Gayle Trent - Dead Pan

Praise for Murder Takes the Cake

Book One in

The Daphne Martin

Cake Decorating Mysteries

Murder Takes the Cake has all the earmarks of a good cozy: a mystery to solve, a cast of colorful characters, humor, and tiny hint of romance. It is a promising start to a new series. You did not think I could resist a one-eyed cat, did you?

Literary Feline.com

Highly recommended. Five stars!

Kayes Penguin Posts

A very enjoyable cozy.

Vixen's Daily Reads

Murder Takes The Cake has all the right ingredients for a delicious read.

Ellen Crosby, author of The Bordeaux Betrayal

Entertaining.

A Bookworms World

I cant wait to read the next one!

Mystery Lovers Corner.com

Breezy fun.

Harriet Klausner, an Amazon Top Reviewer

Dead Pan

by

Gayle Trent

Bell Bridge Books

Copyright

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the products of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons (living or dead,) events or locations is entirely coincidental.

Bell Bridge Books

PO BOX 30921

Memphis, TN 38130

ISBN for eBook: 978-1-935661-51-1

Bell Bridge Books is an Imprint of BelleBooks, Inc.

Copyright 2009 by Gayle Trent

Published in the United States of America.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review.

We at BelleBooks enjoy hearing from readers. You can contact us at the address above or at BelleBooks@BelleBooks.com

Visit our websites www.BelleBooks.com and www.BellBridgeBooks.com.

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Cover design: Debra Dixon

Interior design: Hank Smith

Photo credits: Cake/background - " Gabriela Duran Fuentes | Dreamstime.com "

Knife - Gary Woodard | Fotolia.com

Recipes reprinted with permission from Holly Clegg's trim&TERRIFIC Gulf Coast Favorites cookbook and Holly Clegg's trim&TERRIFIC Freezer Friendly Meals.

www.hollyclegg.com

:Fr:01:

For Tim, Lianna and Nicholas

Acknowledgements

Id like to thank my wonderfully supportive and loving family. Without you guys, my life would be empty.

Thank you to my editor, Deborah Smith, whose patience and indulgence are greatly appreciated.

Thank you to Craig Gustafson, editor in chief of cake decoratings top magazines Mailbox News and American Cake Decorating. Not only does he support cake decorators though his fabulous magazines, hes a great guy. I had the privilege of meeting him at the 2009 Oklahoma Sugar Art Show where he chatted up decorators, wannabes (like me) and vendors alike.

A special thanks to Kerry Vincent (who makes a cameo in Dead Pan) for providing knowledge of the cake world and limitless encouragement. Kerry is the reigning queen of the cake world.

A special thanks also to Holly Clegg, author of the trim&TERRIFIC cookbooks. Holly is a fantastic cook who specializes in healthy alternative recipes for people who are watching their weight, cancer patients and diabetes sufferers. In short, Holly rocks! Visit her online at http://www.hollyclegg.com/.

Last, but not least, thank you for reading this book. I hope you will enjoy it.

For the second time in as many months, I found myself telling a police officer, I just brought the cake.

We were sitting in my cozy Brea Ridge, Virginia kitchen with its beige walls, white cabinets and light-colored wood floor. My kitchen is usually a peaceful, happy place. But then, Im usually not being interrogated here... although, since I solved the murder of Yodel Watson, I am interrogated here more than you might think.

Yes, Ms. Martin, the policeman was saying, and the lab is already testing remnants of that cake to determine whether or not its the cause of the death.

Well, thats a relief. Or, at least, it will be when you see that the cake is innocent. It was also a relief to be dealing with Officer McAfee rather than Officer Hayden this time. Officer McAfee appeared to be on the backside of thirty and didnt seem to rush to judgment the way young Officer Hayden had.

Nevertheless, ninety percent of the folks who attended the Brea Ridge Pharmaceutical Christmas party are violently ill today, Officer McAfee said.

Right. As I said, I just brought the cake. I didnt stay for the festivities.

Lucky you. His brown fingers fumbled with a small blue notebook. You didnt notice anything unusual going on?

Like Momba Womba spiking the punch? With a name like Daphne, Im entitled to a Scooby Doo reference now and then, especially when Im nervous. I cant remember what Momba Womba really did on the cartoon show, although I do remember he was a witch doctor. Im fairly sure he didnt spike any punch, or else Shaggy and Scooby wouldve been in big trouble. Those guys would eat and drink things found in cobweb-covered cabinets in creepy haunted houses.

Officer McAfees dark eyes widened as he leaned forward in my kitchen chair. You saw somebody spike the punch?

No, no... I didnt see anything.

He stood up. If you think of somethinganything at allthat mightve made those people sick, call me. He handed me his business card. This is deadly serious, Ms. Martin. Fred Duncan is in the hospital in a coma today.

Fred Duncan?

Yeah. You know him?

He works at the Save-A-Buck.

Right.

I walked Officer McAfee to the door. Thats terrible. Do the doctors think hell be okay?

He shook his head. Its not looking good.

Id barely had time to absorb that upsetting information and put our coffee cups in the dishwasher before my neighbor Myra was at the door. Myra is a feisty widow with too much time on her hands, but she is always entertaining. I invited her in, and we went to sit in the living room. I felt I might as well be comfortable for my inquisition.

Getting to be a habit? The police car, I mean. I thought I saw a police car over here. Myra kicked off her loafers and dropped into my pink and white checked club chair.

You did. Oh my. You did see a putty tat. Or a police car.

She stared at me, unblinking. The Tweety Bird cartoon joke was lost on Myra. She was like a bloodhound with a scent to follow.

What were they doing here?

I sat down on the couch. Brea Ridge Pharmaceuticals had their Christmas party last night.

Were you there? Did it get rowdy? Was there a drunken brawl?

I delivered a cake, but I left before the party started.

So you didnt get to see the brawl?

As far as I know, there was no brawl.

Then why were the police here?

A lot of people who were at the party got sick.

From your cake?

I held up my hand. Definitely not from my cake. Officer McAfee said the lab is testing remnants of the cake, and I have no doubt it will be fine. No doubt whatsoever.

Remnants? I thought only carpet came in remnants. Huh. She folded her legs up under her. That Officer McAfee is a good looking man, aint he? He reminds me of Malcolm Winters from Y and R. Of course, Malcolm is on that crime show now, so there you go.

There you go, I echoed, as if her train of thought made one iota of sense.

What was it that made everybody so sick?

They dont know yet. Fortunately, the company had some drugs on hand that lessened the symptoms for most of them. They couldnt help poor Fred Duncan, though.