Detective Grant And The Case Of The Smashed Wedding Cake

20250810

Prompt from DailyPrompt.com

The only person who wasn’t upset at the discovery of the wedding cake wrecked on the floor of the reception hall was twelve-year-old Grant, who leapt at the opportunity to escape boring grown-up matters and be a detective. Of a Real Crime, no less!
Well, he wasn’t sure that smashing a cake was a crime, and nobody was talking about calling the police, but there was enough tears and angry shouting that it ought to be at least an honorary crime.
So he made an improvised notebook out of spare guest sheets, grabbed one of the sparkly pencils from the foyer, and set to work.
Last confirmed sighting of the cake intact was at 12:26-ish, when Betty (mother of the groom) closed up after her crew finished setting up the reception hall.
This technically made her the Prime Suspect, but given how she was sobbing brokenly and swearing vengeance on ‘whatever wretch did this’, Grant’s Detective Intuition told him she was in fact one of the Victims. He followed proper procedure and wrote her name down on the ‘suspects’ page before drawing a line through and adding ‘cleared’. Due diligence was important for a detective.
But her innocence made the case tricky, because right after the reception room being set up the ceremony had started, with everyone in attendance - giving them all an alibi.
So who could’ve attacked the cake?
Clearly there was some Outside Agent!
Grant turned to a new page in his notebook and started questioning people about anything suspicious prior to the ceremony.
James (friend of groom) had been manning the main door. He said that nobody not on the guest list had tried getting in, and he hadn’t seen anyone suspicious.
Jessie (chief bridesmaid) had been in charge of getting all the decorations and food in and arranged. They started at 8:37 and finished at 12:26, with the reception hall. She said she hadn’t seen anybody suspicious, but admitted the situation had been chaotic.
Everyone Grant questioned said that the venue had been locked up as expected, so he deduced the Criminal hadn’t snuck in overnight. Besides, that seemed silly and risky.
So. At some point after doors were unlocked at 8:30 the Criminal had infiltrated the wedding, then once the cake was unprotected in the closed-but-not-locked hall they had struck.
No point trying to dust handles for fingerprints, with there having been over a hundred people milling about. Footprints were likewise useless. And nobody had seen anyone who wasn’t known and on the guest list.
This was a tough case. Grant chewed on the heart-shaped pencil topper and tried to think what angles he’d missed.
Had anyone been watching the back doors? If not, that was the most likely entry point.
Jessie said that nobody had been watching the doors, but there had been people going in and out almost constantly until they finished setting up.
“And by that point nobody was watching the front door either” commented her boyfriend Rory, which Grant pounced on.
Questioning revealed Rory had run into James in the toilets! Which meant there had been a gap in security and made James a Suspect. While he couldn’t have smashed the cake, he might’ve let in whoever did! Conspiracy!!
Grant’s attempted dramatic questioning of James sadly fell flat, with the adult brushing him off and calling him a “silly little” followed by a word for poo that Grant was pretty sure he’d get in trouble for writing down, even for a suspect statement. Pity he wasn’t a formal detective and couldn’t get James in trouble for obstruction.
But when he persisted, James admitted that he had gone to the loo “once everyone [note: meaning 'on the list'] was here”.
No, the front door hadn’t been locked, because people might’ve needed to grab stuff from their cars “and besides I was only gone for a couple of minutes”.
With James having abandoned his post after the last group arrived, that gave an important part of the timeline. Grant rushed to the guest book.
The last people to sign had been the Shaws. But it didn’t say when. He managed to track them down, and they reported that they’d gotten here “Maybe half an hour before the ceremony” due to traffic issues.
That put the Criminal’s entry at around noon. But no matter who he asked, nobody recalled seeing anyone suspicious at that time.
Sadly Grant had been hanging out in a side room, away from the bustle. Which he was happy about at the time, because he hadn’t realised there was going to be a crime! If only he’d known, he would’ve been on high alert and caught them for sure.
He went to check with his mum what they’d been doing at noon, just in case it helped.
“You were reading your book and eating a packet of crisps.” She said. “Why?”
Grant proudly showed her his notes.
“Ohh.” Mum smiled and stroked his head. “Grandma will be pleased. Go show her, and ask how she figured out the culprit.”
“She already…?”
Of course she had; she was a real detective. Retired or not.
Grant deflated, but Mum caught his hand and led him to the reception hall, where Gran was sitting with a cup of coffee and a plate piled with eclairs.
Gran accepted the improvised notebook and read it carefully. Nodding and humming to herself several times, which made Grant feel better.
“Very good.” She said finally. “But you were missing important, secret grown-up info!”
That made Grant feel better still. “What??”
Gran leant forward and whispered “The bride’s father was against the marriage!”
“Huh? But he was at the ceremony…”
“Yes, fidgeting the whole time. And he was the first to leave.”
Grant’s mouth fell open. “You mean the cake…”
Gran nodded. “Was smashed between the ceremony ending and everyone coming here.”
“An inside job!”
“Exactly.” Gran smiled and handed him an eclair. “Good work, trainee. We’ll make a detective of you yet.”

Prompt was “Write a story with a non-chronological narrative that takes place at a wedding.”