A Pinch of Sea Salt and a Dash of Murder (Outer Banks Baker Mystery Series Book 1) by Phoebe T. Eggli Page B

the first place.
    The detective enlightened them a bit on that topic. Apparently, Mr. Stevenson informed the police, and anyone that would listen, that Melissa had called his wife earlier that day and asked her to stop by the bakery later in the evening. He thought it was odd since the two women notoriously did not get along. Jason asked, “Did you contact Mrs. Stevenson at any time and request she visit you at your shop?”
    “Of course not,” an angry Melissa retorted. “You have my phone in custody. Check the flipping call log!” In her mind, they simply co-existed in the same town. There weren’t friends, but she didn’t consider Linda an enemy either. However, as of late, it seemed Linda had thought differently. Jason nodded as he jotted down her answers on a flimsy notebook pad.
    He repeated a lot of the questions that had been asked the first time the police took her statement. Where was she on the evening in question? What time did she leave the bakery? Was she the one to lock-up? And so on and so forth. The line of questioning really frustrated her. The questions had already been answered. Still, a reason for the search warrants and her arrest had not been provided.
    According to Jason, Mr. Stevenson had become suspicious after seeing Britney at his house. When questioned, she claimed she was simply there to offer her condolences along with her boyfriend. However, she never even approached Mr. Stevenson, the grieving husband. The cops were called out to take another statement from Mr. Stevenson when he called the police to inform them of the young woman’s presence at his house. They discovered that someone had been in Linda’s home office at some point during the day. He claimed that the office had been locked since the morning before his wife’s murder. Mr. Stevenson suspected, and outright accused, Britney of snooping at his home. He also asserted she probably did so under orders from her boss.
    Then the detective dropped a bombshell on them. During the search of the bakery, a sharp item was found wedged in between the office desk and the wall. It was a large, stainless steel serrated cheese knife covered in the victim’s blood. Shock was apparent on Melissa’s face. Being a cop for a long time, Jason felt confident in his people-reading skills. Her expression was one of genuine surprise and horror. Personally convinced she was not guilty, he wasn’t allowed to let his intuition overrule the facts of the case.
    Reluctantly, he said, “There’s more.” Jason told them the missing $1,200 cash was found stuffed into a laundry detergent container in her recycling bin.
    When questioned, Melissa vehemently denied knowing how the money got there. She also knew nothing about the knife. Yes, she probably owned several knives just like the one described. Still…she didn’t kill Linda! “What possible motive would I have had to kill her?” she asked.
    At that, Detective Reynolds re-emerged from behind the looking glass. “Mrs. Maples, it is well known that the two of you had a distinct dislike for each other going back as far as high school. Additionally, you were business rivals.” Melissa started to object by saying that not being fond of someone for years was no reason to kill them. Also, she didn’t consider them to be business rivals. They specialized in two distinct baking areas that did not intersect. Surely there was plenty of room in the small seaside town for them both to have been successful. The look on his face said he wasn’t convinced.
    “Mrs. Maples, isn’t it true that you entered the Outer Banks Regional Bake-Off?” She nodded. “And what exactly were you planning to bake for the contest?” Melissa recalled considering her two best-known breads - Cranberry Orange bread and Rosemary Sea Salt bread. She eventually decided on the Rosemary Sea Salt recipe. The older detective continued, "Were you aware that Mrs. Stevenson also intended to compete in the Bake-Off?” Before she had a