Murder at the Cooking School: Book 7 of the Cedar Bay Cozy Mystery Series by Dianne Harman Page A

pepper. But wait until you see
what’s for dessert. The students at the station next to me were making it, and
it was all I could do not to sneak a bite when they weren’t looking, but I
thought that might be kind of tacky,” the woman who was from Alaska said
smiling.
    “You can’t
leave us hanging. What is it?” Mike asked.
    “It’s one of
the most interesting desserts I’ve ever seen. Kind of a walnut cake with a
strawberry sauce. It looked beautiful, and I can’t wait to try it.”
    A few minutes
later after the servers removed the luncheon plates, they returned with plates
of the thinly sliced cake topped with strawberry sauce. Kelly took a bite and
turned to the woman, “Your instincts were absolutely right on this one. It’s
delicious. Did it look difficult to make?”
    “No, not at
all. This is one I definitely want to try when I get home.”
    “I can already
see it on the Kelly’s Koffee Shop menu. Would I be right, Kelly?” Mike asked.
    “You know me
too well. Yes, this is definitely going be on the menu. When I get back to our
room I want to circle it, so I don’t forget it. If we’re going to have food
like this at every meal, I think I better take up jogging or something like
that while we’re here.”
    “Well, funny
you should mention that because the wine steward told me bicycles are available
if we want to ride into the village or just take a ride. That might be fun.
Matter of fact you might want to take a bike ride this afternoon, because the
chief is picking me up and taking me to the station. He called right before you
came out and told me the coroner finished the autopsy this morning, and he has
the report. He wants to talk to me about it.”
    “Actually, I
need to talk to you before your meeting with him. I think you’ll both be
interested in what I learned earlier, and yes, I do think I’ll take a bike ride
to the village. I’d like to take Caesar with me, but I don’t know who I should
ask to get permission for him to go with me.”
    Caesar had
worked his way between Kelly and Mike’s chairs, and it was becoming apparent
that Kelly had found a friend who was definitely going to be with her the rest
of her stay.
    “First of all,
I can’t wait for you to tell me how you just happened to overhear a
conversation in Italian and understand it. That should be a good story, and
remember, I don’t believe in coincidences. As far as Caesar, I don’t think I’d
worry about it. If he acts like he wants to go with you, I’d let him. Maybe you
should ask one of the staff if he has a leash, or maybe there’s one in the dog
run.” He looked at his watch. “The chief is picking me up in forty-five
minutes. Let’s go back to the room. It looks like everyone else is beginning to
leave as well.”
    “Mike, I’d
like to make a quick stop at the dog run. I want to see if I can find a leash,
although since Caesar weighs more than I do, I’m not sure what good it would do
me, but it might make someone else feel a little safer if they see that the
huge dog is on a leash.”
    A few minutes
later they returned to their room with a heavy black leash. Caesar had walked
up the stairs with them and followed them down the hall. Although they’d passed
several staff members, no one seemed the least bit concerned that Caesar was
with them.

CHAPTER 12
     
    When they got to their room, Mike
shut the door and turned to Kelly. “All right, I’m ready to hear your story.”
    Kelly sat down on the edge
of the bed and began, “We’ve never talked about whether or not either of us
spoke a foreign language. When I was in school I took a number of classes in
Italian and seemed to have an ear for the language. Actually, I’m pretty good
with a couple of languages. They come very easily to me. I remember when I had
cooks working for me at the coffee shop who were Mexican, and after a couple of
weeks I could understand almost everything they said.”
    She told him about the
books she’d gotten at The