Free A Sheetcake Named Desire by Jacklyn Brady

the one to go.”
    I felt better knowing that Miss Frankie was behind the wheel at the bakery. “Well, you’ve got a good staff—at least the people I know. They’re who I’d want to hire if I opened my own shop.”
    She tilted her head and studied me in silence for a moment. “ Do I have a good staff? I thought so once, and I know Philippe felt he’d hired the best. But what if it was one of them who did this horrible thing?”
    I thought about the staff—my old friends and the people I’d met that morning. Could one of them be capable of murder? “I’m sure the police will solve the case,” I said, trying to convince both of us. “If anyone on staff had a hand in what happened today, they’ll pay for what they did.”
    Miss Frankie looked up at me, her expression skeptical. “You have more faith in the system than I do. Read the paper. Watch the news. Murders go unsolved all the time. That young detective seems eager enough, but NOPD doesn’t have the best track record. They say that NOPD stands for “Not Our Problem, Darlin’.”
    “I’m sure Detective Sullivan will do everything he can to find justice for Philippe.”
    Miss Frankie nodded slowly. “He does seem like a fine young man. Polite. Brought up right, it appears. But these things can take time, you know. And in the meantime, here I am with a business on my hands I know nothing about, and a staff I can’t trust.”
    I gave the batter a stir, checking the consistency to make sure I hadn’t accidentally overworked it. I didn’t want the cake to turn out heavy or tough. “You can trust Ox.”
    “Can I?”
    I checked the oven to make sure it had preheated, then poured the batter into the pan. “I thought you told Detective Sullivan that you did.”
    “I did. I do . At least, I want to. But he did get into a fight with Philippe this morning, and a few minutes later, Philippe was dead.”
    “I’ll admit the timing looks bad, but all the police have is a bunch of circumstantial evidence. You could say the same thing about me.”
    “But you had no reason to want Philippe dead.”
    “I refuse to believe Ox did either,” I said.
    Miss Frankie shook her head slowly. “I don’t know.”
    “Okay, then, what about Edie? She’s been around for a while, and being manager gives her a bird’s-eye view of the business.”
    Miss Frankie pushed air out between her teeth and swatted at the air between us. “Edie’s a wonderful girl. Just wonderful. But you know Philippe didn’t hire her for her decorating skills, and Zydeco needs a creative eye overseeing things.”
    That was true. Edie hadn’t exactly failed pastry school, but she’d come close a few times. “Still, she might be a decent temporary solution,” I suggested. “Or what about Dwight?”
    “Dwight Sonntag?” Miss Frankie scowled at me. “Sugar, that man’s not a manager. Even if he had the skills, he looks like something the cat dragged home.”
    An image of Dwight’s shaggy hair and scruffy beard flashed through my head. Much as I liked him, I had to admit he wouldn’t be good as the public face of Zydeco. “You might be right about that,” I agreed reluctantly. “But there’s no reason you can’t trust him, is there?”
    “I don’t know,” she said again.
    “What about—?”
    She cut me off before I could finish. “Rita, there’s just no other solution. You’re the obvious person to take over. You know as much about cake decorating as Philippe did, and you’re just as talented. Besides, you’re technically still his wife.” She slanted a glance at me and sighed again. “I might as well be honest. There’s something else you should know.”
    “Oh?”
    “There’s been some kind of trouble at Zydeco for a while now. Philippe told me about it a week or two ago.”
    That got my attention. “What kind of trouble?”
    “Strange accidents. Missing equipment. Disappearing inventory. Philippe was convinced that someone was trying to sabotage the