The Crime of the Pale Baker

Pippa Sullivan runs into the private detective agency.  Sweat trickles down her forehead.  Her chest rises and falls at a rapid pace.  The door slamming behind her is a result of her quick entry.  The sound alarms her.  Pippa glances at the man sitting at his desk.  He was eating lunch, or had been in the process when Pippa made her entrance.  The glob of ketchup on his french fries on their way to his mouth plops down on his shirt.

“Are you kidding me?”  Monty Fisher mumbles as he grabs a napkin and wipes his hands off.  He licks the napkin and rubs the ketchup further into his shirt, leaving a nice stain on his chest.  He walks towards Pippa.  She is still trying to catch her breath.

“Can I help you?”  He asks.

Pippa looks out the front window of the business before answering.  “Someone is following me.”  She scans the busy streets but doesn’t see the person she is hiding from outside.  She allows herself to catch her breath.

Monty follows her eyes to the streets.  “Do you know why they are following you?”  He asks as he ushered her away from the window and back to his desk.  At the desk, he pushes his lunch aside and grabs a nearby pen and notebook.  “Tell me what I need to know and I’ll put my best private investigator on it.”  Monty says as he clicks the pen.

“Oh, I know who is following me.”  Pippa says as her skin changes from a bright red to ghostly white in a second.

Monty lets out a sigh.  “Miss, we are a private investigation agency.  We don’t do restraining orders.  You need to go to the police station and make an official complaint.”

Pippa grabs Monty’s thick wrist.  “ I can’t.”  She whispers with a desperate tone.  She hesitates before speaking again.  “I’m guilty of something.”

Monty jumps up from his seat and steps back.  He grabs his phone and eyes the young woman.  “What did you do?  Tell me now or so help me God, I will call the cops right now!”  Monty’s voice rises to almost a shout.

Pippa pushes her dark hair behind her ears.  “I quit my job like 10 minutes ago.”  She admits.

Monty sits back down in his chair.  “Good God woman, you made my blood pressure spike over your guilty conscience about quitting your job!  Tell me what is going on.”  Monty asks.  His voice is soft and gentle again, like when she first entered Fisher’s Private Investigation Agency.

Pippa gives a soft smile and starts her story.  “Like I said, I work - worked over at Blair's Diner.  Are you familiar with it?”  She asks.

Monty points to the food on his desk.  “Best damn restaurant around here.  Blair is personally responsible for this.”  He points to his gut.  “Seriously.  Plus, I lack self-control when it comes to good cooking, and hers is the best.”

Pippa sat back in the chair.  “So you’ve had the pineapple pie there?”

Monty licks his lips.  “Mmm, yeah, best pineapple pie in the whole country.  She’s won so many awards for that pie.  You know the recipe has been in her family for almost 200 years.  Top secret recipe, Blair always says.”  Monty grins and continues to talk.  Pippa sinks lower in the chair as the color continues to sink from her skin.  “I’ve been asking Blair for the recipe for years. I’m not much of a baker, my girlfriend is though.  They actually keep the recipe in a safe…wait, you never actually said what you did…just that you recently quit your job.”  Monty pauses.  “Why did you quit?  Who is looking for you?”  Monty demands.

“Blair.”  Pippa’s voice is weak.  Monty and Pippa don’t break their eye contact.

“Do you have the recipe?”  Monty asks.  He is doing his best to fight the excitement ready to dance across his face about the secret recipe being so close to him.  He knows he can’t ever read it but the temptation tickles his thoughts.  He foolishly grins.

“Let me explain what happened.”  Pippa begins. 

Monty changes his composure.  He refocuses on his job and not the treasured recipe.  “Do you have the recipe?”  He asks again.

“I'm going to get evicted.  I needed some extra money.”  Pippa pleads.

“Money isn’t going to be a problem after Blair kills you!  You would have been better off robbing a bank.”  Monty shakes his head and snaps his lips together as he processes his thoughts.  “The recipe is in your pocket, isn’t it?”

Pippa slowly nods.  She slides out of the chair and stands, ready to run out of the building if needed.  “Don’t hurt me.”  She puts her hands up in a defensive pose.

Monty laughs.  “I”m not going to hurt you, I’ll leave that to Blair. I am going to call Blair though.”  He pauses.  “Unless you want me to get the cops involved.”

Pippa looks down at her feet.  She nods.  She listens to Monty on the phone with Blair.

“Yeah she’s here, she hasn’t said much, hasn’t shown me anything, I don’t really know her plan.”  She watches Monty nod.  “Ok, See you soon.  Bye.”  He ends the phone call.  Monty looks over at the pale baker.  She still has flour on her clothes.  A sweat stash is forming above her lips.  

The door to the agency opens and Pippa nearly jumps out of her skin.  She sees her boss walking in the door.  She can almost smell Blair’s blood boiling.  Maybe she should have robbed a bank.

Blair holds out her hand.  “Give it to me.”  She demands.

Pippa puts her hands in her pocket and pulls out a crumpled piece of paper.  She never looks at Blair or Monty.  She continues to look at every detail in the flooring as if she were trying to memorize the grain of the wood for a pop up exam.  

Blair looks at the paper and places it in her bra.  “What were you thinking, Pippa?”

“I would never sell it, I promise.”  Pippa admits.  “It’s so stupid, really.  I needed a little extra money, so I was going to enter a pie baking contest.  Top prize is $500.”  A tear trickles down Pippa’s face.

Blair shakes her head from side to side.  “Pippa, you’re one of the best bakers in town.  You could win with a boring apple pie.”  Blair says.  She looks over at Monty.  “I haven’t baked anything since I hired Pippa.  Have you had a bad pastry or dessert in the last year?”

Monty looks down to his gut.  “So, she’s responsible for this, too.”  

Blair and Pippa both let out a small giggle.

“You could have just asked for more hours, or talked to me about the contest.  I have other recipes I would have let you use.  This recipe is a treasured family heirloom.”  She pats her chest where she placed the recipe.

“I’m so sorry, Blair, I really am.”  Pippa wipes the tear off her cheek.  “I panicked about my eviction notice.  Are you going to press charges?”

“Are you going to steal my recipe again?”  Blair asks.

“No, Never, plus, I quit.”  Pippa reminded her.  Silence lingers in the air.

“Did you look at the recipe?”  Blair asks.  Pippa shakes her head no.  Blair pulls the paper out of her bra and unfolds it.  She walks over to Pippa and shows it to her.  

The recipe reads:

Grandma’s Famous Recipe by Sevilla Gordon.

Any recipe you make requires quality ingredients.  This recipe comes from years of experience and should only be shared with those ready to learn how to make the recipe.  You will know when the time is right to share it, for most will never understand the directions.

1 cup of unrequited love

2 cups of patience

3 cups of generosity

4 cups of forgiveness

Blend together and bake them in your heart, mind, and soul.  When things get too hot, remove the heat until cooled down.  The main ingredient will always be forgiveness and it is the hardest one to find.  Never cut that ingredient out or everything you make will be off balance.  It tastes better if you double the recipe.

Blair looked over at Pippa.  “You think you could make it?”  She asks as she folds the recipe up and places it near her heart again.

Pippa nods.  “What about the actual Pineapple Pie Recipe?”  She asks.  Her voice is barely above a whisper.  She wipes the tears off her face.

Blair leaned in close so Monty couldn’t hear her response.  “I found it online and made a simple tweak.  Why don’t we go back to the diner and make one for your contest?”

Blair looked over at Monty.  “This case is solved.  Come to the diner for your payment in about an hour.  Pippa will have a fresh pineapple pie ready for you.”

Monty smiles.  “I think this will be the best paid job I’ve ever had.”  Monty runs to stop the women as they reach the front door. “Any chance I could get a copy of that famous recipe too?”

Blair and Pippa smile, “It’s top secret.”  They say in unison and walk out the door.