Chef The Killer

Fictional murder mystery story

Being a chef is hard work. You've likely seen the TV shows where the big boss screams at his underlings, demanding them to work faster and cook better, while also calling them horrid slurs in the process. You may think that's over-exaggerated, a hyperbolic display of dominance, purely for the camera and the audience's amusement. Perhaps once upon a time this was a show, but in recent years; this behaviour has actually become the norm in many everyday kitchens at restaurants. The pressure is unbelievable, the time restraints are suffocating and the patience of head chefs is nonexistent! Every meal must be cooked on time and ready for public consumption, no dish can be left to go cold, it must be sent out as soon as possible before it gets cold. A good kitchen needs to work like clockwork, everyone must be on the ball and one slip up can result in catastrophe! Of course, everyone is human, which means mistakes are unfortunately inevitable and in some rare cases, some chefs have been pushed far beyond their limit!

This is the story of Andrew Parkinson, who at one point in time was a young optimistic man, who only wanted to pursue his love of catering. He loved cooking since he was a boy, always making beans on toast for breakfast, which transcended into making Tuna Pasta Bake and then his own Stir-fry by the time he was a teenager. Andrew adored this hobby, he loved to experiment with different flavours and make his own personal favourite dishes. Even his parents let him make the family dinner, the Sunday roasts and Christmas feast. He adored it and everyone thought the young man had a promising future as a chef. That was until he began studying catering at college, even in that environment he was exposed to the harsh truth of running a restaurant. The tutors still yelled at him exactly like a head chef would, although they never swore at the students, they still threw insults and made demands, exactly how a real boss would in this stressful kitchen environment. Andrew wasn't a fan of the chef attire either, it was too tight and got incredibly hot while slaving over a hot stove. He still graduated with top marks, but his time there was rather unpleasant. He presumed it was only because the college was cheap and in a rough area of Liverpool. He believed that landing a job at a fancy restaurant in the nicer area of the city, would be where he'd really enjoy himself and actually grow to love cooking for a living.

So, he got a job at the best five stat restaurant in Liverpool. He was immediately impressed by the restaurant's interior, this place was posh, yet cosy at the same time. There was a nice ambience in the air, as smooth jazz played comfortably from the speakers. The waiters and waitresses were incredibly friendly, always smiling and shaking hands, showing the utmost courtesy. This place was a dream come true and he impressed the boss at the job interview, they were pleased with his catering qualifications and believed Andrew to be a perfect fit for the team. The only thing that concerned the young man, was just how strict and loud the kitchen actually was. Chefs ran around the place like olympic runners, while the bosses yelled relentlessly at the lower rankings staff. It was downright intimidating, but the pay would be incredible. So the very next day, when the boss of the kitchen called him up and invited him to join his team. Young naive Andrew accepted the offer with the utmost excitement.

A week later he'd soon regret it, as being a chef here was beyond hard work, it was truly exhausting and stressful. Andrew was soon storming around the kitchen, as he had already become the new whipping boy of the kitchen. It was him who would do all the most awful jobs, yet he couldn't properly perform his duties. The head chef was quickly becoming disappointed in poor young Andrew, he wasn't what the boss expected. Andrew himself was already yelling and growling, knowing full well he was being taken advantage of. He had a particularly bad relationship with Quinn Courtney, a huge man who wasn't at all friendly. To be fair, a lot of people disliked Quinn, he always picked on the new staff and Andrew was no exception! Quinn was almost forty but acted like some teenage bully, always making mean jokes about everyone's mannerisms and appearance. He wasn't really handsome himself, looking very much like a humanoid bulldog, but nobody could offend this wicked man, no matter how much they screamed or insulted him. Andrew had already reported Quinn for workplace bullying to the head chef, who wasn't at all on his side. He told Andrew that Quinn was a valued asset to his team, whereas Andrew was not.

One day the head chef ordered Andrew to venture into the huge industrial freezer, that was inside the kitchen, to gather some carrots for the soup they were making. This was during a very busy shift, where everyone was far too busy to yell or argue amongst each other. After ten minutes, even the head chef had forgotten he had ordered Andrew into the freezer, they all presumed the young lad had enough and bailed out of work. The whole kitchen was furious with Andrew for disappearing, that was until the next day when cleaners came in the morning to go over the place a second time, before opening the restaurant. One of them entered the freezer within the kitchen, what he saw; was something horrifying that stunk like rotting flesh. It was the frozen body of Andrew Parkinson! He had been locked inside the freezer all night, as everyone simply presumed he went home, nobody had checked the freezer as the Temperature was still accurate and all the ingredients had been used up that day. So there was no need to enter the freezer at the shift's end.

Police came as soon as the cleaner called about his death, they began investigating and got their hands upon CCTV footage that showed the freezer door closing by itself, when Andrew was still inside. At first this seemed to be an unfortunate accident, however when Detectives looked deeper into this case, they soon discovered that the freezer door was set on a timer (to prevent the food inside from over heating) when Andrew entered, the door was already open so they looked further back through the footage and spotted the head chef opening the freezer door himself, moments before ordering Andrew into his cold coffin. The freezer door closed mere seconds after he entered. It became tough to prove this was an intentional murder, because the head chef (named Michael Bailey) had an expensive lawyer and wouldn't speak without him. Eventually though, Michael was sentenced with involuntary man slaughter, as the courts believed Andrew's death was by complete accident yet Michael still failed to ensure the safety of his own staff. He was given a short five year prison sentence and was let go 2 years early due to good behaviour, as far as we all know, Michael Bailey is still a head chef. So next time you work in a kitchen, be sure to follow the rules or else you might just meet, a chilling end!