The Baker

The baker moved with a practiced precision.

She took the recipe book down from the shelf. It was an old book. A family book.

She carefully thumbed through the pages, some were so old, she feared the paper would crumble in her fingers.

The baker found the recipe and copied it down and got busy. Adding the flour, eggs, cocoa powder to make a rich brown batter. She added a drop from a bottle above the stove.

Within a few minutes, the counter was covered in flour, and cake batter.

The baker poured the bowl into a pan, scraping the remnants with a spatula. She went to lick the utensil clean, but thought better of it.

The baker read quietly when the cake baked in the oven. When the timer finally went off, she checked it with a toothpick. It was clean and she smiled.

“Perfect,” she said to no one in particular.

She cut the cake in half, filling it with a chocolate mousse she made earlier. She placed the top on the cake, spreading ganache over it with an offset spatula. She licked the frosting from the blade and tossed the spatula in the sink.

Finally, she placed the cover on the cake.

Everything was ready.

The next day the Baker waited patiently behind the counter. The baker was new and she was worried they might not be any customers so early.

Finally, a man walked by.

He spied her chocolate cake through the glass. He was drawn to the desert in a way he couldn’t quite explain. He nearly walked through the glass window.

He opened the door, “You’re not usually open this early,” he said.

“I thought I would get started early today,” the baker said.

“I guess it’s my lucky day.”

“I guess so.”

“What’s good today?” the man asked.

“Well, we have this fresh chocolate cake.”

“It looks amazing.”

“I saw you staring at it through the window.”

“It just looks so good.”

“It’s an old family recipe.”

“How old?”

“Very.”

“I don’t know.”

“Would you like to try a bit. Maybe it will make you want it.”

“I guess so.”

The baker cut a slice from the cake. She put a piece on the end of a fork and handed it to the man.

“Oh my god,” the man said, “it’s the best thing I’ve ever eaten.”

“Why thank you.”

“I don’t think I’ve seen you here before.”

“It’s my first day.”

“Well you have quite a future ahead of you.”

“So you want the slice?”

“Slice? I want the whole cake!” the man exclaimed.

“I can do that,” the Baker said, giving the man the whole cake.

The man didn’t even wait, he started eating it on the way to the table in the corner.

The baker smiled as the man didn’t even notice her getting out from behind the counter.

The baker was walking through the door just as the owner came down the sidewalk, her face twisted into a puzzled look.

“I decided to open early today,” the baker said as she hurried down the street, a little grey cat in tow.

The owner wondered who the woman was but then was more concerned with what was happening in her shop.

Later that day, two detectives were standing in the bakery. Crime scene tape covered the door and investigators busied around the old store.

“They confirmed it was the cake?” one asked the other while sipping on a room temperature cup of coffee.

“Yeah that’s what it looks like.”

“So the rumors were true?”

“Yep it looks like the Chocolate Cake Killer is back.”