“Now what?” Valencia asked., straining her eyes and standing on tiptoes to see if she could get a glimpse of the man in the swelling stream of people.

“Market day. We've no chance of finding him now. Are you sure it was the same man?”

“Yes! He's the one who came into the bakery and told me to come quick because one of my cakes had poisoned someone. I can feel it in my bones. He's got something to do with it. - or he knows something.

“We'll have to keep a lookout for him then.”

“That's the thing - He was keeping a lookout for us.”

“What do you mean?”

“He was spying on us. I felt someone’s eyes were upon us, I looked up - and there he was.”

“Why would he be following us?”

“I’ve no idea, but I reckon he’s the one who threw the stone through the window.”

“Possibly, but we’ll need to question him before we go to the controllers about him.”

“Lemongrass Lane is just round the corner. It’s a bit off the beaten track. Someone had the bright idea of building a row of boutique shops in the middle of an orchard. This is the result. If you have to ask the price of things sold here -you can’t afford it,” Valencia said.

“So those shoes…”

“Would’ve cost a king’s ransom. Why would someone want to kill a wealthy girl - and why did she go to my bakery for cakes when she’d already bought some from here? Why not stick to the boutique bakery?”

“Good point,” agreed Talbot.

Telfjord’s bakery sat, squat, in the middle of the short row of exclusive shops. The tantalizing smell of freshly baked goods made with the finest ingredients baked to perfection filled their nostrils, tempting them and tormenting them at the same time.

“Something smells good,” said Talbot, taking deep appreciative breaths.

“Everything in there will taste amazing. They say their sponges literally melt in your mouth and dissolve into honey like nectar …” said Valencia, dreamily.

“I’m sure your cakes are just as good. Leave the questioning to me. You might get carried away again.”

“I just want to know what other people know - and fast. My fairies could be in grave danger, my bakery could be burning to the ground as we speak and more cakes could be out there, poisoning people – or be here.”

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“Let’s go inside and see what they can tell us, if anything,” he said, pulling the ornate door open for her.

The assistant behind the counter peered down her spectacles at them after looking them up and down and deciding they weren’t their preferred clientele.

“Yes? Are you lost?” She said, emphasising the word ‘lost’.

“We want to ask you about your lilac fairy cakes.”

“The harsh faced woman with bony features laughed haughtily.

“They’re very expensive.”

“I can imagine, but I’m interested in them. What type of fairy cake are they?”

The woman hoped if she told them about the fairy cakes quickly she might get them out of the shop before any real customers were put off buying because of them standing at the counter, bedraggled and dusty, making the place look untidy.

They’re our invisibility cakes. Exclusive to us. They’re made using a rare dye from the feathers of the Mulpilitanpt bird - only found in the highest trees on Demorsis.”

“So they… make you invisible if you eat one?” asked Valencia, wondering why the girl’s cake hadn’t.

“Yes, that’s why our customers pay handsomely for them. One bite, and you’re gone,” she said, clicking her fingers.

“And if say, someone did take a bite - and nothing happened?” asked Talbot, watching Valencia’s face carefully.

“Then it would be a fake cake! Our cakes are the genuine deal,” she said, smoothing her crisp white apron down with the palms of her flour-dusted hands. “Our reputation proves it.”

“A girl was poisoned this morning by one of your invisibility cakes and the thing is, she’d taken a bite out of it but it didn’t make her invisible - it killed her,” said Valencia, slowly.

“Impossible!”

“It’s true. It happened outside my bakery. The girl seems to have been wealthy. Do you remember a girl with long black hair, wearing a burgundy dress and matching velvet shawl and made-to-measure black shoes of the softest leather buying invisibility cakes this morning?” asked Valencia.

“No,” said the woman bluntly, looking towards the door.

“I’m sure the controllers will be here soon to ask you some questions of their own,” said Talbot, relishing the dramatic effect his words had on her.

“Controllers? Here? Oh my! We can’t have that! It’s obvious it wasn’t one of our cakes - not if she wasn’t invisible,” said the woman, starting to fidget.

“It was one of yours, I saw it. Same lilac color, same cake case with the letter ‘Y’ on it same as these,” Valencia said, pointing to a stack of cakes expertly placed in formation on a porcelain cake stand. What does the ‘Y’ stand for anyway?” asked Valencia.

“It’s…Y for Yelmang. Mr Yelmang, the master baker of Telfjord’s bakery. A specialist factory embosses them for him. They’re ridiculously expensive, which is why he was so upset when some were stolen the other night.”

“Stolen? That’s convenient!”

“We didn’t report it because a dozen cake cases, and a few drops of dye don’t warrant a visit by the controllers. It’s bad for business.”

“So… whoever stole the cases and dye could’ve baked the cakes themselves and added poison to them?” asked Valencia, finally understanding the meaning of the word ‘thwarted’ and how it felt in real life.

“Yes, and that’s the conclusion the controllers will reach too, I’m sure,” she said, looking distinctly unsure.

“Thank you for your help. By the way, keep an eye on your fairies - mine have been stolen,” said Valencia.

“Stolen? There’s a lot of thieves about lately.”

“Yes, there seems to be, but I think it’s the same person.”

“A one-man crime syndicate?” she asked, her thin lips pressing into a crooked smile.

“Not necessarily, but one main ringleader, and I think I know who it is, even if I don’t know who he is” said Valencia, cryptically.