Written in Stone (A Books by the Bay Mystery)

to the judges’ table, heads bent as they talked, and Olivia paused for a moment to wonder why a married woman would act so openly flirtatious. Having never been married, she’d have to ask Laurel what triggered this type of behavior. Was Shelley trying to make her husband jealous or was she actually interested in Michel?
    Olivia couldn’t dwell on the pastry chef’s motives because Noah directed her to take a seat, her mic was tested, and then Candice reviewed the parameters by which the contestants were to be judged. By the time she was done, every space in the standing-room-only audience area had been filled and the cameras were pointed at the black curtain erected in the front of a large white tent.
    Craning her neck, Olivia scanned the faces one more time but was disappointed to find that her friends still hadn’t arrived.
    “Welcome to
Chefs Gone Wild
!” The host, a trim, well-coiffed man in his mid-fifties named Allen Murray, beamed at the audience. They responded with a roar of applause. Allen waited a beat for them to quiet before introducing the judges. Olivia and Shelley both received a few whistles and catcalls, and Michel’s face lit with joy when the crowd clapped and hollered upon hearing his name.
    Next, the black curtain was whisked aside and the contestants were invited to come out. Two men and two women dressed in chef jackets and aprons jogged to their places in front of the judges. Allen spent a little more time on the chefs’ introductions, emphasizing that the contestants worked in some of the nation’s best restaurants in Las Vegas, Napa Valley, Chicago, and New York.
    “And now, let’s show the chefs what they have to work with in their first challenge.” He moved to a table on which a large stainless steel bowl was covered by a black cloth. Whisking away the cloth, he waited for the camera to zoom in on the items. “You must use the following local ingredients in your dish: peaches, molasses, shrimp, garlic, tomatoes, kale, and barley.” He gestured at the grills and camp stoves set up behind the chefs. “You have twenty minutes to prepare your dish. Go!”
    Olivia noted that in addition to the ingredients set out in the steel bowl, the chefs had access to an array of spices, butter, and olive oil. She relaxed, taking pleasure in watching the culinary masters at work. The camera feed was relayed to a large screen above the audience, and Allen provided a stream of exciting commentary while the chefs worked. He also asked the judges how they’d like to see the ingredients combined.
    “I’d use the barley and molasses as a breading and fry the shrimp in olive oil,” Michel said. “Then I’d sauté the kale in garlic and make salsa from the tomatoes and peaches.”
    Allen nodded and held the microphone near Shelley. “How about you? How would you handle this challenge?”
    “I’d surrender to Michel!” She raised her hands in a show of defeat. “I could make a dessert dish with the barley, peaches, and molasses, but the kale? No way.”
    The twenty minutes passed quickly and the judges were presented with four dishes to taste. Olivia’s favorite was the barley-breaded shrimp salad.
    For the second course, the contestants were given sweet potatoes, pork, cornmeal, endive, and celery root. This task completed, they were asked to round off the meal by preparing a dessert using cherries, honey, pecans, mint, and wheat flour. Despite being given a thirty-minute time allotment, one of the chefs presented the judges with a treat that stood out among the others: a pecan and cherry brittle drizzled with a sweet mint sauce. It was one of the best desserts Olivia had ever tasted.
    “I can see why people like this show,” she whispered to Michel, covering her mic with the palm of her hand. All too soon the judges were faced with the difficult task of choosing a winner.
    After a great deal of civilized arguing, they agreed that the female chef from Napa Valley was the victor. She received a big check and the opportunity to appear on the network’s
Celebratory Chefs
show. The other chefs were given smaller checks but didn’t seem the least disappointed. Winning the contest didn’t seem to matter as much as being given the chance to cook in front of a crowd. They exchanged handshakes and hugs and then walked to the Foodie Network’s merchandise tent to sign cookbooks.
    Because she had authored several cookbooks, Shelley accompanied the other chefs and Michel disappeared to