1 Elvis Cole Picture the detective alone in his office on a lovely spring day in Los Angeles. He is four floors above Santa Monica Boulevard, leaning back in his chair, feet on his desk, smiling. He is smiling because he is speaking with Lucy Chenier, an attorney who lives in Louisiana. The detective speaks with her every day. Sometimes, he speaks with her twice a day. On this day, he''s certain he''ll speak with her three times, and the thought makes him smile. A detective in love is insufferable. Lucy said, "Are you bored?" I said, "I''m never bored when I speak with you.

" "I ask because it isn''t even ten a.m. your time, and you''ve called twice. Don''t you have work to do?" "I''m between clients." "That explains it." "I had an idea." "Okay, wait. I''m due in a deposition in ten, no, nine minutes.

" "Let''s take a trip this summer. The two of us. Or, if you want, Ben can come. Someplace you''ve always wanted to see." Ben was Lucy''s teenage son. Lucy hesitated. "Are you serious?" "Don''t I have great ideas?" Lucy said, "This summer?" "Check your calendar. A week, ten days, I don''t care.

If you can find the time, let''s do it." I was listening to Lucy think when my desk phone rang. It was one of the old hardwire Mickey Mouse phones and I liked it a lot. Prospective clients found it interesting and pushy cops found it annoying. Win-win. I was speaking to Lucy on my cell, so she heard the ringing. I said, "Ignore it. It''ll go to voice mail.

" "Get it. If we go where I''m thinking, you''ll need the money." "I''ll get rid of them. Hang on." I lowered the cell and answered the Mickey. "Elvis Cole Detective Agency. Superior detection at affordable rates." A young female voice said, "Is this Elvis Cole?" "Yes.

Can you hold? I''m on another line." The voice charged ahead as if she hadn''t heard me. "This is Dina Wade, Traci Beller''s assistant. Traci would like to speak with you as soon as possible." I said, "I''m on another call." Dina Wade blurted. "But it''s Traci Beller!" I said, "Okay. I give.

Who''s Traci Beller?" Dina Wade sounded uncertain. "The Baker Next Door?" "Sorry." "Her website, The Baker Next Door. Her socials. Traci has eight-point-two-million followers across her socials. You haven''t heard of her?" I had no idea who she was talking about. "Oh. That Traci.

Hang on." I lowered the Mickey and returned to Lucy. "Ever heard of Traci Beller?" "Who?" "The Baker Next Door." Lucy hesitated. "Oh, sure! The muffin girl." I said, "The muffin girl." "She''s a baker, but she''s best known for muffins." "She bakes muffins.

" "She makes cute videos of herself baking. They''re short and fun. I''ve seen some. She called you?" "Her assistant. She''s on the other line." "Ben will be impressed. A lot of kids in his class follow her. That''s how I know about her.

She''s terrific." Ben was a junior in high school. I said, "Want to hang on?" "For the muffin girl? Two minutes." I lifted the Mickey. Dina Wade was saying, "Mr. Cole? Mr. Cole, are you there?" I said, "Sorry. How can I help you?" "Traci specifically asked me to call.

She''d like to speak with you about a private matter." "Private matters are my specialty. Put her on." "She''d rather see you in person. Today, if possible. Actually, now." "I''ll be here the rest of the morning. She can drop by whenever.

" "Actually, she can''t. She''s filming today." "Whenever she''s not filming." "Traci has zero free time, but my driving app says your office is only thirteen minutes away. If you''re here in twenty, we''ll pay you one thousand dollars whether you take the job or not." "Hang on." I picked up Lucy. "Traci wants to meet.

She''ll pay me a thousand dollars whether I take the job or not." "My. Aren''t we the big shot detective?" I smiled even wider. "Impressed?" "Studly, I couldn''t be more impressed, and it''s not because of a lousy thousand bucks. Tell me about it later." "Love you." "Love." I hung up, copied Traci''s address, and left to meet the muffin girl.

2 The address Dina Wade provided led to a pretty Tudor Revival home on a treesy residential street between Runyon Canyon and the Hollywood Bowl. The blue bay windows, bright green lawn, and redbrick drive were bright, well tended, and welcoming. Small cars and electric scooters lined the curb, so I pulled into the drive. A young woman with short black hair and dark-frame glasses hustled from the house as I parked. "Mr. Cole, hi, I''m Dina. Here''s the money, like we agreed." Dina Wade pushed a check into my hand.

I counted zeros and tucked it away. "I''m three minutes early. Do I get a bonus?" Dina Wade steered me toward the house without laughing. "We''re running behind, but I carved out twenty minutes for you and Traci to talk. We should hurry." The living room felt crowded with two women by a rack of women''s clothes, another huddled over her phone on a couch, and a man and a woman sorting through a bag of camera equipment. Dina towed me through the room without introducing me. I said, "Why the rush?" "Traci drops a new video every day, which means seven videos a week.

She shoots them back-to-back, so the grind on shoot days is horrendous." "She shoots them here?" "Of course. In her kitchen." Dina led me into a room that had been repurposed into a production studio. A sleek table topped by three large monitors filled a wall and two twenty-something men wearing headsets manned the table. They were watching multiple images of a young woman adding ingredients to a large bowl. The woman wore a simple flower-print shirt and faced us across a center island in a homey kitchen. I said, "Traci?" "Uh-huh.

This is Miles, our director. This is Tad, our editor." Miles glanced over his shoulder. "Hey." Tad adjusted a dial on an audio panel. "Hey." Traci Beller was twenty-three years old, but she could have passed for sixteen. She had a round face, short brown hair pinned at the sides, and large brown eyes.

Her eyes sparkled when she grinned and her grin was infectious. Dina said, "Between shoots, product development, meetings, marketing, and promotion, there aren''t enough minutes in the day." "What''s she making?" "Sour cream muffins with chocolate ganache centers." A tall man with spiked, graying hair entered behind us and stood next to Dina. He squinted at the monitors and frowned at his watch. A Patek Philippe. "She''s behind." Dina said, "She''s wrapping five now.

It''s five, right, Miles?" The tall man didn''t wait for Miles to answer. "She should be finishing six. Why are you behind?" Miles shrugged. "She''s off." The tall man said, "What do you mean, off?" "Distracted, maybe. Not on point. Off." The tall man crossed his arms and stood even taller.

He looked impressive. "She has to be in the Palisades by one and Woodland Hills by three. We cannot be late for this. Especially the Palisades." Dina leaned close and whispered. "Traci''s opening two new storefront locations. We''re expanding to fourteen by the end of the year." The tall man made a hiss.

"If I can secure the investors." Traci scooped a spoon of what looked like cinnamon from a large glass jar, held it toward the camera until the scoop loomed huge on the monitors, and abruptly lowered her hands. She visibly slumped. Tad pressed a button. Traci''s voice came from a speaker, but I also heard her in the next room. She said, "I''m not feeling it. Sorry." Tad glanced at the tall man.

"See?" Miles keyed a mike. "No worries, Trace. Just pick it up and keep going." Traci Beller stared at us from the monitors. "Has Mr. Cole arrived?" The tall man said, "Who?" Traci repeated her question. "Dina, is he here?" Dina opened a door in the far corner of the room and motioned me over. "Elvis Cole, Traci Beller.

" I stepped past Dina into a kitchen as Traci Beller came from behind the cook island. She wore black tights cut at the knee and open-toed sandals. She brightened when she saw me and put out her hand. "I''m so glad you came. Thankyouthankyouthankyou." She pumped my hand as she thanked me and abruptly crossed the kitchen. "I have a gift for you." She scooped up a pink shopping bag and opened it to reveal four fist-sized muffins.

"I don''t know if you''re gluten free or vegan, but I baked these this morning. Sour cream zaatar, salty caramel, honey mustard pistachio, and double chocolate cherry." They looked f.