Banana Muffins & Mayhem - Culinary Competition Mystery #5

Chapter 3

(Amy)

"I so regret eating spicy beef with broccoli last night," Carla said as she steered the stroller around the corner. "Poor Macy's stomach is gurgling so much that I could hear it when I changed her diaper."

"I don't get it. Your dinner last night made Macy cranky this morning?"

"Yes." Carla wrinkled her nose. "I don't know the exact science behind it, but she basically ends up eating whatever I do through my breast milk. Chile peppers and cruciferous vegetables were not a good idea."

That was something Amy had no clue could happen. It seemed as though every time she talked to Carla she learned a new fact that further demonstrated her immense lack of knowledge on pregnancy and child-rearing. The mysterious road of parenthood wasn't a route Amy had any desire to explore. She had convinced herself it would be a trip into the haunted forest of bad parenting doom. But that wasn't the most frightening thing in her life at the moment. She had been studying the stores on the other side of the street, whose Dumpsters were in the same alley that ended in Quantum Media's parking lot. Why had Alex's business been the unlucky "winner" of a gruesome dead body? But Carla's odd comment about Chinese food snapped her straying thoughts back on track to the conversation with her best friend. "That's interesting...challenging, I'd think, to figure out what is safe to eat that won't upset Macy's tummy."

"Yes, it is. I feel like I'm on some sort of strange fad diet invented by sadists." Carla sighed. She nodded at Quantum's building. "How are you doing after finding another dead body?"

"Okay." Amy involuntarily shivered. Her mouth said she was fine, but her body was conveying how she really felt. Creeped out. Phoebe had looked like an actress in a zombie movie. Ick. "Worried about the detective who is handling the case. Has your hubby said anything about her? I got some bad vibes from her yesterday. She didn't seem very personable."

Carla stopped walking to cover Macy's legs back up with a plush pink blanket. The stop in motion led to an immediate cry of indignation. She slipped a pacifier into the baby's mouth. "You do realize homicide detectives aren't supposed to give you warm, fuzzy feelings. From what I've heard from him, Lauren is very professional and analytical. Before she was even assigned to this case, he told me he thinks she'll do well, that she has good instincts."

"I hope so. I know Alex isn't involved, but it's scary that a body was found on his business's property." She looked over her shoulder, up at the second floor where Alex's office was located. "I'm sure everybody is on edge there this morning. Not an environment conducive to creativity if the employees are all wondering if they work with a homicidal maniac."

Alex had built his company up from a small sign-making shop to the area's premier advertising design agency. They expertly produced everything from trade expo displays to car wraps and billboards. A dead television star in the trash was not the type of publicity the business wanted or needed.

"There were a lot of people downtown over the weekend that have nothing to do with Alex's company. My guess, based on my experience as the wife of a homicide detective, is that the killer was banking on her body not being found for a while or even never. If you hadn't accidentally ripped the bag open, it may have ended up at the landfill covered in tons of other garbage."

They turned the corner and began trekking toward Main Street again. The planned shopping trip had turned into fly-by window shopping as they made laps around downtown. Every time the pace of the stroller slowed, Macy began fussing. That made browsing at clothing stores or gift shops tricky. So around and around the blocks they went. It had been about a week since Amy and Carla had last seen each other. An absence in their friendship that was unheard of before Macy was born. But spontaneous shopping trips or impromptu coffee breaks weren't possible anymore when Carla had to get herself and the baby ready. Let alone the feeding and nap schedules that she had to work around. Amy was so proud of her friend for taking motherhood in stride, but she missed the camaraderie. There was nothing like being jealous of a baby to make a person feel low.