Chapter 11 A Shift in the Flavor
Mia Rossi did not sleep.
Again.
She had spent most of the night sitting at her kitchen table, staring at the same four words.
NUTMEG OIL — CHLOE'S APRON
The little bottle had been innocent-looking.
That was what frightened her.
Nothing about it had screamed murder.
Chloe had offered a reasonable explanation. She was experimenting with a new recipe.
Mia had heard that explanation.
She simply hadn't been able to believe it.
Not completely.
By morning, however, something had begun to bother her.
A tiny detail.
A question she couldn't quite name.
Mia was standing behind the counter when the bell above the bakery door chimed.
Chloe walked in.
Mia looked up.
For a moment, neither woman spoke.
Gingersnap sat in the window, watching them.
Chloe looked exhausted.
"Mia."
"Chloe."
"I want to explain."
Mia nodded.
"Please."
Chloe walked toward the counter.
"I didn't take the nutmeg oil from Beatrice."
"I know."
Chloe stopped.
"You do?"
"I don't know anything."
Mia sighed.
"That's the problem."
Chloe looked down.
"I really was using it for a recipe."
"What recipe?"
"A spiced honey cake."
Mia remembered the bottle.
"The oil wasn't yours?"
"No."
"Then whose was it?"
Chloe hesitated.
"I don't know."
Mia's stomach tightened.
"What do you mean?"
"Beatrice gave it to me."
Mia stared at her.
"Beatrice?"
Chloe nodded.
"She came by the bakery two days before the festival."
"Why?"
"She asked me to try a recipe she'd been working on."
"What recipe?"
"She wouldn't tell me exactly. Something involving honey and spices."
Mia's thoughts raced.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I forgot."
"You forgot that Beatrice gave you a bottle of nutmeg oil?"
"I forgot about the bottle. I had a dozen things going on."
Mia looked away.
She wanted to believe Chloe.
But one question remained.
"Why was it in your apron when the sheriff found it?"
Chloe shook her head.
"I don't know."
"Think."
"I don't know, Mia."
Chloe's voice cracked.
"I swear."
Mia looked at her.
She could see the hurt in Chloe's face.
The friendship between them felt fragile.
Like a glass left too close to the edge of a counter.
One wrong movement and it would shatter.
Mia lowered her voice.
"Tell me everything you remember about Beatrice."
Chloe thought.
"She gave me the bottle."
"When?"
"Two days before the festival."
"Where?"
"Here."
"Did she say anything strange?"
"Not really."
"Did she come into the kitchen?"
"Yes."
Mia froze.
"She did?"
"She wanted to see the new ovens."
"When?"
"While you were talking to Harrison."
Mia's heart skipped.
"When I was talking to Harrison?"
"Yes."
Mia remembered.
The festival.
Harrison standing near the counter.
Beatrice nearby.
The crowd.
The noise.
She had barely noticed anyone else.
"What did Beatrice do in the kitchen?"
"She looked around."
"That's it?"
"She asked me to store the bottle."
"Why?"
"She said she didn't want to carry it around."
Mia stared at her.
"Did she touch anything?"
Chloe shook her head.
"Not that I saw."
Mia slowly sat down.
Something was shifting.
The pieces were moving.
But they weren't moving toward Chloe.
They were moving away from her.
Mia thought about the sheriff's office.
The stolen evidence.
Why would someone steal the napkin and threatening letter?
At first, she'd assumed they wanted to destroy the evidence.
But what if that wasn't the point?
What if they wanted to remove something from the evidence chain?
What if they wanted the police to focus on what was missing?
Mia's eyes widened.
"Wait."
Chloe looked at her.
"What?"
"The break-in."
"What about it?"
"We assumed whoever broke in wanted to destroy the evidence."
"Yes."
"But what if they didn't?"
Chloe frowned.
"What else would they want?"
"To hide something."
Mia stood.
"Think about it."
She began pacing.
"The napkin was important because of the date."
"October 14."
"Yes."
"And the threatening letter connected Harrison to the vineyard."
"Julian."
"Exactly."
Mia stopped.
"Those two pieces of evidence pointed in different directions."
Chloe nodded.
"So?"
"So someone steals both."
"Why?"
"Because they don't want either direction followed."
Mia's heart pounded.
"They wanted us looking at Julian."
"And Greg."
"And anyone else."
Chloe stared at her.
"Then who are we supposed to be looking at?"
Mia didn't answer.
She thought about Beatrice.
The harmless festival organizer.
The older woman who had comforted her.
The woman who had taught her about ingredients.
The woman who had discovered Harrison's body.
Mia suddenly remembered something.
"Beatrice."
Chloe's eyes widened.
"You think she did it?"
"I think she has something to hide."
Mia's mind raced faster.
Beatrice had been at the festival.
She knew the bakery.
She had access to the kitchen.
She knew Mia's recipes.
She knew Harrison.
She knew about the old vineyard dispute.
And she had given Chloe the nutmeg oil.
But there was something else.
Mia stopped walking.
"She found the body."
Chloe stared at her.
"What?"
"Beatrice."
"What about her?"
"She was the one who found Harrison."
"Yes."
Mia's voice dropped.
"That means she had the opportunity."
Chloe slowly nodded.
"To do what?"
"To get rid of the poison."
Silence filled the bakery.
Mia looked toward the dessert counter.
She could see it clearly now.
The festival.
Harrison.
The cake.
The overturned jar.
The crowd.
And Beatrice moving through it all.
"She could have poisoned him."
Chloe swallowed.
"With the nutmeg?"
"Possibly."
"And then?"
"She could have removed anything that connected her to it."
Chloe stared at Mia.
"But why frame me?"
Mia's expression hardened.
"Because you're close to me."
She remembered the bottle.
Beatrice giving it to Chloe.
Asking her to store it.
Putting it in the one place where it would be found later.
Chloe's apron.
"It was planted."
Chloe looked horrified.
"You think Beatrice planted it?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because if the police found it on you, you'd look guilty."
Mia's voice trembled.
"And she could walk away."
Gingersnap suddenly jumped down from the window seat.
He hurried toward the back door.
Mia followed him.
"Gingersnap?"
The cat stopped beside Chloe's car, which was parked behind the bakery.
He stared through the driver's-side window.
Then he pawed at the glass.
Once.
Twice.
Mia frowned.
"What is it?"
Gingersnap meowed.
Mia looked inside the car.
Something was lying on the driver's seat.
A folded piece of paper.
Chloe unlocked the door.
Gingersnap immediately jumped inside.
"Gingersnap!"
He walked straight to the paper.
Then he pawed at it.
Mia reached inside.
"All right."
She picked it up.
It was folded in half.
She opened it.
The handwriting was unmistakable.
Chloe,
Please keep the nutmeg oil for me until after the festival. I need it for the recipe we discussed. Don't leave it somewhere anyone can find it.
— Beatrice
Mia stared at the signature.
Chloe covered her mouth.
"Oh my God."
Mia turned the paper over.
Nothing else.
The evidence was small.
But it was enough to change everything.
Beatrice had given Chloe the oil.
Beatrice had asked her to store it.
Beatrice had access to the bakery.
And Beatrice had been the one who found Harrison's body.
Mia looked at Gingersnap.
The cat sat in Chloe's car, staring at her.
"You found it."
He blinked.
Mia felt a strange rush of gratitude.
Then fear.
Because if Beatrice had planted the bottle, she had known exactly what she was doing.
And if she had killed Harrison, she had been planning several steps ahead.
Mia folded the note carefully.
"Chloe."
"Yes?"
"I owe you an apology."
Chloe looked at her.
Mia's eyes filled with tears.
"I should have believed you."
Chloe's expression softened.
"I understand why you didn't."
"No."
Mia shook her head.
"I should have."
Chloe reached for her hand.
"Then let's fix it."
Mia squeezed her fingers.
"We will."
They stood beside the car for a moment.
Then Mia looked toward the bakery.
Everything suddenly seemed different.
The threatening note.
The stolen evidence.
The nutmeg oil.
The strange date.
Beatrice's hidden recipe.
Harrison's history.
All of it.
A pattern was beginning to emerge.
Mia's heart beat faster.
"Beatrice didn't just want Harrison dead."
Chloe looked at her.
"What do you mean?"
Mia stared toward the street.
"She wanted everyone else to look guilty."
She thought of Julian.
The threatening letter.
Greg.
The lie.
Chloe.
The nutmeg oil.
And herself.
"She was building a trail."
Chloe's face paled.
"Toward everyone but her."
Mia nodded.
"Exactly."
Gingersnap jumped from the car.
He walked between them and headed toward the bakery.
Mia followed.
For the first time, she wasn't confused.
She wasn't chasing a theory.
She wasn't guessing.
She was beginning to see the shape of the truth.
And it pointed in one direction.
Beatrice.
The woman everyone trusted.
The woman who had comforted Mia after Harrison's death.
The woman who had told her to stay away from the past.
The woman who had quietly placed a bottle of nutmeg oil into Chloe's hands.
Mia stopped at the bakery door.
She looked back toward the community garden in the distance.
"She was hiding in plain sight."
Chloe stood beside her.
"Are you sure?"
Mia looked at the note.
"No."
She folded it carefully.
"But I'm sure of one thing."
"What?"
Mia's expression hardened.
"We've been looking at this backwards."
She opened the bakery door.
The bell chimed.
Gingersnap walked inside.
Mia followed.
Behind them, Crystal Cove looked peaceful.
But somewhere in that peaceful town was a woman who had just become the center of Mia's suspicion.
And Mia knew that if Beatrice was truly responsible, she would not simply wait to be caught.
She would fight back.
The question was only how far she would go to protect her secret.