Free Death by Chocolate Cake: A Bakery Detectives Cozy Mystery by Stacey Alabaster Page A

press about that."
    He shrugged. "I don't know her too well. Just met her at the audition. Some single mother with five kids. When you got through ahead of her, she kind of lost it. Said she was sure that you must have used more than just your baking skills to impress Pierre. And when Pierre died, she told me she was going straight to the press." He shrugged. "Said she thought it would make you look guilty."

Chapter 8
    " A re you ready ?" Pippa asked me as I took a deep breath.
    "Yes. It's time I finally faced up to this."
    Pippa stepped back and looked over my shoulder as I finally brought up the news headlines that had been running constantly since Pierre's death.
    "And I've got an actual real life paper here for you as well, if you need it," Pippa said.
    I could feel the waft of air on the back of my neck as she waved the newspaper behind me. "That's super helpful."
    "Ohhh." I could hear Pippa whispering behind me. I could hear the wince in her voice. "It's pretty bad."
    The gossip sites were plastered with garish photos of Pierre and me, badly photoshopped into them with headlines like " Baking Warriors Love Scandal - Contestant Cheats Her Way In."
    "This is insane, Pippa. We never even had a photo taken together. We never even met except for that one time at my disastrous audition."
    When Pippa didn't say anything, I swung around in my chair to find her making a confused face that she quickly tried to straighten before I saw it. "What?"
    "Well, I thought you said your audition went really well. Isn't that why you were going through to the next round?"
    "Well," I said, a little unsure. "I thought my audition went badly. Pierre didn't seem to like my cake, but Justin assured me that he did really like me."
    "Oh."
    "Pippa! It's not like that!"
    She glanced over my shoulder back at the gossip sites. "No, I'm sure it's not."
    "It's not, Pippa!" But I had to cross my arms over my chest as I thought about it all. "Justin just said that Pierre had to pretend not to like my cake for TV. It's all fake, you know. Just like these news stories," I said pointedly.
    Pippa nodded firmly. "I know. Sorry, Rach. It's just that they can be pretty convincing."
    I spun back around to face the computer. "Yeah, well, Renee did a pretty good job of spinning a good tale for them. She's mixed enough true details from the audition process in with the lies so that it seems more convincing." I dropped my face into my hands.
    This was all so embarrassing. I was only glad that my nana wasn't around to see my public humiliation. Even the thought of her reading these gossip articles made me want the earth to swallow me.

    " S o , what are you thinking?" Pippa asked. She settled down, perched up on the desk next to me.
    "If Renee killed Pierre, it makes sense that she would try to frame someone else as a suspect. It's a pretty good plan. Maybe not the most original, but a solid plan nonetheless."
    Pippa clucked her tongue a few times, in deep concentration. "To be fair, though, or maybe her plan just backfired, but people don't really seem to be blaming you for his death if you actually read the articles. They are more focused on the scandal of it. Of the fact that you cheated your way through."
    "Hmm," I murmured. She was right. Not that I'd cheated my way through, but that no one was really pointing the finger at me. They thought I had a crush on Pierre, not that I was trying to kill him. "Either way though, it takes the attention off the actual crime. That could have been a smart move on her part. She was desperate to get on the show, Pippa. Just like Adam was. She might have been just as upset as Adam was when she missed out. Pierre's death benefits her as much as it did Adam."
    I slumped back on the sofa. "Just about the only person his death doesn't benefit is me."
    "Exactly. Maybe Renee didn't fully think that angle though before she leaked the story to the press. Her plan failed."
    I sat up. "But why would she even do it in the first place? Was