Chapter 7 A Note in the Sugar
Penny arrived at The Frosted Petal before sunrise.
She had barely slept.
Every time she closed her eyes, she saw the little packet tucked behind the almond flour.
She saw the torn plastic wrapper.
She saw George lying beside the wedding cake.
And then she saw the sentence she'd written in her notebook.
The cake was poisoned deliberately.
It had been easier to write those words than to accept what they meant.
Someone had entered her bakery.
Someone had hidden poison among her ingredients.
And whoever that person was might still be watching her.
Penny unlocked the front door.
The bell gave its familiar little chime.
She stepped inside.
The bakery was dark and quiet.
"Good morning."
Her voice sounded strange in the empty room.
Mochi padded in behind her.
He stretched.
Then immediately headed for his favorite spot near the display window.
Penny smiled.
At least one of them was having a normal morning.
She turned on the lights.
Warm gold filled the bakery.
For a few seconds, everything looked ordinary.
The pastry cases were clean.
The chairs were neatly arranged.
The ovens were cold.
The smell of yesterday's vanilla lingered faintly in the air.
Penny took off her coat.
Then she noticed something on the front door.
A small white envelope.
No.
Not an envelope.
A piece of paper.
Taped directly to the glass.
Penny froze.
Her heart began pounding.
Mochi stopped walking.
Penny stared at the paper.
There was writing on it.
Black ink.
Four words.
No.
Five.
She stepped closer.
The message was written in block letters.
THE NEXT CAKE IS YOURS.
Below it:
STOP LOOKING.
Penny couldn't breathe.
For several seconds, she simply stood there.
The bakery suddenly felt much colder.
Someone had come to her door.
Someone had known she was investigating.
Someone had wanted her to know they were watching.
Penny's hands trembled as she reached for her phone.
She took a photograph of the note.
Then another.
She didn't touch it.
Not yet.
She looked through the glass.
The street outside was empty.
Magnolia Cove was still asleep.
A faint mist hovered over the pavement.
No cars.
No pedestrians.
Nothing.
Penny looked behind her.
"Mochi?"
The cat was gone.
Her stomach tightened.
"Mochi?"
She hurried through the bakery.
The kitchen was empty.
The pantry was locked.
The back door was locked.
She checked the storage room.
Nothing.
Then she heard a tiny sound.
A soft rustle.
Penny crouched beside the display case.
Mochi was underneath it.
He was pressed as far back as he could go.
His eyes were wide.
His ears were flattened.
Penny's heart hurt.
"Oh, sweetheart."
She reached toward him.
Mochi backed farther away.
Penny stopped.
Mochi had never hidden from her like this.
Not during thunderstorms.
Not during fireworks.
Not when the bakery's alarm accidentally went off.
He had always been bold.
Curious.
Sometimes ridiculously fearless.
Now he was frightened.
Penny slowly sat on the floor.
"It's okay."
Mochi didn't move.
Penny looked toward the front door.
The note was still there.
THE NEXT CAKE IS YOURS.
She understood now.
This wasn't simply a warning.
It was a threat.
And it wasn't aimed at her bakery.
It was aimed at her.
Penny called Detective Patterson.
He answered on the fourth ring.
"Detective Patterson."
"It's Penny Worth."
There was a pause.
"What's wrong?"
"I found a note on my bakery door."
"What does it say?"
Penny swallowed.
"'The next cake is yours. Stop looking.'"
Silence.
Then his voice changed.
"Don't touch it."
"I haven't."
"Is anyone with you?"
"No."
"Stay inside."
Penny looked at Mochi.
"I'm already inside."
"Lock the doors."
"They're locked."
"I'm sending someone over."
"Thank you."
She hesitated.
"Detective?"
"Yes?"
"You believe me now?"
Another pause.
"I believe someone left you a threat."
It wasn't quite the answer she wanted.
But it was something.
Penny hung up.
She looked again at the note.
The next cake is yours.
What did that mean?
Was someone threatening to poison another cake?
Was the "cake" supposed to mean Penny herself?
Or both?
She shivered.
Then another thought struck her.
What if the killer had been inside the bakery?
Penny hurried to the back door.
Still locked.
She checked the windows.
All secure.
She checked the pantry.
Locked.
Nothing appeared disturbed.
Yet the note was there.
Which meant whoever had left it had been outside.
Watching.
Waiting.
Knowing.
Penny's skin prickled.
She returned to the front.
Mochi remained beneath the display case.
She crouched again.
"You were scared by the note."
Mochi's eyes remained fixed on the door.
Penny followed his gaze.
"You heard something?"
His ears twitched.
She didn't know whether he understood her.
But she knew this much:
Something had frightened him.
And that frightened her more than the note.
Detective Patterson arrived fifteen minutes later.
He brought another officer with him.
They examined the note without touching it.
Photographs were taken.
The tape was photographed.
The door was examined.
Patterson finally removed the paper using gloves.
He placed it into an evidence bag.
Penny watched.
"Any fingerprints?"
"Possibly."
"Can you find out who wrote it?"
"We'll try."
He looked at her.
"Have you told anyone you're investigating?"
Penny hesitated.
"My sister knows."
"Anyone else?"
"I spoke to Nelson."
Patterson's eyes narrowed.
"Nelson Crowther?"
"Yes."
"When?"
"Yesterday."
"What did you discuss?"
Penny told him.
Everything.
Including Nelson's lie about being at the wedding.
Including his statement about George.
Including the way Mochi had reacted to him.
Patterson listened without interrupting.
When Penny finished, he asked, "Anyone else?"
"Daisy."
"How recently?"
"Yesterday."
"What did she want?"
"She came to check on me."
"Did she threaten you?"
"No."
"Did she behave strangely?"
Penny thought.
She remembered Daisy's face.
That brief flash of fear when Penny had mentioned the earring.
"No."
Patterson nodded.
"Don't confront either of them."
"I won't."
"Actually, don't confront anyone."
"I understand."
He glanced toward the display case.
"Where's the cat?"
Penny looked down.
"Mochi."
Patterson crouched.
Mochi stared at him.
The detective smiled faintly.
"Friendly?"
"Usually."
Mochi didn't move.
Patterson stood.
"Looks like he's having a bad morning."
Penny nodded.
"He was scared when I found the note."
Patterson looked at the paper.
"That may be significant."
"That's what I thought."
He gave her a skeptical look.
"Or he may simply be a cat."
Penny smiled weakly.
"Both can be true."
Patterson almost smiled.
Then his expression became serious again.
"Penny, I'm going to say this one more time."
She waited.
"Stop investigating."
Penny's jaw tightened.
"Someone threatened me because I was looking."
"Exactly."
"Which means I was getting close."
"Or it means someone wants you to think you're getting close."
Penny hadn't considered that.
Patterson continued.
"You don't know who you're dealing with."
"I know."
"No. You don't."
He looked directly into her eyes.
"And that's what worries me."
He walked toward the door.
Before leaving, he turned.
"Call me if anything else happens."
"I will."
"Anything."
"I promise."
The door closed behind him.
Penny stood alone.
Except for Mochi.
She looked at the cat beneath the display case.
"Well."
Mochi didn't move.
"That was comforting."
An hour later, Penny finally coaxed Mochi out with a small piece of roasted chicken.
He crept forward cautiously.
Penny scooped him into her arms.
He immediately pressed against her chest.
She stroked his fur.
"It's okay."
Mochi purred softly.
Penny closed her eyes.
The bakery had always been her safest place.
She had built it from nothing.
Every shelf.
Every oven.
Every recipe.
Every wedding cake.
Her name was on the business license.
Her reputation was in every pastry case.
Her heart was in every loaf of bread.
And someone had threatened to take it all away.
Maybe even take her life.
Penny looked toward the front door.
Fear was still there.
She couldn't deny it.
She was afraid.
Afraid for herself.
Afraid for Mochi.
Afraid for her home.
Afraid that whoever had killed George might decide one dead man wasn't enough.
But beneath the fear was something else.
Something stronger.
Protectiveness.
This was her bakery.
Her livelihood.
Her dream.
And Mochi was her family.
She wasn't going to abandon either one.
Penny placed Mochi gently on the counter.
Then she walked to the notebook.
She opened it.
The old list of suspects stared back at her.
Nelson.
Daisy.
Melanie.
She added a new line beneath them.
Someone knows I'm looking.
Penny underlined it.
Then she wrote another.
Someone is afraid of what I'll find.
She stared at those words.
The note had been meant to frighten her into silence.
It had worked.
For several minutes.
But fear had a strange way of changing when it had nowhere to go.
Sometimes it became anger.
Sometimes courage.
Penny closed the notebook.
"No."
Mochi looked at her.
"I'm not stopping."
The cat blinked.
Penny looked toward the front door again.
The note was gone.
But its words remained.
THE NEXT CAKE IS YOURS.
Penny picked up Mochi.
She held him close.
"Whoever you are..."
Her voice was barely above a whisper.
"You picked the wrong baker."
Mochi gave a soft, uncertain purr.
Outside, Magnolia Cove continued waking to another beautiful morning.
Inside The Frosted Petal, Penny Worth made a decision.
She would be careful.
She would be smart.
She would not recklessly confront anyone.
But she would not stop.
Because someone had poisoned a cake.
Someone had killed George Tillingham.
And now someone was threatening her.
Whatever secret was hiding beneath the frosting, Penny was going to find it.
Even if she had to dig through every layer. :::