The street was peaceful now.
Almost too peaceful.
"Julian had a motive," she said.
"Yes."
"But he also had an alibi."
"Yes."
"Greg had a motive too."
"Probably."
"And Greg lied about where he was."
"Yes."
Mia turned around.
"What if we've been looking at the wrong person?"
Chloe crossed her arms.
"You're investigating again."
"I know."
"You're going to get yourself in trouble."
"I know."
Chloe sighed.
"Then at least take me with you."
Mia smiled.
"Deal."
Mia went upstairs to retrieve her recipe book.
She had barely opened it when she stopped.
The torn napkin fragment.
She had almost forgotten about it.
Almost.
It was tucked between two handwritten recipes near the back of the book.
Mia carefully pulled it out.
October 14 — 7:30 P.M.
She stared at it.
"What are you?"
Gingersnap appeared in the doorway.
Mia looked up.
"You again."
The ginger tabby walked into the room.
His eyes immediately landed on the napkin.
He approached.
Mia held it higher.
"No."
Gingersnap continued walking.
"You already had your chance."
He jumped onto the chair beside her.
Then onto the table.
His nose moved toward the paper.
"Gingersnap."
He nudged it.
Mia pulled it away.
The cat tried again.
"Gingersnap!"
He sat directly on the napkin.
Mia stared at him.
"Really?"
Gingersnap blinked.
"You've been doing this since I found it."
He stared at her.
Mia sighed.
"Fine."
She gently moved him.
The napkin remained on the table.
Mia picked it up again.
And suddenly, something felt wrong.
She stared at the date.
October 14.
Then she looked at the calendar hanging on the wall.
October 28.
Mia froze.
Her eyes moved between the two dates.
"No."
She checked again.
October 28.
Today's date.
The festival had been yesterday, October 27.
The murder had happened yesterday.
But the date on the napkin was October 14.
Two weeks ago.
Mia's heart began pounding.
"Two weeks."
Gingersnap's ears perked.
Mia sat down.
"How did I miss that?"
She had been so focused on the handwriting.
She had assumed the date must have been connected to the festival.
But it wasn't.
It was fourteen days earlier.
The time was 7:30 P.M.
What had happened on October 14?
Mia turned the napkin over.
Nothing.
She examined the torn edges.
Nothing.
She held it toward the light.
Nothing.
Then she remembered something.
Harrison Finch hadn't simply been carrying random notes.
He had been keeping records.
Appointments.
Meetings.
Reviews.
Threats.
Mia looked toward her recipe book.
"Why would Harrison write down a date two weeks before the festival?"
Gingersnap meowed.
"I don't know."
Another meow.
"I know. You're very helpful."
The cat hopped down.
Mia smiled faintly.
Then the smile disappeared.
Greg.
She remembered his face.
The anger.
The nervousness.
The words he'd spoken.
Harrison was going to fire me.
Mia's pulse quickened.
If Julian had been at the vineyard when Harrison died, he couldn't have poisoned him there.
Unless—
No.
She stopped herself.
She didn't need another theory.
She needed facts.
And there was one fact she couldn't ignore.
Greg had lied.
Mia grabbed her coat.
Gingersnap watched her.
"Come on."
The cat followed.
The Crystal Cove festival grounds looked completely different the next day.
Without the crowds, music, and colorful decorations, the place seemed strangely ordinary.
Mia walked toward the main stage with Chloe beside her.
"You know this is a terrible idea."
"I know."
"We're looking for security footage."
"I know."
"Which means we're investigating."
"I know."
Chloe sighed.
"You say that like knowing makes it less illegal."
"It's not illegal to ask questions."
"Yet."
Mia smiled.
They stopped outside a small coastal gift shop across from the festival grounds.
The shop's owner, Mr. Alvarez, was sweeping the sidewalk.
Mia approached.
"Mr. Alvarez?"
He looked up.
"Mia."
"I'm sorry to bother you."
"You've had quite a week."
She nodded.
"About that..."
He leaned on his broom.
"What do you need?"
"I heard your security cameras point toward the festival grounds."
"They do."
"Would you happen to have footage from yesterday?"
Mr. Alvarez hesitated.
"Why?"
"I'm trying to understand what happened."
His expression softened.
"I figured you might."
He unlocked the shop door.
"Come inside."
The security monitor showed several camera angles.
The festival entrance.
The main stage.
The street.
The side alley.
And, most importantly, the area behind the stage.
Mia leaned closer.
"Can we go to around seven?"
Mr. Alvarez adjusted the controls.
"Seven what?"
"Seven fifteen."
The footage moved.
People crossed the street.
Vendors packed up.
Festival workers moved between stalls.
Mia watched carefully.
"Keep going."
7:20.
7:23.
7:25.
Then she saw him.
Greg.
He appeared behind the main stage.
Mia's heart jumped.
"There."
Chloe leaned closer.
Greg was walking quickly.
He looked angry.
A few seconds later, Harrison appeared.
The two men stopped.
They began arguing.
Mia felt a chill.
She had seen this before.
But now she was watching it from a completely different angle.
Harrison pointed a finger at Greg.
Greg stepped closer.
Harrison turned away.
Greg grabbed his arm.
Exactly as Mia remembered.
"Can you zoom in?"
Mr. Alvarez adjusted the footage.
The picture became grainy.
Mia could make out their faces.
Greg said something.
Harrison shook his head.
Then Greg walked away.
Mia held her breath.
"Wait."
She pointed at the screen.
"Go back."
Mr. Alvarez rewound the footage.
Greg walked away.
Harrison remained behind the stage.
Alone.
Mia watched.
Then another person appeared.
A woman.
Mia couldn't see her face clearly.
She was carrying something.
"What time is that?"
Mr. Alvarez checked.
"7:28."
Mia's heart hammered.
The woman stopped near Harrison.
They spoke briefly.
Then the footage shifted as a group of people crossed in front of the camera.
When they cleared, the woman was gone.
Harrison was still standing.
Mia frowned.
"Can we see the next camera?"
Mr. Alvarez switched angles.
The side entrance.
The woman appeared again.
But her face was still hidden.
"Can you go back?"
The footage rewound.
The woman entered the bakery's side area.
Mia stared.
"That's..."
"What?" Chloe asked.
"I don't know."
She watched again.
The woman disappeared behind the building.
Then Harrison walked in the opposite direction.
Mia's mind raced.
At 7:28, Harrison was alive.
At 7:30, the napkin said something was supposed to happen.
And shortly afterward—
Harrison was dead.
But the footage didn't show who had poisoned him.
Not yet.
"Do you have anything from inside the bakery?"
Mr. Alvarez shook his head.
"No. My cameras only cover the street."
Mia nodded.
"That's enough."
Chloe looked at her.
"Enough for what?"
Mia stared at the screen.
"For another question."
She thought about Julian.
His video.
His solid alibi.
His handwriting.
Then Greg.
His argument.
His lie.
And the mysterious date.
The pieces weren't forming a picture.
They were forming a maze.
Back at The Honeycomb Bakery, Mia placed the napkin fragment on the counter.
She looked at it again.
October 14.
7:30 P.M.
Two weeks before the murder.
"What happened that night?"
Gingersnap jumped onto the counter.
He walked directly toward the napkin.
Mia smiled.
"Again?"
He sat beside it.
She shook her head.
"You've been obsessed with this thing."
Gingersnap nudged it.
Mia picked it up.
For a moment, she simply stared at him.
Then she laughed softly.
"Fine."
She held the napkin closer.
"I'll pay attention."
Gingersnap blinked.
Mia looked at the date.
Something had changed.
Yesterday, she had wanted to solve the murder by finding one person to blame.
Greg.
Julian.
Someone.
Anyone.
Now she understood.
That was the mistake.
She had been looking for an answer instead of looking at the questions.
The napkin didn't point directly to Julian.
The threatening letter didn't prove Julian was the killer.
His alibi made that impossible, or at least highly unlikely.
And Greg's lie couldn't simply be ignored.
Mia reached for her notebook.
At the top of a fresh page, she wrote:
HARRISON FINCH — QUESTIONS
Underneath, she wrote:
1. Why was Greg lying?
2. What happened October 14 at 7:30 P.M.?
3. Who was the woman behind the bakery?
She paused.
Then added:
4. What was in the overturned spice jar?
Gingersnap placed one paw on the page.
Mia looked down.
"Yes."
The cat stared at her.
"That too."
She leaned back.
For the first time, the mystery felt larger instead of smaller.
And strangely, that made Mia feel better.
She didn't have to know the answer yet.
She just had to stop assuming she already did.
Chloe came through the kitchen carrying a tray.
"So?"
Mia closed the notebook.
"I'm back to square one."
Chloe smiled.
"That's better than being confidently wrong."
Mia laughed.
"True."
She looked toward Gingersnap.
The cat was sitting on the counter, directly beside the napkin.
His eyes remained fixed on it.
Mia reached over and scratched his head.
"You were trying to tell me something."
Gingersnap purred.
"I just didn't know what."
Outside, the last traces of the festival were being cleared away.
Inside, Mia stared at the date she'd overlooked.
October 14.
Two weeks before the murder.
A date Harrison had deliberately written down.
A date that might have nothing to do with the festival at all.
Or it might be the first thread leading directly into the secret Harrison Finch had been carrying before he died.
Mia closed the recipe book.
She was no longer chasing Julian.
She was no longer convinced Greg was the killer.
She was looking again.
And this time, she intended to notice everything.