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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

Write about someone investigating a break-in at a bakery. The only thing missing? A very secret ingredient.

Posted in Mystery on Jul 31, 2021

Submissions are closed

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✍️ 106 stories

“Cinnamon Cyanide ” by Emma Cooley

Submitted to Contest #71

The joint was already asking to be looted. The door was never locked, the safe was in the damn lobby for fuck’s sake. The only lock in the entire building was on a trapdoor into the cellar. It had been tampered with of course, and the man sent down there to explore hadn’t returned.  He radioed in constant chatter, more than his usual nonsense.  “Is there something in the air, Charlie?” my partner asked. I inhaled for a good moment to the scent of freshly ground cinnamon. “Cinnamon, it’s a bakery Ryan.” I dismissed, and he raised hi...

3 comments 3
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“Special Ingredient” by John Del Rio

Submitted to Contest #71

Special IngredientHe sat in the foyer waiting; and he was nervous. Penrose always made him nervous. He had been working for him for several years now; but he was always nervous when he met with his boss. It didn’t make much sense to him because Penrose was a slight man; maybe 5 ft 6 in his stocking feet, while he himself was 8 inches taller and outweighed the boss by 4 stone. He knew that Penrose had spent several years in the mines back in the old country and many years building his “enterprise” so that he controlled the...

28 comments 28
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“Jadivolett and the Egg Thief” by Michael Boquet

Submitted to Contest #71

It was two days before the Festival of Winter Winds as Jadivolett and Tiego broke camp. The annual festival marked the change in seasons from autumn to winter and was held to honor Olentar the Wind God. The first rays from Ottbof the Sun God crested over the horizon, burning away the morning chill as Tiego packed up the last of their belongings. Jadivolett knelt, the Sun God at her back, and held her holy symbol between her hands. Turning her emerald green eyes to the northwest, she prayed to Olentar. When she was finished, Tiego handed Jadi...

1 comment 1
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“The Cookie Crumbles..” by Jade Orien🍀

Submitted to Contest #71

"Do you have any idea who might've broken into your bakery sir?"A detective asks the baker as he accidentally steps on a cookie that was lying on the floor."No, I have no idea! People in this town love my baked goods I don't know who would do this to me!""Anything, in particular, missing from your bakery sir?"As the baker starts to speak he suddenly remembered he left something very vital in the bakery.He runs into the kitchen & begins to make a mess as he searches for something particular.The detective runs after him and asks "Sir what ...

6 comments 6
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“It's in the Stardust” by Christie Greenwood

Submitted to Contest #71

Winters in New Amsterdam were never easy to deal with. Ever since the Emergence two centuries back, they’d grown harder – at least that was the talk among the inhabitants. In truth, cold winters came and went. Were some of the fluctuations due to variations in the magic field? Yes. That much could be proven. However, climate was always a result of nature and people meddling, be they regular humans, Cailleach or Cruthanna. It was unfortunate that many people chose not to see it that way. To them, it was always a specific group’s fault. Even w...

2 comments 2
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“A Dash Of Mystery” by Sevan Meguerditchian

Submitted to Contest #71

The weather was cold and gloomy when the detective stepped foot outside of the precinct. Of all the cases stacked up on his desk, he had to be stuck with the least interesting one. You would think during the holidays, when crime is usually thriving, he would get a more interesting one but alas he was tasked with solving this one in the near future. For the second time that week the detective drove through the familiar streets until he was parked outside the bakery. Little Rainbow's Bakery. The owner, an old couple stood waiting inside. "...

3 comments 3
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“Rube” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #71

Rube         Rube Goldberg Junior was nothing like his father. He, unlike his father, who had dedicated himself to the peculiarly intricate connections between things, people, and situations, found people to be little more than over rated guests of a planet that deserved better. His theories propelled thought to a level where it did not exist as imagined but took on an identity of the one who observed it. Envision a maze where there was more than one possibility of a destination. ...

1 comment 1
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“A Sweet Surprise” by Sophia Chen

Submitted to Contest #71

“Audrey! This is an emergency!” Meya’s voice exclaims from my voicemails. “I need your help immediately. Call me back?” I scroll through the rest of my missed messages: all from Meya, and all probably vague, frantic, pleas for help.  I dial her number and wait for her to pick up. What has my overexcited girlfriend gotten into now? “Audrey!” Meya cries out on the first ring. “Thank god. Are you free? I need you to come over!” “What did you do this time, Meya?” I ask, amused. I’m not far from her apartment, and set off for it at a bri...

1 comment 1
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“The Great Cookie Caper” by Greg Gillis

Submitted to Contest #71

           It was a cool November morning on the east side of town. I was hired by Gladys Barker to investigate a break-in at her tiny store named, “BARKER’S BAKERY”. My name is Johnny Hardcase, Private Eye. The seventy-five-year-old widow spent all day in that little store. People came from all over just to get a batch of her famous cookies that she called, “Granny’s Best”.            It was said that everyone who had a taste could...

2 comments 2
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“Wherever We Are Needed” by Calico Holmes

Submitted to Contest #71

"Don't fire me, master! I have done nothing!"                     "Done nothing?! This pesky brat stole my secret formula, great detective Asher, oh, oh what should I dooo! Asher wrinkled his eyebrows, clearly annoyed with this unexpected brawl.   " Listen, Baker," he clamored, basking in absolute anger, "I am a sophisticated detective solving the highest crimes, and a petty bakery accusation saga, is  NOT my cup of ...

4 comments 4
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“The Wake-Up Stop” by Sandy Buxton

Submitted to Contest #71

   The first sign telling Maria she was in trouble was the swept path in the early morning dusting of snow. “It’s Tuesday,” she said as she approached the back door of the bakery/coffee shop. “Sally knows I open during the week.” She put her mittened hand on the doorknob and turned. Locked. Looking in the back window while she dragged her keys out of her pocket, Maria noticed the lights were still off.     Opening the door, she called, “It’s just me. Why didn’t you turn the lights on, Sally?” Maria flicked ...

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“The Real Stuff” by Louise Coley

Submitted to Contest #71

Dawn broke like a slow to warm up energy saving light bulb being hit with a sledgehammer. I watched the grey light seep it's way across the maze of grey streets from the grey-smudged window of my apartment- magnolia, with accents of grey. The steaming coffee in my hand reminded me of the inhabitants below. Dark. Bitter. Strangely pungent.The phone rang. I picked up.“Dick here,” I told the receiver.“We've had a message come in,” said Sally, ”Someone wants you to investigate a break-in up on 5th. Shall I come pick you up?”“See you in ten,” I r...

2 comments 2
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“Family Secrets.” by Patricia Green

Submitted to Contest #71

As detective Frank Russo slid out of his car he pulled his coat tighter, and his hat down lower, against the cold, driving, unseasonal rain. The flashing lights of the police cars were mirrored in the puddles forming on the road, like a thousand carousels at a carnival. “Why would anyone in their right mind pick a night like this to break into a Bakery?” he thought. Showing his badge to the rookie guarding the front door, he gratefully walked inside the brightly lit Bakery. The Bakery was spotlessly clean and tidy, nothing out of place, ...

2 comments 2
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“The Faerie Stone” by Sjan Evardsson

Submitted to Contest #71

Gavin wrung his soft hat between worried hands. He paced around the office, bare feet silent on the carpet, coming within an inch of running into every piece of furniture.Kat leaned out from behind the screen she was studying. "Gavin! Knock it off!" She didn’t have the patience to deal with his fidgeting at six o’clock in the morning, especially after the stress of the previous night.He stopped and leaned against the door, banging his head against the doorknob. "Ow! Stupid, big-people rooms!" The room was a standard human-scale room, but at ...

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“Break In” by Puhalenthi Ramesh Vidhya

Submitted to Contest #71

"Detective Leo, the nation's renowned detective has solved the case of the missing ingredient. He has done this by...", said Leo to his grandkids. "Wait... wait," interrupted Matthew, one of Leo's grandkids. "Shhhhhhhhh. Don't make grandpa stop the story," Angela exclaimed. Matthew made a face at her. "You can't be the boss of me," he replied, in a harsh tone. "Yeah. You make us play whatever you want," said Sam.  "I just wanted to get a quick snack," Matthew replied. Sam turned around and stared at Matthew "This time,...

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