A very tricky recipe
Detective
Tanya Tate smiled at a welcoming of carved pumpkins as she walked up the path to Edith Shaw’s house. There were more gapped toothed grins than a kindergarten jamboree.
“I love your Halloween decorations,” said Tanya, after Edith opened the door.
“Half of them I didn’t even make,” the elderly woman scowled. “Three times today people came over, bringing decorations for me. Now I know why: Someone used the gifts as a chance to steal my secret pumpkin pie recipe! Come inside, Detective.”
Edith hobbled slowly down the hallway and on the kitchen table there was a piece of paper. The dog-eared page was old and well-used with orange stains, flour specks, and oil splashes.
“Before you say a word Detective, don’t say, ‘It’s not stolen, it’s right here’. I usually keep this in a folder in my kitchen drawer, and I’ve never shown it to
anyone before,” Edith says. “That dog-eared corner was not there yesterday. It only appeared after my three visitors today, all of whom have been pestering me for my recipe for years. I suspect one of them took a photo of it on their cellphone and thought I’d be none the wiser. But I’m sharp as a tack and I know that all three had access to my kitchen today when I was in another room.”
“I’m curious why you didn’t put the recipe in a safer spot, Edith.”
Edith chuckled. “Because when I wrote out my recipe, I added two fake ingredients to the list. That way, if someone ever stole it, they still wouldn’t be able to replicate my pumpkin pie. I know my recipe is safe…but I need you to tell me who did this so I know not to bequeath them the real recipe in my will. They don’t deserve it.” Edith gave her the names and addresses of the three visitors. The first was her next-door neighbor, Sally.
Tanya introduced herself, then said, “I need to ask you some questions. Edith’s pumpkin pie recipe was stolen yesterday.” Tanya wasn’t going to reveal Edith still had the original page.
“That’s terrible!” Sally gasped. “But Edith has made it so many times…she can probably make it from memory, right?”
Was Sally only pretending the actual page was gone to throw Tanya off the scent?
“Edith said you’ve asked for her recipe before.”
“Well, of course! Have you ever tasted her pie? It’s amazing. The best I’ve ever eaten.”
“Can I see the photos on your phone please?”
Sally looked startled, then held her phone out. “Sure. I’ve got nothing to hide.”
There wasn’t any photo of Edith’s recipe, so Tanya headed to the home of Edith’s brother, Anthony.
“Stolen?” Anthony looked agitated. “She should have shared that recipe with me years ago. A friend of mine from a food manufacturing company tasted it once and said he’d pay big bucks for it, but Edith turned his offer down. Crazy!”
“But if you had the recipe, you could sell it to them yourself, correct?”
“If I had it. But I don’t.” “Can I check the photos on your phone please?”
“Not sure why you’d need to, but okay.” Again, no sign of the recipe.
The third person Tanya visited was Edith’s granddaughter, Ruby. “Stolen? Poor Granny Edith! Is she okay?”
“She’s holding up okay…but she mentioned you’d been after her recipe for years.”
“If you’d ever tasted it, you’d want it too, Detective,” Ruby said. “But it wasn’t me. I’d never touch that dirty page…gross.”
“Can I see the photos on your phone please?”
Ruby didn’t have any photos either, but of course, Tanya knew the culprit had already made another copy and deleted the evidence. But it didn’t matter: She knew exactly who stole the recipe!