Fat Cat Takes The Cake

“Holmes Sweet Holmes is playing tonight at the Orpheum. Julie’s talked about it and I think it would do her good to get her mind off everything.”

“Don’t you want to practice for the Batter Battle tonight?”

“I’m getting sick of it, to tell you the truth. I could use a night off. Then I’ll hit it fresh on Friday.”

“And win the contest next Saturday!” Chase had no desire to do the books tonight. They’d be there tomorrow.

“One hopes.”

Chase went to the office to try to do a little work on ordering items for the shop. That was something she had to keep up with. If they ran out of baking supplies, they were out of product to sell. They could run to the local grocer for a few things, but she needed to stay on top of the major items. She completed most of her ordering, but didn’t know if they needed more eggs or not. Those were ordered separately from a local farmer. So she went into the kitchen to count them.

Mallory stuck her head into the kitchen, spotted Chase, then came over close to her. “Ms. Oliver? Someone is here to see you.” Her voice was quiet.

“Who is it?”

“She didn’t tell me. She said she has something for you.”

Chase gave Anna a shrug, closed the refrigerator, and went to see who it was. Patrice, Mike’s cousin, stood by the glass case, her back to Chase, gazing out the front windows to the shops across the street. She turned when she heard Chase and Mallory come in.

“Hi, Patrice,” Chase said. “Mallory says you have something for me?”

“Is there somewhere private we can talk?”

Now Chase was truly puzzled. She ushered Patrice through the kitchen, to the office. Quincy, showing no favorites, twined around first Chase’s legs, then Patrice’s after Chase closed the door. Anna had given them a quick glance, no doubt wondering what was going on.

“Hello, you handsome fellow.” Patrice stooped to pet Quincy and his purr motor started on high.

“What is it you have, Patrice?”

She looked around the room.

“Would you like to sit down?”

“No, I won’t be long. I came to give you this, but please don’t tell anyone where you got it from.” She opened her small purse and pulled out a folded paper. After a moment’s hesitation, she thrust it at Chase.

“I heard you talking at lunch,” she said. “I thought you would like to have this.”

Chase was getting a bad feeling about whatever it was she held. She slowly unfolded the paper. At the top of the sheet, in all caps, it said “BANANA RICE WONDER CAKE.” Scanning down, it seemed to be a cake recipe, made with rice flour. “What is this?”

“You said Anna would like to see Grace Pilsen’s recipe.”

Chase’s mouth dropped open. “You . . . stole Grace’s recipe?”

“You said Anna needed to see it.”

“I don’t think I said she needed to see it.”

“It sounded like you said that.”

Patrice had been listening in on her and Eddie. Chase had known that at the time, but hadn’t foreseen the consequences. After all, Patrice got a kick out of stealing things.

Chase tapped on the paper, trying to decide what to do. She had already seen it, so she couldn’t pretend she hadn’t. “Is this the only copy? Does Grace have another one?”

Patrice nodded. “I copied it and put it right where I found it.”

The woman was a skillful thief, Chase had to admit. “And no one saw you do it?”

“Of course not.”

“How did you get this?”

“I don’t think I can to tell you that. It’s my secret.”

Chase didn’t want to go into the business of stealing recipes, but was curious how Patrice had gone about it. However, she wasn’t going to find out.

“This is going to help you out, isn’t it? I wanted to make up for taking your ring at the fair.”

“Yes. Well, I guess this will do it. We’re completely even now. You don’t need to steal any more things for me, Patrice.” She meant well, Chase thought. Didn’t she?

After Patrice left, Chase stayed in her office, ostensibly finishing up her work, but really dithering about what to do with the recipe. On the one hand, she thought this would be an easy one to beat. The ingredients wouldn’t go together well. Rice flour needed a stronger flavor than banana to make a delectable dessert. The cake recipe wasn’t likely to wow the judges. So not showing it to Anna shouldn’t change a thing. On the other hand, Anna seemed so very nervous about competing with Grace that it might make her feel better knowing Grace’s entry wasn’t a winner. But, if Chase had a third hand, there was something else to consider. Was this actually Grace’s recipe? Even if it belonged to her, was it the one she was using for the Batter Battle?

Since Chase had no idea where or how Patrice had gotten it, she couldn’t be sure it was the real thing. She wouldn’t show it to Anna. Tucking it into the pocket of the smock she hadn’t taken off, she felt good about that decision. It sounded busy out front, so she went to help out until closing time.

It would be fun going to the show tonight with Anna and Julie.

THIRTEEN