miss fortune mystery (ff) - sinfully delicious by anna snow Read Free Book Online Page B

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