CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
“What are we going to do?” asked Taylor looking at the other women. “We still have two days of competition left and three bakers have died, dozens have left, scared for their lives, and I feel like we’re guarding our work station and kitchen like Fort Knox.”
“I think we have to do what the guys tell us to do,” said Sara sipping her coffee. They’d taken advantage of the breakfast buffet at the hotel, almost afraid to eat the food at the event center.
“Even if they tell us to leave?” frowned Celia.
“Even if they tell us to leave. No amount of money or blue ribbons or trophies are worth dying for,” said Sara with a sad expression. They all looked up to see the men walking toward them. Collectively, they held their breath waiting.
“Relax. We’re not pulling you out just yet,” smirked Luke taking his seat. “We’ve got some things we want to explore this morning and then we’ll see. It’s pie day, right?”
“That’s right,” nodded Janie.
“Okay. Then we bake some kick-ass pies and see what happens today.”
They tried to relax, joking and talking about family over breakfast but the underlying nerves and tension was still ever-present. When Faith, Carsen, and Adele walked toward them, they all were shocked.
“Good morning,” smiled Faith. “Room for three more?”
“Always, Aunt Faith,” smiled Luke, kissing her cheek and giving her his chair while he grabbed two more. He kissed the cheeks of Carsen and Adele and then sat beside them, pouring coffee for the three women.
“What brings you ladies down here?” asked Sara. “Not that we’re not happy to see you. We can use all the help we can get right now.”
“You don’t need our help with baking,” laughed Faith. “Although, I’m always happy to lend an extra hand if needed. No. We’re here because we heard about what’s happening. Hiro and the boys are working overtime trying to help you, and Ham and his team.”
“So, you’re here as the computer geeks?” frowned Alec.
“Not hardly,” laughed Adele. “We’re here as the history geeks.”
“I’m not following,” said Taylor.
“Time for a history lesson,” said Carsen. “Ever hear of Eric Patterson, James Craig, Joann Curley?”
“Should we have heard of them?” asked Rett.
“Not necessarily,” said Faith. “Eric Patterson killed a number of people by placing death cap mushrooms in their beef wellington. James Craig killed his wife by cyanide poisoning, along with using tetrahydrozoline. Joann Curley killed using thallium, or rat poison.”
“Aunt Faith, I’m not following,” said Luke.
“Esing Bolery killed his customers by placing arsenic in bread. Thomas Dinere used Jamaican ginger.”
“We have a copycat,” said Tailor frowning at the table.
“I think you do. I think you have a copycat who understands food, baking in particular, and the poisons that are difficult to detect once in those foods and how they kill. Gloria Ruiz, cyanide. Jacques, arsenic and glass – a messy and unneeded touch by the way. Marcia, Jamaican ginger.
“I – we, think someone has been studying the history of food poisoning deaths and is making it come to life here. Now, that doesn’t help you identify the person but we’ve got Tanner attempting to search the computers of every baker in that room to see if anyone has been doing homework at night.”
“Were there other notable poisonings?” asked Gator. “I mean, if we’ve seen these, were there others that stuck out for you?”
“Definitely,” nodded Adele. “A German just named Klaus O. put quick silver, lead, and cadmium in his co-workers lunch boxes. Lakhuir Singh used bikh poisoning, Indian aconite mixed with curry to cause rapid organ failure and absolute death. We mentioned thallium, rat poisoning.”
“Those are a good place to start,” said RJ. “Do the dogs have the ability to sniff out any of this?”
“They do, however because this contest is a food contest, no animals are allowed into the event, even service animals. Which, by the way, might be illegal,” frowned Carsen.
“We’ll address that at a different time,” said Luke. He looked around the table and noticed Elias with a brow lifted. “What? You’re thinking of something. What is it?”
“We can’t bring the dogs into the center but we can take the dogs to their hotel rooms,” he smirked. “There must be a list of where people are staying.”
“There’s not,” said Sara, “but we do have a list of contestants and the team could cross-reference that with current hotel guests in the city. If we could get the dogs into those rooms today, we might be able to find our killer.”
“Then that’s what we’re going to do,” said Luke. He turned to Faith, Carsen, and Adele. “I can’t thank you all enough for coming all the way down here.”
“It’s not a problem. We wanted to do some retail therapy while we’re in town,” said Faith with a wink.
“It’s going to be a long day, ladies. RJ? Get Sniff and all the dogs we can manage down here. We’re going in teams to enter the rooms as quickly as possible and then get out without disturbing anything. We’ve got a killer to stop.”