Chapter 6 - The Missing Page in Sarah's Recipe Book|
The girl found the cake.
Those five words haunted me throughout the night.
I couldn't understand what they meant.
Lily had made Sarah's lemon cake.
I'd helped her.
Vanessa had tried to destroy it.
But why would Daniel Mercer care about a child's homemade dessert?
Unless the cake itself wasn't the problem.
Unless it was the recipe.
At six the next morning, I entered the kitchen before anyone else.
The wooden recipe box sat on the counter.
Luca had asked that it remain there for Lily.
I opened it carefully.
Inside were dozens of cards.
Chocolate chip cookies.
Sunday meatballs.
Apple cinnamon muffins.
Chicken pot pie.
And the lemon sour-cream cake.
Or rather, half of it.
The torn recipe card had been repaired with clear tape.
I placed it on the counter.
The ingredients looked ordinary.
Butter.
Sugar.
Eggs.
Lemon zest.
Sour cream.
Flour.
Nothing unusual.
Then I noticed something on the back.
A small handwritten note.
Use the old pan from the lake house. The one with the loose bottom.
I frowned.
Lily had used a regular cake pan.
The old pan was probably still at the lake house.
Could that be what Daniel meant?
I was still studying the card when Luca entered.
He wore a dark sweater and looked as though he hadn't slept.
“Morning.”
“Good morning, sir.”
He noticed the recipe.
“What are you looking for?”
I showed him the note.
“Did Sarah have a special cake pan at the lake house?”
He stared.
“Yes.”
“Do you know where it is?”
He thought for a moment.
“It might still be in the kitchen.”
I looked at him.
“Why would Sarah mention it?”
He took the card.
Then his expression changed.
“Sarah always said the pan was lucky.”
“Lucky?”
“She made the cake in it on our first anniversary. The bottom kept coming loose, but she refused to replace it.”
He smiled faintly.
“She said imperfect things could still make beautiful memories.”
I felt my chest tighten.
Luca stared at the card.
Then looked up.
“Call Marco.”
We were at the lake house by noon.
Snow had begun falling lightly outside.
The little yellow door looked almost cheerful against the gray sky.
Inside, the rooms smelled of old wood and lavender.
Luca led us directly to the kitchen.
He opened cabinet after cabinet.
Then stopped.
“Here.”
He pulled out a round metal cake pan.
The bottom was scratched.
The edges were slightly bent.
He placed it on the counter.
I examined it.
“May I?”
He nodded.
I turned the pan upside down.
The removable bottom shifted.
I lifted it.
Nothing.
Just metal.
I felt foolish.
“Maybe it's only a recipe note.”
Luca shook his head.
“Sarah didn't hide meaningless things.”
He examined the pan again.
Then noticed a narrow strip of dark material around the bottom rim.
He pulled gently.
A thin metal compartment opened.
Inside was a tiny memory card sealed in plastic.
My heart stopped.
Luca stared.
Then whispered, “Sarah.”
Marco immediately secured the card.
“We'll need a clean computer to read it.”
Luca nodded.
But he kept looking at the pan.
“She hid it in plain sight.”
I thought of Lily.
The little girl who'd insisted on baking her mother's cake.
The cracked frosting.
The shaky yellow letters.
The way Vanessa had panicked when she saw the recipe.
Suddenly, everything connected.
“Vanessa wasn't afraid of the cake,” I whispered.
Luca looked at me.
“She was afraid Lily had found the recipe that led to this.”
He nodded slowly.
“And Daniel knew.”
We returned to Chicago with the memory card.
A forensic technician examined it that evening.
It contained copies of accounting files, photographs, and several audio recordings.
The first recording was Sarah's voice.
I recognized it immediately from old family videos.
She sounded frightened.
“If someone finds this, I need you to understand that Richard Bellini and Daniel Mercer are using Luca's company without his knowledge.”
Luca leaned forward.
Sarah continued.
“I've collected documents proving money was moved through false invoices. There are warehouses Luca doesn't know about. And someone has been threatening me.”
A long pause.
Then her voice became softer.
“I tried to tell Luca, but he has been under so much pressure since his father died. I don't want to frighten him without proof.”
Luca covered his mouth.
Sarah continued.
“Vanessa Bellini approached me at the children's hospital. She said her father could make things difficult for my family if I continued asking questions.”
The room went silent.
Then came another recording.
Two male voices.
Richard Bellini.
Daniel Mercer.
I didn't understand every word, but one sentence was unmistakable.
“If Sarah takes those records to the authorities, we're finished.”
The technician stopped the audio.
Marco looked toward Luca.
“That's enough to reopen the investigation.”
Luca stared at the screen.
“What investigation?”
Marco hesitated.
“Sarah's death.”
I felt cold.
Five years earlier, Sarah had died in what everyone called a tragic car accident.
A wet road.
A sharp curve.
A vehicle that hadn't stopped in time.
Luca's voice became dangerously quiet.
“What are you saying?”
Marco looked at him.
“The original accident report mentioned possible mechanical failure.”
Luca went still.
“What kind?”
Marco swallowed.
“The brakes.”
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Then Luca slowly looked at the recording.
May you like
And whispered:
“My wife didn't die because of the rain.”
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