miss fortune mystery (ff) - sinfully delicious (2 page)

Celia and her little group of minions were always trying to outdo or putting down the Sinful Ladies Society, of which Ida Bell and I were the founding members. The SLS did our bests at keeping the town respectable, but sometimes that was a lot harder said than done.

“She’d be perfect, but I think the only way we could get her in the box is to kidnap her, and after everything that’s happened since I’ve moved here, I don’t want to add a kidnapping charge to my record.” Fortune laughed. “Carter probably wouldn’t be too understanding, either.”

We were about a block away from Francine’s Café when we heard the commotion. The sidewalk was clear, but the racket was obviously coming from the café.

“What’s going on in there?” Ida Bell asked as we all put a pep in our steps and hurried inside the café.

What we saw was something straight out of a daytime soap opera.

The normally quiet Francine was wailing, waving her arms in the air with a bright yellow dishtowel in one hand, while a very confused looking Carter was trying his hardest to calm the woman down.

From what I could tell, it wasn’t working.

“Just calm down, Francine. I can’t help if you don’t calm down and tell me exactly what is going on.” Carter said.

“What the heck is going on, Francine?” I hollered over her wailing.

“The pudding recipe is gone! It’s gone!”

We all froze in our tracks. At the risk of sounding cliché, Francine’s banana pudding was like heaven on Earth. There was nothing in the world like it. Who needed a man when you could have Francine’s banana pudding?

Carter caught a glimpse of Fortune and his eyes nearly bulged out of his head. “Are you alright? What in the hell happened to your nose?”

“I’m fine. It’s a long story. I’ll explain later.” She answered before turning her attention back to Francine. “Now, what do you mean, the recipe is gone? You’ve made it so many times, don’t you have it memorized? Can’t you just write it down again?”

Ally, our dear friend and waitress stood partially behind Francine shaking her head and making a slicing motion across her throat while Fortune asked her questions. Apparently Fortune didn’t see the warning or simply wasn’t paying attention, but boy I wish she had been.

Francine flapped her flabby arms in the air. “Of course I know the recipe by memory. I could make the damn thing in my sleep! But now someone else has the prize winning pudding recipe that’s been in my family for generations! The person who has it could market it and sell it. My mama and her mama before her wanted that recipe to stay in the family. To never be mass marketed. That recipe is a gift that I share with everyone in this town. All I know is that I’m not making a spoon of pudding until that recipe is found, even if it means no pudding come the kickoff of the festival tomorrow.

Ally patted Francine’s back in an attempt to calm the woman down, while everyone else in the café went pale at the mention of no pudding.

Carter softened his voice. “Are you sure it’s missing? Where do you normally keep it hidden?”

“In a safe in the office.”

“Can you show it to me?”

Francine nodded. “Follow me.”

“When I come back in here, you’re going to tell me what the hell happened to your nose.” Carter pointed at Fortune.

Fortune shrugged.

Carter hurried after Francine.

“If he thinks I’m just going to stand here and not try to figure out what happened to the best banana pudding recipe in the world, he’s crazy.” I said as I hurried after Carter and Francine. Ida Bell and Fortune hurried behind me.

“Now, that’s the best idea she’s had all day.” Fortune laughed.

Chapter Three

“I’d tell you all to get out, but I know you wouldn’t listen.” Carter shook his head.

We all grinned. He knew us so well.

“This is the safe I keep the recipe and a small amount of cash in. I opened it just after lunch to put the afternoon till in, and saw that the recipe was gone.”

“Who has the combination besides yourself?” I asked.

“Ally. I don’t trust anyone else with it. There’s no way Ally took it, so someone else must’ve gotten their hands on the combination and stole it.”

As much as I hated to admit it, I knew she was right.

“I’m going to do what I can to find your recipe. But without any leads, I don’t know how far I’ll get. In the meantime, change the combination on this safe, and lock your office. Also, I wouldn’t put anything valuable in the safe until we figure out what happened to your recipe. I’m going to look into this. If you hear anything give me a call, and I’ll let you know if I find something.”

Carter took Fortune’s elbow in hand and steered her out of the room. “We need to talk.”

As soon as Carter and Fortune were out of earshot, Ida Bell and I started our own investigation.

“Francine, are you sure you didn’t move the recipe?” Ida Bell asked.

“I’m certain. I never take it out of this safe.”

“What does the recipe look like?” I asked.

“It’s written on an old thick recipe card. It’s discolored, almost tan from the years that have passed. The edges are tattered, but the writing is clear and legible. You’d know it if you saw it.”

“Have you hired any new people lately?” Ida Bell leaned against Francine’s small desk.

“Two new girls. Sabrina and Cathy. They both just moved here. Sabrina is married to the new doc in town and Cathy is in her second year of college. They’re both waitressing for me part time.”

“Have they had access to the safe?” I asked.

“Everyone has access to my office but they couldn’t get into the safe without the combination.”

“We’ll figure this out.” Ida Bell patted Francine on the shoulder.

We left the office and met Fortune who was already set up at a booth, and slid in in front of her.

“How mad is Carter?”

She shook her head. “He’s coming by to take you nunchucks this evening, so if you have any other weapons lying around that you don’t want confiscated, you’d better hide them before he stops by.”

I nodded. “So, pretty upset, then.”

“What did you find out from Francine after I left?”

“Not much. She hired two new waitresses but says none of them know the combination to the safe.”

“Are we sure someone stole the recipe?” Fortune asked.

“She’s certain, and if that’s the case, there could be a real problem.”

“What do you mean?” I asked Ida Bell.

“It’s just as Francine said. If someone actually did get into the safe and take the recipe, then they could very well sell it and make a ton of money.”

“So what do we do? The fall festival kicks off tomorrow and without Francine’s pudding the town’s people are going to go crazy. Not to mention, it’ll put a dent in Francine’s earnings. She makes a good sum of money during the festival, due to the tourists who come down for the festival and her pudding.” 

We sat lost in thought for what seemed like forever until it hit me.

“What if we lie?”

“What are you talking about now?” Ida Bell scrunched up her face at me.

“What if we put out word that the recipe taken out of Francine’s safe was a dummy. A fake.”

“But a lot of people already saw Francine freak out that her recipe was missing.” Fortune said.

“We could say that she was just putting on a show that way the thief would think they got the real recipe and wouldn’t come back after the real thing.”

Ida Bell grinned. “We could quietly put out word that Francine keeps the real recipe in a cubby in the bottom of her desk drawer. You know how secrets rage like wildfire around here. When the thief gets wind that they have the wrong recipe, they’ll come back for the real thing.”

“Then we hide in the cafe and when the thief comes back for the real recipe, bam! We got them.” Fortune finished the idea.

“Exactly.” I smiled. “Let’s let Francine in on out plan and get this show on the road. The festival is tomorrow and I’ll be dipped in the outhouse before I miss out on Francine’s banana pudding.”

Chapter Four