Cop Gets Poisoned Cake for B-Day, Little Son Eats a Slice and Lands in Emergency Room – Story of the Day

A cop's 2-year-old son falls into a coma after eating a poisoned birthday cake. As the officer investigates, the stakes become higher, and he discovers that someone in his department is plotting to kill him.

It was a busy evening at the police station. Officer Harrison walked in, surprised by a rain of confetti and a chorus of "Happy Birthday!" from his colleagues. It was his 41st birthday, and he was looking forward to celebrating it with his fellow officers.

They presented him with a white and blue-frosted cake, which he eagerly took home with him to share with his 2-year-old son, Oliver. "Thanks, everyone! I appreciate it. That cake looks delicious, and I'm sure it must taste terrific. I got to go now...I gotta pick my son up from daycare," Harrison said, heading to his car with the cake in tow.

When he arrived home with little Oliver, the boy's eyes lit up at the sight of the cake. He begged his dad for a slice before dinner, and Harrison chuckled, handing him a piece. Oliver happily gobbled it up, but within minutes, his face turned red, and he began to have seizures...

"Oliver? What's wrong...Sweetie, wake up...Oliver?" Chief Harrison rushed to his unconscious son, who was breathing rapidly and tried everything he could to bring the boy back to consciousness. But despite all his efforts, Oliver's condition worsened, and soon, his limbs stopped moving.

Harrison frantically grabbed his phone and dialed 911. "Please hurry up...my son just had seizures all of a sudden...I don't understand what happened," he told the dispatcher. "We need an ambulance right away. Please, make it fast...Please..."

As Harrison anxiously waited for the ambulance to arrive, his gaze shifted to the blue and white cream lingering on Oliver's fingers, and a sense of dread washed over him. He realized something was seriously wrong with the cake his son had eaten just minutes ago.

Heart pounding with fear, Harrison quickly walked over to the coffee table in the balcony to take a closer look at the cake. Only then did he notice several dead ants scattered around the cake box, confirming his worst fears.

Harrison's mind raced as he made the unsettling connection between the dead ants and Oliver's sudden illness. "Oh my God...Did somebody poison the cake??" he gasped, his voice laced with disbelief and horror.

As the ambulance rushed Oliver to the hospital, Harrison couldn't shake off the questions haunting his mind. "I have to investigate this thoroughly and find out who did this," he muttered to himself.

"We're doing everything we can," the doctor comforted Officer Harrison outside Oliver's emergency room hours later. "Traces of rat poison were found in your son's blood sample. His condition is still critical, and he's slipped into a coma...We're doing our best. Please stay strong."

"Please, save my son," Harrison pleaded with the doctor, his eyes brimming with tears. "I have to go to the station...please keep me updated on his condition. I'll be back as soon as I can."

Harrison sped to the police station, his mind racing with suspicion. David, his partner and best friend, rode shotgun, equally stunned by what had happened.

"I still don't get it, Chief. Somebody poisoned your birthday cake?" David was shocked. "How did this happen? Who would do such a horrible thing?"

"My son's in the hospital, David. He just had a bite of that poisoned cake and is fighting for his life now… I'm not going to let this slide…I want to check all the CCTV cameras in the station. Quick!"

David's eyes widened with shock. "What?! Your son? Oh my God...I had no idea… Yes, yes, of course, let's do it," he exclaimed, grabbing the keys to the surveillance room.

As they burst into the surveillance room, David seemed to be bothered by something and abruptly stopped Harrison.

"Chief, one sec, hold on...Do you really think that we'll find something in the footage?" David's voice was shaky. "There are 30 detectives and dozens of cameras in the precinct. It's unlikely someone would just walk in here and attempt to poison you so brazenly...There's something else we're still missing..." David voiced his doubts.

Harrison shook his head. He knew David had a point but still scoured the CCTV footage, hoping to find some clue.

However, after hours of reviewing the footage, Harrison found no lead and was left with more questions.

"Guess you're right, David. There's nothing here…But who would do such a thing? Do you suspect somebody? I'm sure it has got something to do with the birthday cake."

After a momentous thought, the fellow cop rose to his feet. "I think I know what we're dealing with, Chief. It's the baker who made your cake this morning. Why didn't we think of this before? Let's hurry…We need to get him."

Without wasting another second, the two cops hopped into the police cruiser and set off to the bakery on Oakville Avenue, sirens blaring.

As Officer Harrison and David pulled over near the bakery, the sweet aroma of freshly baked bread and pastries filled their nostrils. Then they saw the baker through the window, his back turned to them as he carefully arranged pastries on a tray.

"There he is, Chief," David whispered, pointing towards the confectioner. "Wait a minute...Did you see him? I think I know this guy. Do you recognize him?"

Harrison's eyes narrowed, and his brows rose as he studied the man closely. "Is that Jonathan? The guy we arrested some years back over charges of fraud and embezzlement? What's he doing here?"

David raised an eyebrow. "Embezzlement? Oh yeah...I totally forgot about that case. Remember you arrested this guy ten years ago and put him in jail? He owns that bakery...and he might be seeking revenge for his jail time. We need to arrest him, Chief."

Harrison's mind raced as he considered David's theory. "It's possible...But something's still not adding up…Why wait all these years to seek revenge?"

The cops arrived at the baker's apartment the following day, and Harrison led the team, holding a search warrant in his hand. As they reached for the door, one of the cops suggested kicking it down and barging into the flat to nab the baker.

Harrison nodded with a skeptical stare. "We can't afford to alert him and lose him. Let's try knocking first."

"Knock? That's still gonna alert him, Chief. How about we just pick the lock?" David interrupted. And before Harrison could say anything, he pulled out his lock-picking tools from his pocket and got started.

"David? Stop…What are you doing?" Harrison exclaimed. "Be careful. We can't afford to lose him."

David nodded and got to work on the lock. In less than a minute, they heard a soft click, and David slowly turned the knob, pushing the door open.

The cops crept into the apartment, guns drawn, and searched every nook and cranny. As the field team checked further, they heard a rustle.

"Police? What are you doing in my house?" Jonathan shrieked at seeing the cops in his flat.

But before he could take a step back, the officers surrounded him.

David grabbed the search warrant from Harrison's hand and shoved it toward Jonathan, who flinched and tried to step back in shock. "Now you know why! We believe that you may have poisoned a birthday cake that was served to our Chief."

Harrison leaned forward, his eyes fixed on the baker's face. "Traces of rat poison were found in my son's blood sample. And I believe it came from this bakery. Care to explain how that happened?"

"I...I don't know what you're talking about," the baker's face turned pale with shock. "I didn't do anything. Please...Let me go...I didn't do anything."

Harrison and David kept their eyes on Jonathan as the team searched the flat for any evidence. Suddenly, one of the cops called out from the kitchen, "Chief, you have to take a look at this!"

Harrison and David rushed to the counter and saw a small bottle of liquid that matched the kind of poison found in Oliver's blood sample. Harrison picked up the bottle, and the label read "Poison."

"What's this, Jonathan?" Harrison demanded, waving the bottle before the baker's face. "Is this what you used to poison my birthday cake? Do you have any idea what you did? You almost got my son killed…"

Jonathan's face crumpled, and tears started rolling down his cheeks. "Officer, I didn't do it. Please, you got to trust me. I didn't poison your birthday cake…I don't know what you're talking about. I just delivered a regular order to the station. I didn't even know it was for you…I swear...And I don't know how that thing got here."

"You're under arrest for attempted murder," Harrison declared as he cuffed the baker.

"Well, that was a successful operation!" David exclaimed as the team marched out with Jonathan.

"Yes, it was!" Harrison nodded in relief and made his way out of the flat toward the police cruiser. Just as they exited the corridor, satisfied with the successful operation, they ran into an elderly neighbor.

"Excuse me, is it the police?" she interrupted, "I couldn't help but overhear…You were at Mr. Tim's apartment, weren't you?"

Harrison and David exchanged a curious look. "Yes, we are from the local police department," he confirmed. "But why do you ask?"

"Nothing! I was just wondering if you had come to visit Mr. Tim, like usual...Was just curious, that's all," she said. "He's been having visitors from your department quite often."

Harrison stopped in his tracks. "What do you mean 'quite often?' Visitors from the department? Are you sure?" he asked the lady, to which she grinned and nodded, "Yes, from your department."

"Mr. Tim lives next door. Well, just the other week, someone tried to break into his apartment while he was out of town," she recounted.

"I heard some noise outside. I saw the stranger standing outside Mr. Tim's flat through my peephole and decided to call the police. But when I confronted the man and asked what he was doing there, he showed me an ID...It looked like a badge...He told me he was from the local police station. So I didn't call the cops after all."

Harrison's eyes widened with surprise. "Oh, that's strange. Do you remember anything about this guy you saw? How did he look? Can you recognize him?" he asked the lady.

She shook her head. "I'm afraid not. I wasn't wearing my glasses at the time. Everything was blurry. But I'm sure. The guy did have a badge. And it looked like a cop badge to me."

"Who was it? Who did she see?" Harrison exchanged a worried look with his partner. "Thanks for the information, Ma'am. We'll look into it."

As they walked away, David turned to Harrison. "Chief, what's wrong? Do you think it's related to the poisoning? Maybe she didn't see clearly and was confused. Almost everybody has badges for their jobs nowadays, and she must've confused the guy with a cop. Or maybe the guy had just lied to her that he was from the department."

Harrison shook his head. "I don't know, David. It's too early to say anything. But we can't ignore it. What if there's another person involved? We need to find out who this mysterious stranger who broke into Jonathan's flat is and if they have anything to do with the poisoning. Let's go back to the station and begin our investigation."

For some reason, Harrison felt something was really wrong somewhere, and the older lady's words kept ringing in his head. As they walked away, Harrison couldn't shake off the feeling that there was more to this case than they had initially thought.

"Was it someone from the department? But why would they break into Jonathan's flat?" he pondered as the cruiser tore through the street-lit road toward the station.

As soon as they arrived at the headquarters, Harrison led Jonathan to the interrogation room. But even after hours of interrogation, there were no favorable leads.

The encounter with the older lady fueled Harrison's doubts about who could've poisoned the cake. That's when he remembered Eva, their office manager, who had ordered the birthday cake and suspected her.

Harrison hurried to her office and asked her to follow him. "About your birthday cake? What about it, Chief?" she asked him.

"Miss Craig, why did you order the cake from that particular bakery?" Harrison pressed her. "Did anyone else from the department place an order for the cake, or did you handle it all by yourself?"

Eva shook her head. "No, Chief. I always handle the orders myself. Why are you asking me all these questions?" she replied, her tone becoming defensive and nervous.

Harrison sighed, still unsure if he was on the right track. "We received a tip that someone from the department may have been involved in the poisoning," he explained. "The thing is, the cake you ordered for my birthday was poisoned with a lethal rodenticide."

Eva's eyes widened in shock. "Oh my God...What? The cake was poisoned? That's so strange," she exclaimed. "Why would anyone do such a thing in our department?"

Harrison's expression hardened as he studied Eva's reaction. He couldn't shake off his suspicion that she might know something about the poisoning. "That's what we're trying to find out, Miss Craig," he said. "We need to know if you have any idea who might be behind this."

Eva looked at him and shrugged. "I don't know. I always order cakes and goodies from there for all the department's celebrations. Everybody here knows that…It's not something new, Chief. And no one has ever been poisoned before."

Officer Harrison's brows wrinkled in surprise. "In that case, anyone in the department could've known about the bakery," he pondered. "Someone here knew very well that Eva would order the cake only from that bakery…and they poisoned it. But who is it?"

Unable to get to the bottom of the mystery, Harrison then decided to take things into his own hands and devised a plan.

The next day, as Harrison had planned, his colleagues arrived at work only to find a table full of pizza and donuts. They were all surprised and curious, wondering what the occasion was.

"Good morning, everyone! I thought we could all use a little pick-me-up today…So I got us some pizza and donuts," Harrison greeted everyone with a big, fat smile on his face.

"The past couple of days have been tense. I just wanted us to, you know, have a little celebration. I never invited you guys to my birthday bash, and I just want to make it up for it."

Eventually, everyone gave in to their hunger and started feasting on the goodies. The station filled with their chats and laughter as Harrison's colleagues enjoyed the treats, all but for him.

With the party in full swing, Harrison stood up and cleared his throat. "Excuse me, everyone, can I have your attention, please?" he interrupted. Everyone stopped in their tracks and looked at him, wondering what he was about to say.

"A few days ago, someone, or maybe several people, tried to poison me," Harrison declared, his tone serious as his colleagues gasped, staring at each other in utter shock.

"I want to inform you that the food here is POISONED!" he added.

The room fell silent as everyone whispered, and before they could process what was said, Harrison pulled out a small vial from his pocket and held it up.

"This is the poison I was talking about….It was used in my birthday cake. I want to inform you all that all the food here is poisoned with this same rodenticide," he added, sending shivers down everyone's spines.

"I added a dose slightly less than what was put in my cake. I know the mastermind who wanted to kill me is here…with us. If the killer doesn't surrender, you will all die. I have the antidote in my cupboard, but nobody gets it until the culprit steps forward and confesses to his crime."

Everyone started to panic, and the whole department turned gravely silent. "Chief, you got to be kidding. You wouldn't do something like that."

Harrison looked at the cop with a stern expression, "I'm not lying, Bob. This poison in my hand is real. Someone has been trying to kill me. It's not a joke. You want proof?"

Harrison then turned to the medical examiner. "Why don't you check if the poison is real and tell them? Time's running out."

Everyone started trembling when the medical examiner checked the vial and confirmed that it was indeed the same rat poison found in the confectioner's house.

The room started to fill with panic as people realized the seriousness of the situation. Everyone started running around, spitting out the food, and throwing up.

However, only one person screamed, "WE HAVE NO MORE THAN 10 MINUTES...WE NEED THE ANTIDOTE!"

Everyone turned to David, who quickly bolted to Harrison's office for the antidote. As David searched the cupboard for the vial, Harrison turned to everyone and said, "Thank you, everyone. The case is closed. Sorry for the trouble...The food isn't poisoned. Please enjoy your meal."

Everyone gaped in shock as Harrison marched to his office with the handcuffs, his gruff voice freezing his partner to the ground.

"Ten minutes until you die? How did you know that? You thought you could get away with attempting to kill me, huh, David?" Harrison said, shaking his head as he handcuffed his partner.

David sat in the interrogation room with a sad, cold face. "I knew it was you long before today's little pizza party in the station," Harrison broke his silence.

David's face drained of color. "What do you mean? You don't know anything...You're bluffing."

Harrison laughed and said, "Oh no, no, no! I do know everything, David. In fact, you gave yourself away and made my job much easier."

"What do you mean?"

"Remember when we visited the baker's apartment? You picked the lock in less than a minute...in 30 seconds, to be exact?" Harrison revealed. "It was possible only if you already knew how to do it. And Jonathan's neighbor said that someone had broken into his apartment. Who else could break in so effortlessly if it weren't for you?"

David disappointedly lowered his head, knowing that he had been caught.

"But your motive is very unfortunate... We were so close to getting this gang locked up...and you wanted to stop me?" declared Harrison. "I knew that the gang has an informant in our department...But I didn't think it would be you. Did you really think killing me would solve the problem, huh, David?

David hid his eyes and remained silent, lost in deep thought about the consequences he would have to face now.

"Anyway, we'll never know that now, will we?" Harrison grinned with a wicked chuckle. David continued to sit there and sighed heavily as he leaned back in his chair.

What can we learn from this story?

• The consequences of one's actions will catch up with them eventually. David thought he would get away with attempting to kill his chief officer and friend, Harrison. However, following a twist of fate, he was caught red-handed and arrested.
• Betrayal can be harrowing. But it is important to remember that it is the deceiver who bears the sole burden of their actions. Harrison was betrayed by his own friend and fellow cop. The trust he had in David broke forever, and David was solely responsible for his evil deeds.

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A park janitor runs into a lonely little girl who says she is waiting for her mother. He sees her again the next day on the same bench, still waiting for her mom, and calls the cops. Click here to read the full story.

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