Murder in the Cake: Cozy Murder Mystery (Harley Hill Mysteries Book 4) by Kennedy Chase Page A

 
    For a minute I thought they were making a film, but there weren’t any cameras. Opposite him, on the other side of the pond, was a young woman. She was also wearing a robe, but the oversized, black-framed glasses spoiled the whole wizard look.
    “You are undone, Melissa!” the guy in the red robe shouted. His voice was powerful, full of emotion. “Your pathetic master has returned to the mystical realm and can no longer protect you from my wrath!”
    “Did he just say what I think he said?” Cordi whispered in my ear.
    “Yes, yes, he did.” We crouched behind a bush and tried not to giggle. “He’s got a nice voice.”
    “What are they doing?”
    “Live role playing, I think. I’ve seen it before, at that nursing home, remember?”
    “Oh, yes, I remember now. It’s quite an odd thing for grown-ups to do, if you ask me.”
    The girl cleared her throat. “You cannot slay me, Lucien, you are weak and… and… er.” She bit her lip and pushed her glasses up on her nose.  
    The male wizard sighed. “Hurry up, Claire; I’ve got a shift in an hour.”  
    His voice was different now, less theatrical. I was sure I recognized it.
    “I am hurrying!” She scowled and pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket. “You… you cannot defeat me, Lucien, because I have learnt the secret of the seventh power!” With that ‘Melissa’ took a ball out of her pocket and hurled it at the wizard.
    It would have been cool to find out what happened next, but Max had other ideas. As soon as he saw the ball, his eyes lit up. He raced around the pond as the ball arced through the air towards Lucien.
    All Cordi and I could do was watch as the ball, the wizard, and the dog came together in a spectacular collision. The staff went flying in one direction, the wizard in the other, but Max got the ball.
    “Oh no. I’m coming, Greg!” Melissa called. She set off running round the pond, but tripped over her robe and fell. Luckily, she didn’t fall in the pond, just the stinky muddy bit next to it. Cordi and I both winced. Meanwhile the wizard was on his back, tangled in his robe with his beard over his face.
    “Should we give him a hand?” Cordi asked.
    “Absolutely,” I said and clapped.
    “Oh, Harley, really.” Cordi called Max over and put him on his lead. He refused to give her the ball, though.  
    I went over to the wizard because he was closest. Melissa was mewling in the mud on the other side of the pond. “Here, give me your hand, Gandalf, or should I say, Greg .”
    “Er…” He got up and straightened his beard. “Hi, er, Harley. It’s not what you think.”
    “Live action role play, also known as larping?”
    “Oh, okay, it is what you think.” He took off his beard. It was indeed Greg the waiter from the Coach and Horse.
    “Great, do I get a prize? A magic staff or a cloak of invisibility or something?”
    He blushed.  
    “Greg, help!” shouted the other larper.
    Greg and I went over and dragged her out of the mud. “That robe is going to be a nightmare to get clean,” I said, trying to make light of the fact that she was caked in mud. She did not see the funny side.
    “Is that damn mutt yours?” she said as she peeled off her robe. Underneath she was wearing an absolutely ghastly leopard-print dress.  
    “Yes, he is, and he’s not a mutt, he’s a wolfhound. Wow, your costume is really over the top, is your character a wizardly hooker?”
    Her tiny eyes boggled. She looked a little bit like the wide-mouthed frog from the kids’ book. “How dare you. This dress is not a costume. This is my favourite dress.”
    “Oh, well. Each to their own.” I smiled.
    “I rather like it, very eighties glam,” Cordi said.
    Claire huffed. “How dare you. I’m going to report you and that damn dog; it’s dangerous, it should be put down.”
    “No, it’s fine, Claire, leave it.” Greg came over and fussed Max. “It’s fine, no harm done.”
    “Oh, I don’t think so, Greg.” Claire put her hands