Murder So Deadly

by Eileen Curley Hammond

  “He’s calling his long-lost half-brother for the first time and didn’t want me to interrupt him.” She swirled the wine. “I wouldn’t have. Much.”

  “Yes, you would have. What are they going to talk about?”

  “I don’t know. They’re strangers who share the same deceased father. I wish I were listening on the other phone.” She popped a grape in her mouth and then stood. “I need to pace. Distract me.”

  I recounted my morning adventure with Scarface and his friend.

  “Wow. That was some morning. Are you going to work with them?”

  “I think we should. Rob’s handling the logistics.” I ate a piece of cheese. “And then later, I took a tour of Alex’s greenhouse. She has spectacular looking plants, and you should see the heirloom veggie varieties she’s growing.”

  Patty put cheese on a cracker and slid back onto the chair. “What kinds of plants?”

  “She’s big into tropicals. You know, large leaves, fluffy fronds.” I gestured toward the alleyway. “She’s going to line the alley with them.”

  “What kind of tropicals does she have?”

  “Pretty ones.”

  “I was looking for something more specific.”

  “Let me see—” I tilted my head back. “She said one was a Pretoria, you know, like in South Africa, and there was one with pretty green leaves, a burgundy center, and burgundy veining.” I took a sip of wine. “It had the oddest seeds. They were hairy brown pods.”

  Patty sat up straight in her chair and pulled out her phone.

  “Is it Patrick?”

  She shook her head and put up her index finger. “Did it look like this?”

  “Yes. Ooh. Look at the fronds. Those are going to be great. What is it?”

  She scrolled up and handed me the phone back.

  “Ricinus communis. Interesting.”

  She pointed at the common name: castor bean plant.

  My mouth dropped. “That’s what the poison ricin is made from.”

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  Rob sat next to me. “You’ve had a busy day.”

  “Does this make it better, or worse for your mother?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “We couldn’t figure out where she would get ricin. Now we know my neighbor grows it.” I shook my head. “Shouldn’t that be illegal? Why do they even sell those plants?”

  “It’s hard to get the seed pod off. And, when you do, you have to grind up the hulls. Don’t forget. People grow all kinds of dangerous things just because they look good. Digitalis, Lily of the Valley, even Yews.”

  “Yews?”

  He placed his hand in mine. “Yes. I could brew you a cup of Yew tea, and you wouldn’t last very long.”

  I pulled away from him. “Since when do you know so much about poisonous plants?”

  “I started reading up on them after Mother was arrested.” He showed me his phone. “Look. There’s an entire garden in England devoted to poisons.”

  “Alnwick Garden. It says the owner got the idea from the Medici’s poison garden. Wow. Some of these plants are quite pretty. I’d be worried about them in my backyard. What if the cats ate them?” I shuddered.

  “It says here that they encourage visitors to refrain from touching or smelling these plants.”

  My phone dinged with a text from Patty: “Patrick’s mother is still alive.”

  I texted back: “I know. She lives in St. Louis.”

  “His birth mother!”

  “Oh. Is he going to meet her?”

  “Maybe. She lives in Phoenix. She’s 85. Talk later. Wigging out.”

  I put the phone down and updated Rob.

  He said, “Patrick shouldn’t wait too long if he wants to meet her. She’s not getting any younger.”

  “I’m sure Patrick’s emotions are all over the place right now. I hope he makes the right decision.”

  “He will. Oh, I scheduled time with your two favorite people, Frank and Bud. We’re going to meet them at the Golden Skillet at noon tomorrow. I texted Cheryl. She’s going to clear your calendar when she gets in.”

  “It’s Sunday. I hate to make people work on their day off.”

  “She didn’t seem to mind.”

  “But still.”

  “Okay. I won’t do it again. Do you want to hear what they said?”

  I settled against his side. “Shoot.”

  “They were in the bar attached to the motel. I tried calling their room from the lobby, but no one answered. The desk clerk told me that they had gone in the direction of the bar.”

  My nose wrinkled. “Is it still as bad as I remember?”

  “Probably worse. The dark brown indoor-outdoor carpet looks like it’s been there since the fifties.”

  “It used to be tan with dark brown swirls.”

  “Then they either replaced it, or you can no longer see the tan parts. From the stench, it’s probably the latter.” He grimaced. “Anyway, Frank and Bud were at the bar. I bought them both a beer and sat down. Their story is consistent. They don’t believe my mother did it, so I need to hear what they have to say. They said that since we’re cozy with the police, we may be able to help. That, and the fact that there isn’t one person in town you don’t know.”

  I elbowed him. “An exaggeration. I’m sure there are dozens of people I haven’t met yet.”

  “Maybe two. Tops.” He stood. “I need to get back. I’ll meet you at the restaurant at noon.” He leaned down for an extended kiss. “Mm. I’ve missed that.” He strolled out the door.

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  Frank picked up his bacon cheeseburger and took a bite. He mumbled, “This is terrific.”

  “I’m glad you’re enjoying it,” I said. “Unfortunately, I have only a limited amount of time today, so I suggest we get down to business.”

  He put the burger down and wiped his hands on a napkin. “All right. We’ve been checking into people who are new here. We figured they might have known Richard.”

  “We already know about the Greens.” Rob popped a French fry into his mouth.

  Bud’s mouth dropped. “How’d you find out?”

  “A long story. Suffice it to say we know what happened to their daughter and husband.” I dabbed my mouth with a napkin. A thought occurred to me, and my hands started shaking. I stuttered, “Y-Y-You didn’t have anything to do with that, did you?”

  “Before our time.” Frank examined his fingernails.

  Rob clutched my hand. “What else do you gentlemen have?”

  “We’re checking into the ex-wives. Two of them are unaccounted for,” Frank said.

  “What does that mean?” Rob picked up another fry.

  “We know people. Our people went to where the ex-wives should have been. They weren’t there.” Bud turned toward Rob. “That means they might be here. And since she—” he pointed at me, “knows everyone, we figure she might know if they’re here.

  Chapter 12

  Jenny was peeling potatoes when I got home from work. A lovely scent of garlic, rosemary, and beef permeated the kitchen. I kissed her cheek. “Something smells wonderful. What are you making?”

  “A tenderloin of beef.”

  “On a Monday night?”

  “You work hard. I thought you might need a treat. Especially with everything that’s been going on.”

  My right eyebrow rose. “This is a treat. And thank you. But you can’t blame me for being suspicious. You don’t normally cook.”

  Her bottom lip jutted out. “I should help around here more. It’s not fair that you do everything.”

  I pulled her close. “You need to worry about school. I’ll worry about everything else.” I flipped on the oven light. “That looks great. How did you learn to make it?”

  She rolled her eyes. “YouTube, Mom.”

  “Wish I had that when I was growing up. Want me to set the table?”

  “Yes, please. And make the salad too.”

  I retrieved carrots, celery, and peppers from th
e fridge, a tomato from the dish, and began chopping. “Anything interesting happen at school today?”

  “Nope. All the seniors are going crazy. I can’t wait until it’s my turn.”

  “How’s studying going for finals?”

  “Fine, Mom. I’ll be happier the end of next week after school’s out.” She took the beef from the oven, checked her phone, and tented it. “Now, this needs to rest.”

  My mouth sagged. My little girl was growing up. I looked around her shoulder. “Yum.”

  She poked the potatoes with a fork. “Almost done.”

  I set the table and placed the salad bowl in the middle. Jenny sliced the beef. “Does this look right to you?”

  It was medium-rare. Perfect. “Better than I could have done myself.”

  She beamed. “It wasn’t that hard.”

  I put the potatoes in a bowl. We sat.

  “Um, Mom.” She deposited salad on her plate.

  “Yes?” I put a piece of beef in my mouth. “So good.”

  She shuffled the potatoes around her plate. “You know how I told you I wasn’t going to use Jacob to contact Dad anymore?”

  My eyes lifted to hers. “Yes—”

  “He convinced me it would be okay.”

  “And?”

  “I talked to Dad and Arianna again today.”

  “Jenny get to the point.”

  “They want me to meet them. In London.”

  My stomach clenched.

  “It’d be my first time there. Arianna said it’s the best place for fashion, and Dad said it would be good for my college resume to have traveled outside the country. He said they’d take me to Parliament and other historic places.”

  “I wish they talked to me about it first.”

  “How? You won’t talk to them because you’re so worried that the Feds will find out.”

  I pushed my plate away. “You have to look at colleges this summer.”

  “We’re not going until August. Dad said I could come for June and July. He and Arianna plan to rent a house, so we have a place to stay. Dad said he’d pay.”

  “Jenny, we can’t take money from him. You’re putting me in a terrible position.”

  She stood. “It’s always all about you. Well, what about me? I miss him.” She ran up the stairs.

  I surveyed my wreck of a kitchen and the scarcely eaten beef. Both cats sat by the table, eyes following every move, seemingly hopeful that I would take pity on them and drop some. “No such luck.” I stood and started cleaning.

  Patty stuck her head in the back door. “Can I come in?” Her eyes widened. “Wow. This is a mess.”

  “Jenny cooked.”

  “Impressive. I can barely get Cindy to pour her own cereal.” Patty took a piece of beef and ate it. “This is good. We’ll have to have her cook for us.” Her gaze raked the room. “You’ll need to come too so that you can clean up.”

  “Don’t just stand there; help me.”

  Between the two of us, we soon had the kitchen under control. I poured two cups of coffee, retrieved the cookie jar, and we sat at the table. I handed her a mug. “So why are you here?”

  “Patrick is driving me nuts. He’s vacillating about reaching out to his mother.”

  “What’s the problem?” I pushed the cookie jar toward Patty.

  She took one out and laid it on a napkin. “He’s worried she won’t want to meet him. His adoptive mother has paperwork she received when he was born. He’s hopeful that it will mention if she wanted future contact or not.”

  “Is she going to mail it to him? Or fax it? She has a smartphone; can’t she take a picture and text it to him?”

  “His mother still relies on us to set the time on the VCR. And yes, she still has a VCR. Patrick’s going to drive down this weekend to pick it up.”

  I pulled the jar toward me and extracted an oatmeal raisin. “Are you going to go with him?”

  “Bundling the kids in the car for a six-hour drive does not sound like my idea of fun.” She sipped her coffee. “But who knows, maybe he’ll take one of the four with him. There is hope in the world.”

  “Why is he still worried?”

  “His half-brother thinks it’s a bad idea. Even though she’s not his mother, he visits her twice a year. He says she’s frail, and he’s afraid what the shock might do to her.”

  “I could see that being a concern. But it’s only a problem if she said she didn’t want future contact.”

  Patty dumped her remaining coffee in the sink. “Any wine open?”

  “Some of that white we were drinking last night.”

  Her head disappeared into the refrigerator. She held up the bottle. “You want some?”

  I motioned with my hand to bring it on. She poured two glasses and handed me one. “So what’s new in your world?”

  “Drew and Arianna want Jenny to come to stay with them in London this summer.”

  Her mouth dropped. “Isn’t Drew still on the run? Should she even be talking to him?”

  I rubbed my neck, stood, and retrieved two antacids. I chewed them.

  “Should you have those with wine?”

  I drank water and returned to my seat. “Satisfied?” I sipped the wine. “It really annoys me. He’s the one who’s wanted by the FBI. I’m not sure why my daughter thinks I’m the bad guy.”

  “You’re closer.”

  “I’m also the person standing between her and London. He used the ‘it will help your college resume’ card.”

  “Jerk.” She dipped part of the cookie into the wine and ate it.

  My eyebrow rose.

  “It’s not bad. So what are you going to do?”

  I groaned. “I’m not sure. He offered to pay the airfare, but we can’t accept what might be stolen funds. So that means if Jenny goes, I’ll have to pay. And we still need to tour colleges. That’s going to take money. Not to mention actually paying for college.” I face-palmed.

  She rubbed my arm. “Isn’t the business going well?”

  I lifted my head. “Business is fine. I want to make sure we’re doing the right thing.”

  She topped off our glasses. “I know you. You’ll do the right thing. There’s one way we can save money—”

  “Lay it on me.”

  “If Cindy and Jenny end up interested in the same schools, we could alternate who’s taking them for visits.”

  “That’s a good idea.”

  “But it doesn’t help you with the Drew issue.”

  “No. It doesn’t.”

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  I walked into the kitchen on Friday night, and the front doorbell rang.

  “I’ll get it,” Jenny yelled as she tromped down the stairs. The door squeaked open. Jenny said, “Ms. Jenson. What are you doing here?”

  I hurried down the hall. Rob’s sister, Elizabeth, stood in the entry, a small suitcase by her feet. She hugged me. After a beat, I stepped back. “It’s good to see you, but—Rob must have forgotten to tell me you were coming.”

  “He doesn’t know. Mom wanted me to keep it quiet. She has some sort of surprise brewing. She’s made reservations for dinner tomorrow for all of us.”

  Jenny edged away from the door. “All of us?”

  Elizabeth touched Jenny’s nose with her forefinger. “Yes, everyone. Including you.”

  Jenny frowned and looked at me. “Do I have to go?”

  “Let me find out more about what’s going on, and then I’ll give you an answer.”

  Jenny lifted Elizabeth’s suitcase. “Are you staying with us, Ms. Jenson?”

  “Since Mom’s still with Rob, I’d appreciate the hospitality.” Elizabeth smiled.

  “You’re always welcome,” I said.

  “I’ll take your suitcase up to your room.” Jenny bounded up the stairs, bag in tow.

  “Let’s go into the kitchen. Are you hungry?”

  “I wouldn’t mind a snack.”

  I took out celery and carrot sticks, along with hummus, and arrayed them on the co
unter.

  She smiled. “Just what I needed.”

  I uncorked a bottle of wine and handed her a glass. “So what’s going on?”

  “You know as much as I do. Mom told me there was a plane ticket waiting for me at the airport and that I needed to pack. She told me to bring something dressy for tomorrow night. Apparently, a limo will pick us up at six. So, here I am, as requested.”

  “I wonder when she’s going to tell Rob.”

  Elizabeth shrugged.

  There was a quick rap on the back door, and Rob walked in. His mouth dropped when he saw his sister. They hugged, and he asked, “What are you doing here?”

  “You could sound happier.”

  “I am happy. But I’m worried.”

  “Mom sent me a ticket. She wanted me to be at some shindig tomorrow.”

  Rob poured wine and leaned against the counter. He lifted the glass. “What shindig?”

  “Something at a veterinarian’s house. I had to laugh. You know how Mom feels about animals.”

  Rob groaned and brought his sister up-to-date. Elizabeth said, “I can’t believe she’s already on to another man. And she was seeing him before Richard died.” She sipped her wine. “What do the police think about all this?”

  Rob picked up a carrot stick. “It’s made them even more certain they have the right person.”

  “What do you think is happening tomorrow night?” I dipped celery into the hummus.

  Rob rubbed his eyes. “I don’t even want to speculate.”

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  Jenny sat on my bed. She wore a lovely azure empire waist dress that came to mid-thigh. I had opted for a knee-length, sleeveless midnight blue dress with a squared-off neckline. I donned the sapphire necklace Rob surprised me with at Christmas.

  Jenny stood and walked to my side. “You look so pretty. What did you decide about me going to London?” She hugged me. “It would be so much fun.”

  “I’m still thinking about it. I know I have to make a decision soon.” I turned her face to mine. “Let’s try and enjoy this evening. We have to support Rob.”

  “Isn’t it enough that you’ll be there?”

  “Who made you blueberry pancakes? Who hasn’t missed one basketball game? Who offered to take you car shopping?”

  She groaned. “Mr. Jenson.”

  I picked up my evening bag and gestured for Jenny to precede me out the door. We strolled downstairs. Elizabeth was staring out the window. She wore a form-fitting black sheath dress with a rolled neck and v-back. Small diamond studs graced her earlobes.