Eating Up Some Time

After spending what she thought was a reasonable amount of time in the toilet cubicle (she didn't actually need to go, but of course even the best still take a bit of time doing their business), Trixie left, and began slowly heading back towards the Tribal Circle, where the other five contestants were cooking.
Over to the left of the production area, a group of Evanses were sitting on some couches, relaxing and reading trashy magazines. Surely one of them must have slipped her the recipe! Trixie thought.

She slowly walked past. An Evans gave her a disinterested glance before returning to his magazine.

Dangit! They musn't have noticed her! Trixie walked back past. Again, she was totally ignored by the Evanses.

After moonwalking, skipping, rolling, walking on all fours whilst barking like a dog, and crumping past the Evanses in the lounge area, Trixie thought maybe her helpful recipe hadn't originated from that group. Downcast, she returned to her cooking area.
Picking the recipe out of the box, Trixie looked at in despair. Who had sent her this helpful document? She turned it over in frustration... wait! What was that written on the back?

Trixie read aloud: "'If you eva wan 2 C ur belovd pet RoK, the GeORge, aGIn, BriNg uR trAVel EditiOn maGnETic deLuXE BackgaMMon BoRD...' oh no, wait, that's been scribbled out... 'Harold, take ROGER to the dark and mysterious hideout and keep him there until the...' oh no! That's also been twinked out, although quite badly, as I could read most of it! Ah, here we go... 'A little help to get you through this round - Evan.' Who on God's earth is Evan?"
No answer came to Trixie.
"Ah well, better carry on with my cunning plan of following the recipe. Ha! Who would ever think of something so ingenious!"
And with half an hour already gone on the clock, Trixie began cooking a meal fit for three kings.


As is often the case in cooking competitions, the final few minutes of time were spent in absolute mayhem, as the contestants each raced around trying to get their meals ready whilst the Evans unhelpfully counted down the final few seconds in a loud, annoying voice. It looked like some of them wouldn't make it but... (!) they all somehow managed to!
Honestly it probably was nowhere near that dramatic in reality. I heard Taylor was finished with 20 minutes to spare.
After two hours of sitting watching their meals cooked (or in some cases burnt) before their eyes, the three judges were keen to get eating!
Pam was up first.
"What have you prepared for our guest judges today, Pam?" The Evans asked, fake-smiling at the guest judges as he said this.
"Well, Mr Evans," Pam said enthusiastically, "My first course is strawberry jam on toast! Hooray! Go Beaurepaires, the Ikale Tahi, and Blue Suede Shoes!"
"Toast!" The Evans smirked. "That's hardly a winning..."
At that moment the Evans took a look at the guest judges. All three were staring at Pam with adoring looks on their faces, whilst gulping down the toast.
For some strange reason, these three old men were quite positively inclined, shall we say, towards this young, fit, blonde cheerleader.
"Second course," Pam giggled, "Is Bacon and Bacon, with a side of Bacon!"
Again, the meal disappeared in seconds, while six eyes never left Pam.
"And for dessert?" The Evans enquired in a cynical tone.
"Ice Cream!"
"Store bought?"
"You betcha!"
"Ok, thank you Pam. You may return to your seat now as the judges score your meal."
Six eyes mournfully followed Pam as she disappeared from sight, and three pens each wrote the number "10" down emphatically on three scoring sheets. The Evans chose not to mention to the judges that they hadn't actually yet tasted the final course of Pam's dish.

"Next up?" Tupou inquired in a hungry voice.
"Next up is, Trixie Hobbets!"
"Another sweet young thang?" Elvis asked.
"Ah, not quite." The Evans replied diplomatically.
Indeed, the three judges were somewhat disappointed with the more, shall we say, low maintenance appearance of the South American investigator. But their eyes widened as they saw the food she was bringing to the table.

"My first course, Mr Evans." Trixie announced with confidence. "Peanut, banana, and bacon sandwiches."
"I can't help falling in love with you, sweetheart." Elvis boomed as he looked over his favourite meal. "You sure do know how to treat a man."
Seconds later, the sandwiches were gone. Vince and Tupou may have even been allowed a bite.
"Second course;" Trixie said, "Tongan delicacies - Coconut and lime cured snapper, coconut crab fillets, taro with chili and coconut cream, and fresh jam rolls."
Tupou fainted with excitement - but quickly revived himself for the eating of his favourite foods. The other two judges seemed equally impressed with the course.
"Finally," Trixie said, "for dessert, soft liquorice tyres stuffed with candy."
"Honey, I don't know how you knew that, but I'm sure as hell glad you did." The king of discount tyres murmured.
As Trixie left with a smile on her face, she could feel the eyes of the chef-Evans burning into her back. She recalled his angry glare as she served up the meals - was it possible he and his fellow judges were not aware of the help she had received?

Sitting nervously back at Tribal Circle, Trixie couldn't help but wonder as to the identity of her helper. Who exactly was this 'Evan'? Why did he want her to win? What was in it for him?
As she mulled over these questions, Trixie noticed her fellow contestants' moods as they came back from judging.
As usual, the Goblin's face was emotionless.
Taylor looked happy.
Randy wore an angry scowl.
And nobody in particular could barely hide the smirk on his face. Idiot! Trixie still desperately wanted to find a way to take that guy out.


Chapter Fifteen : : Chapter Seventeen