Murder, Money & Marzipan (12 page)

“The cupcakes themselves are nice but perhaps a little plain,” Grace Harvey said.

Lexy watched the head judge Tim Gartner purse his lips while he looked the cupcakes up and down, then jotted notes on his notepad.

Finally the judges smiled, nodded, and moved on.

Lexy felt like she had been holding her breath the whole time.

“Looks like we did OK,” Lexy said.

Cassie shrugged. “Judge Harvey did say they were plain. Those sugar sculptures would have jazzed them up.”

Lexy glanced back wistfully at the refrigerator where the sculptures were. They
would
have improved the appearance, most likely giving her high points for aesthetics, but Lexy had her reasons for leaving them off.

“Well, hopefully we will make up for it in the tasting portion of the challenge.”

“If we make it that far.”
 

Cassie leaned her head toward Lexy. “Tell me more about Westmore…what happened in there?”

Lexy explained how she had gone to the office and found the ledger, only to be surprised by Westmore, who admitted to killing Saunders before he tried to kill her.

“I hate to admit it, but Nik Stone saved my life,” Lexy said.

“Lucky thing. Maybe Jack is right about not getting involved in these investigations.” Cassie raised a pierced eyebrow at Lexy.

Lexy felt her cheeks flush but was saved from further admonitions by the sight of Tim Gartner heading toward their booth.

“You’ve made it to the tasting round, so please bring your cupcakes over,” he said.

Lexy and Cassie sprang into action, loading the cupcake displays onto a stainless steel cart, which they wheeled across the stadium to the taste judging area.

On the other side of the stadium, Lexy was pleased to see that Corinne was one of the contestants who had made it to the tasting round. Lexy wheeled her cart over and took her place in between Corinne and another baker she had only met fleetingly. Corinne cast a worried glance in Lexy’s direction, but Lexy smiled at her reassuringly.
 

Lexy shuffled her feet nervously as she watched the judges take their places at the table across from them. The area behind them was filled with various spectators. The camera crew was already recording the activities.

Lexy watched Tim Gartner take the podium, marveling at how quickly the contest had adjusted after the excitement of Westmore’s arrest.

As Gartner made the usual introductions, Lexy’s thoughts turned to Westmore. Her hand went to her throat; the skin felt raw and she rubbed it uneasily. She felt her stomach churn as she realized how close to death she had come. Maybe Jack
was
right…maybe she should stop meddling
in murders. She hated to admit it, but it was becoming somewhat of a fun hobby and she loved working with Nans and the Ladies Detective Club. Perhaps she would just try to be more careful in the future.

“…wonderfully light lemon filling.”
 
The words took Lexy out of her thoughts and she smiled at the judge’s compliment.

“The taste combination is perfect and your chocolate espresso is rich and moist - one of the best cupcakes I have tasted today,”
 
Judge Harvey said.

 
Lexy smiled and nodded. “Thank you.”

With a start, she realized she hadn’t even paid attention to what the judges had said about the other contestants’ cupcakes-she had been too lost in her own thoughts.
 

Gartner stepped to the podium, the scorecard in his hand. Lexy felt her mouth go dry realizing they were about to announce the winner of this challenge.

“The judges have scored each cupcake on aesthetics and taste.”
 
He waved the cards in the air. “I have the results here and am happy to announce the third-place ribbon. With 3 points for aesthetics and four points for taste, the ribbon goes to…”

Lexy bit her bottom lip as he paused dramatically.

“Marg Rupert.”
 
Lexy heard a burst of applause as the baker went up to collect her ribbon. Since this was the last challenge, there were only three finalists, so that left Lexy and Corinne in the running for first place. She glanced sideways at Corinne, who was fidgeting behind her cart of cupcakes.

“Lexy, Corinne.” Tim nodded at each of them in turn. “It was a tough decision between the two of you. In the end, one of you won by a hair with a better presentation.”

Another dramatic pause jangled Lexy’s nerves.

“The second-place ribbon, goes to the baker who won 5 points for taste and 4 points for aesthetics: Lexy Baker! Which means Corinne Conners is the winner with 5 points for both taste and aesthetics!”

Lexy swelled with pride as she and Corinne went to the podium to accept their ribbons. She should have been disappointed she lost by a small margin, but in reality she was happy the other woman won. She felt her heart grow when she saw the smile on Corinne’s face, which was flushed with excitement, and she knew she had made the right decision. But when Corinne glanced over at Lexy, her smile faded.
 

“Congratulations ladies,” Tim said, as Lexy and Corinne made their way back to stand behind their carts.

“As you know, this is the last challenge in
Bakery Battles
. We will now pick the overall winner by adding up the scores from all the challenges. The baker with the highest score will win the grand prize of $100,000 and a spread in
American Baker Magazine
.”

Everyone applauded loudly, including Lexy and Corinne.
 

“There is also a generous second prize of $20,000 and a third prize of $2000. We will break for an hour and then announce the winners right here.”

Tim stepped down from the podium. The camera crew stopped filming and the crowd started to break up. Everyone would take a short break and return in an hour to hear the final judging.

Lexy saw Corinne turning to leave and called after her.

“Corinne, wait up!”

Corinne turned stiffly to face her and Lexy’s heart dropped when she saw the stricken look on her face. She forced herself to walk over to the other baker - she had some unfinished business that needed to be taken care of before the final winner was announced.

###

“Congratulations!” Lexy said, opening her arms to hug the other baker. She saw that Corinne was near tears. Corinne covered her face as Lexy put her arms around her.
 

“Oh, Lexy, I’m so sorry.”

“Why?” Lexy asked.

“I didn’t mean to cheat…I only wanted to peek at your wedding cake,” Corinne said through tears.

“Oh, that?
 
Don’t be silly. You didn’t see anything I was trying to keep secret anyway.”

Lexy’s heart lifted when she saw Corinne’s face brighten.

“Really?”

Lexy nodded.
 

“So you’re not mad?”

“No, not at all.”

“Oh, thank you!” Corinne returned Lexy’s hug, a big smile on her face, the blue ribbon clutched in her hand.

“I was afraid you would be mad at me. When the police questioned me about it, they thought I ruined your cake. I swear I didn’t touch it!”

“I know. Westmore did it. He confessed to me,” Lexy said.

Corinne’s eyes opened wide. “I saw him that night. He was walking toward your booth. But why?”
 
She looked around. “Come to think of it, where
is
Westmore?”

Lexy explained the whole story to Corinne, who listened wide-eyed.
 

“Wow. I had no idea.” Corrinne looked around. “Hey, I have to go freshen up to get ready for the final announcement.”
 
She shook her hands out. “I’m so nervous!”

“Me too!
 
I think we both have a good chance. Good luck!” Lexy said, genuinely meaning it.

“Good luck to you too,” Corinne said, giving Lexy a quickt hug.

They walked off in opposite directions. Lexy felt like bats were flying around in her stomach. In less than an hour, the whole contest would be over and one of the bakers would be $100,000 richer with a great opportunity ahead of them. Lexy wanted to win, but she was also rooting for Corinne. The other baker needed the money a lot more than she did, plus she had three young kids to support.

Lexy smiled to herself, certain she had made the right decision, as she sped off to her room to freshen up and then gather Nans and Cassie for the final announcement.
 

###

Lexy took in a deep breath and eyed the entrance to Bakery Battles Stadium for what would probably be the last time. In a few minutes, the winner would be announced, the kitchens would be packed up, and everyone would be on their way home and back to their normal lives.

“Good luck, dear.” Nans gave her a hug.

Cassie held out her fist for a knuckle tap. “Good luck!”

“Thanks.” Lexy smiled, her stomach rolling over like a cement mixer and feeling just as heavy.

She broke off from Nans and Cassie to go to the far side of the stadium where a special section was setup for all the bakers. In the preliminary finals, there would be no taping, and the majority of the bakers would be eliminated. Only the seven bakers with the most points would continue on to the taped finale. Nans and Cassie would be waiting in the spectator stands.

Lexy scanned the crowd. Locating Corinne over in the corner,
 
she waved a greeting and proceeded to make her way over just as Tim Gartner started to address the crowd of bakers.

“First of all, on behalf of
Bakery Battles
, I’d like to thank all of you. As you know, the contest has had its challenges this year.”
 

A murmur went through the crowd, and Lexy could see many of the bakers nodding.

“The baking has been top-notch and you’ve all done such a wonderful job that it’s been hard to choose the finalists,” he continued. “But, only one baker can win and it is time to narrow down the group to the top seven who will go on to the grand finale.”

Tim held up a piece of paper. “This card has the names of those lucky seven bakers. I’m going to read them off. If you are one of them, step over here to the right. Everyone else can start packing up their kitchens. Thank you for participating in
Bakery Battles
and good luck.”

Lexy clenched her hands into fists, her shoulders tense. She
thought
she had done well enough to make it into the top seven, but she still felt anxious to hear her name.

The room fell silent, all the bakers holding their breath as Tim read the names.

“Rudy Abru, Hanna Anderson, Jason Bach, Lexy Baker, Corinne Conners, Mandy Hudson, Bill Salida. Congratulations - you’ve made it into the top seven!”

Lexy let her breath out in a big whoosh and clapped with the rest of the bakers.
She made it!

She joined the other six bakers on the right. Amidst high fives and hugs, they watched the remaining bakers file out.

“If you are all set, we can go into the other area now. The camera crews are ready to start taping. Congratulations to all of you - you did a fine job.”
 
Tim made the rounds, shaking hands with each of them, then they followed him out into the other room where the camera crews and spectators were waiting.

Lexy took her place in line with the other bakers facing the judges. She could feel her pulse beating in her neck: her throat dried up and her hands got clammy.
Could this really be the final judging for Bakery Battles?
It seemed surreal to think that in a few minutes one of them would have an extra $100,000 and a magazine opportunity.

Tim walked to the podium. The cameras started to roll. Lexy listened while he announced that the final judging was taking place and then said a little bit about each judge and how the entries were judged on taste and appearance with the scores from all the challenges being tallied up to produce the grand-prize winner.
 

“I’d like to add, that
Bakery Battles
has been proud to host the finest bakers in America.” He waved his card at the group of bakers. Lexy smiled and nodded with the rest of them. “I’d like to give all of them the grand prize, but of course, only one can win.”

“First, I’d like to announce the four runners-up. Each will receive $250 worth of equipment for their kitchens from our sponsor, the Bakery Connection. They are…Rudy Abru, Hanna Anderson, Jason Bach, and Mandy Hudson!”

Lexy felt relief and excitement.
She was in the top three!

The clapping died down and Tim continued on. “For the third-place prize, including a check for $2,000, please congratulate…Bill Salida!”

Lexy’s heart hammered in her chest; her knees felt weak. That left only her and Corinne-one of them was the grand-prize winner and the other the second-prize winner.
 

“Lexy…Corinne…You’ve both been great competitors. Your scores were pretty close, but one of you will be the grand-prize winner of $100,000 and a spread in
American Baker Magazine
. The other will get a nice prize too - a check for $20,000.”

The spectators clapped enthusiastically. Lexy forced herself to breathe - either way she was going home with a big, fat check.
 

“And the grand-prize winner is…”

Tim paused. Lexy held her breath, feeling dizzy with anticipation. She figured if she was watching this on television, she’d be subjected to a series of commercials before she could find out who the winner was. She was grateful she didn’t have to wait 5 minutes in real life.
 

“Corinne Conners!”

Lexy let out her breath in a whoosh of air. She turned to see Corinne jumping up and down. Confetti rained down from the ceiling as she embraced her friend.
 

“Congratulations!
 
The prize couldn’t go to a more deserving baker.” Lexy meant every word of it. She released Corinne and watched her walk up to the podium to pose for the cameras with an oversized version of the $100,000 check.
 

Lexy smiled as she turned away scanning the crowd for Nans and Cassie. She spotted them in the corner, waved, and headed over to them.