Arsenic in the Azaleas

by Dale Mayer

  Yet, she knew Nan didn’t give a crap. In Nan’s mind, this was done and gone, and she wasn’t coming home again. And that was just that.

  As Doreen glanced back out into the evening light, something twinkled. It winked and flashed as if something metallic or mirrored had moved. She frowned and stepped behind the curtains. Was somebody out there?

  Of course people were out there. She had had curiosity seekers watching the events here all evening. Just because the cops had left, did that mean the gawkers had too?

  No other houses were behind hers. She should have complete privacy here. Except for whatever was twinkling in the night.

  As she glanced up, she could see the moon rising off to the left, sending a sharp ray of moonlight down on the back garden. Well, that explained the twinkling and flashing going on, but what was the moonlight hitting? She contemplated heading out there to look but knew that she couldn’t see anything in the dark. Did Nan have a flashlight among all the stuff stored in this house?

  Sleep would elude Doreen while that shining thing was out there. She didn’t know if it was important or just a piece of garbage. But what if it had something to do with the murder?

  This was Nan’s house—regardless of what Nan thought or said or did—and Doreen had to do what she could to protect it. With a groan, she buttoned up her suit jacket once more and headed back downstairs, shoving her feet into Nan’s shoes. Doreen searched the kitchen drawers until she found a flashlight and then headed outside.

  With both Goliath and Mugs moving excitedly at her side, she propped the back door open so the animals could come and go as they pleased and then headed outside. She went down the veranda steps, carefully making her way around the huge hole that the police had left, striding toward the area where she’d seen the twinkling light. Thaddeus flew up, joining the trio, and landed on her shoulder. She stroked him, her heart more affected than she thought.

  He crooned against her cheek, “Thaddeus is here. Thaddeus is here.”

  And she was so grateful that she would not be totally alone in Nan’s house.

  With the animals at her side, the flashlight giving her limited visibility, she slowly made her way through the backyard. Going by the landmarks she’d memorized while looking out her upstairs window, she focused on the big window in the master bathroom, gauging where she’d find the shiny thing. She shone the flashlight around but saw nothing. She walked the area for a good ten minutes but couldn’t locate it.

  “Well, Goliath, you’re the one who brought the finger bone inside. Can you find this other thing? How about you, Thaddeus? Can you find the reflective thing?”

  Maybe his species was attracted to shiny stuff. Or was it magpies that stole the shiny things? Crows? She shook her head, not having any answers to her own questions. “What about you, Mugs? How about you root around and dig up stuff? Isn’t this what you wanted a garden of your own for?” She knew she was talking out loud just to keep herself focused on why she was here. In the dark. By an empty grave.

  Mugs had been denied access to the garden in the big house where they used to live. He had his own little dog run where people came and cleaned up behind him every day. But now he had a real garden, where he was allowed to roll around in the dirt. She knew he’d be much happier here. Just like she would be.

  She stopped, took another assessment from the angle upstairs where she’d been and walked about eight feet forward. As she moved ahead, Mugs dove into the grass in front of her. It was tall enough and deep enough that it darn near split and flattened in half with his weight. She shone the light to see what he’d found. And, sure enough, something was in his mouth. She grabbed his collar so he wouldn’t run away with it. She’d had more than enough of that earlier with the finger bone. She shone the flashlight at what was in his mouth, and it was indeed metal. It was a small flat piece. But Mugs wouldn’t drop it easily.

  She found a stick and made a trade.

  Grudgingly he accepted the stick. She stared at the metal and wondered what the heck it was. Probably nothing but garbage. She checked out the spot where it had been. With the dog now happily chewing on the stick beside her, the cat roaming the garden and Thaddeus staring over her shoulder, she found the rest of it.

  It was a small metal box half buried in the garden. She didn’t know if it had been uprooted by the police or whether one of the volunteers had found it or if it had lain here for decades. She dug around it and lifted it from its surprisingly deep home, realizing it had been in the same position for a long time. Nothing was inside the metal box, but, as she removed it, she found something below it. Gradually she moved away more dirt and grass and then reached inside the hole. And what she brought back up made her blood run cold.

  Thaddeus squawked in her ear. “Murder in the garden. Murder in the garden.”

  Chapter 11

  “Mack? Corporal Mack Moreau?” she said into the phone. She rubbed her hand across her forehead and stared at the item she’d brought into the house.

  “Yes, this is Mack. Who’s this?”

  She rolled her eyes. “It’s Doreen.”

  “Doreen?” he asked cautiously.

  “Remember the crazy lady with the bird, the dog, the cat and the dead body in the garden?”

  There was an abrupt silence before he said, in a much warmer tone, “Yes. What can I do for you?”

  “I found something in the garden. Honestly I wasn’t looking. I wasn’t trying to interfere. But I was getting ready for bed, and I could see something shining in the back corner of the garden. I guess the moonlight hit the metal. Anyway the four of us went outside, and I found a metal box. It looked like it’d been disturbed while everybody was searching, but nobody probably really did see it because it was covered in dirt.”

  “And what was in the box?”

  She said, “Nothing. But a bottle of arsenic was buried below it.”

  “What?” His voice turned businesslike. “Please tell me you left it in the garden.”

  “Oops,” she said into the ever-widening gap of silence.

  “Of course you didn’t. Did you bring it all inside?”

  “No, just the bottle of arsenic. It appears to be empty though,” she hurriedly added. “Honestly I didn’t want to leave it out there. What if some animal got a hold of it?”

  She could almost see him ready to pull his hair from his head. It was very nice hair. She really didn’t want him to pull it out. But she understood how his lack of control over her could be a little on the frustrating side. “You have to understand. This is my property, and it reflects on Nan’s reputation, and I am feeling a little responsible for what’s going on here.”

  “Where is the arsenic now, Doreen?”

  “In front of me,” she said. “On the kitchen counter.”

  “I’ll be right there.”

  “No, you don’t have to—” But it was too late. The phone was dead in her hand. “Wonderful.” She glanced down at her clothing. “And my shower will have to wait. Again.”

  No getting away from this visit. She’d called him, and she would have to see this through to the end. She walked to the front door, opened it to let in the evening air and stepped on the front porch, waiting for Mack to show up.

  She was grateful that, at this time of night, her house had long lost interest for all the neighbors. For the first time, she could see the beauty of the small cul-de-sac with its collection of little houses. Everyone took care of their yards. They were large properties. Nobody could see into the other houses’ windows. There was a lot to be said for this place. She would enjoy seeing more of this area as she walked into town to visit Nan every day or so. She just wasn’t so sure about that whole gossipy thing going on right now.

  Or the dead body.

  Of course, if she hadn’t been at the murder scene, maybe it would’ve been just fine. She sat with Goliath in her arms, Thaddeus walking back and forth on the porch railing and Mugs sleeping at her feet until she saw headlights coming. A car drove up her
driveway and stopped.

  Mack got out and walked over to her. “You okay?”

  She shrugged. “I’m exhausted. I’d really like to get this over with.” She stood slowly, handing him Goliath. “The arsenic is in here.” She proceeded to lead the way.

  Goliath didn’t seem to care that he’d been passed over to the big man. And neither did the man. She watched Mack as he shifted the large cat in his arms and followed her.

  Now that was a decent guy. Her husband would’ve stepped back before the cat made contact with his suit. He’d have shot Doreen a horrified look, as if she’d tried to kill him. But then he hated cats. Apparently Mack didn’t. And she trusted Goliath to know a good man when he saw one. Although she had no idea where she’d heard that old wives’ tale about cats being able to discern that. So far Goliath hadn’t been around many people. But what did Doreen know? She’d been a cat owner for less than half a day. And so much had happened in that time to distract her from watching Goliath’s reaction to various people.

  In the kitchen, she pointed out the bottle. Mack glanced at her. “I don’t suppose you wore gloves when you picked it up.”

  She winced and shook her head. “No, I never thought of it.”

  He directed her to the sink. “Wash thoroughly.”

  Immediately she turned on the water, soaping up, chastising herself for not thinking of that first. She could have poisoned her pets. She glanced at Goliath. “I was petting him too.”

  “When you’re done, grab the brush and give him a good brushing. Chances are, he’ll be fine, but you don’t want to take a chance. Then I want you to show me where in the garden you found it.”

  She grabbed the towel, quickly dried her hands, walked over to the pet closet where she’d seen a brush along with the cat food and pulled it out. Between the two of them taking turns, Mack and Doreen made Goliath think he was royalty. They managed to get a solid layer of fur off him.

  When that was done, she picked him up in her arms, and tossed him over her shoulder to carry him like a baby. Armed with her flashlight again, she led the way to the far back corner of the yard. It took a moment for her to find the exact spot. She had to look back at the master bathroom window several times. But finally she pointed. “There.”

  She shone the light on the metal lid she and Mugs had discovered. Of course Goliath sat right beside the place she’d been looking for. Was it on purpose? Or a coincidence. She shot him a suspicious look but he just stared back at her.

  Mack walked over, pulled some gloves from his back pocket, put them on and squatted beside the lid. Mugs snuffled the ground at his side. Mack gently scratched his neck as he studied the box. “Did you move anything?”

  “Just the box and the bottle. The metal box was on top of the bottle,” she said. “I think the lid caught the moonlight and was twinkling, which drew my attention. When I realized it was a box, I lifted off the lid. But the box was empty. So I unburied it, and then I found the arsenic.” She shone the light around the area and cried out softly, “Oh, my goodness! These are azaleas.”

  He turned to face her. “I gather you’re a gardener.”

  “I’d love to be a gardener. Up until now I’ve only directed gardeners.”

  He shot her a look of wonder.

  She shrugged. “What can I say? My soon-to-be-ex was extremely wealthy. I wasn’t allowed to touch anything, including cutting flowers from the garden for vases inside the house.”

  He shook his head. “A different world.”

  “A very different world.”

  He lifted the lid, checked it, found nothing. He lifted the metal box. Examined it and again didn’t see anything. He shined his flashlight all around and took a closer look at where the box was. “I’ll take the box and the lid with me. I doubt any fingerprints are left on it—other than yours.” He shot her a look.

  She gave him a half smile of apology. “I’m really not up to all this stuff. Not exactly sure what I’m supposed to do when I find things like poison in my garden.”

  He nodded. He collected the box and the lid and straightened. “In the morning I’ll come back and take another look.” He motioned to her. “Lead the way back to your house.”

  Scooping up Goliath again, who seemed to be completely content to be carried, she led Mugs and Mack back to the house. Thaddeus half-flew, half-walked beside them.

  When they got to where the big empty grave was, Thaddeus perked up. “Murder in the garden. Murder in the garden.”

  Mack laughed. “Did you teach him that?”

  She shot Mack a look. “You really think I want him to repeat that?” She shook her head. “He said that when we first found the arsenic.”

  Mack studied Thaddeus. “Interesting. I wish I knew where he learned that from.”

  “I don’t know much about him,” she admitted, then considered Mack’s words. “You don’t really think someone taught him that, do you?”

  “I doubt it. Why would anybody? It’s hardly something you want your bird to tell people. They would start to wonder if it was telling the truth. Body’s in the garden. Body’s in the garden.” He mocked the bird with his last words.

  She stopped, looked at Mack. “Actually that’s what he said when we found the finger. Body in the garden. Now he says, Murder in the garden.”

  “Smart bird.”

  “Why?”

  “Because the progression of events is exactly as he said. First, it was a body in the garden. But now it’s proof of a murder in the garden.”

  “You’re saying that man was murdered…? Of course he was!” She felt a little ill at the thought. She hadn’t really considered it an actual murder. A real murder. “I know I’ve called it a murder and even asked about murderers watching in the crowds, but the reality of that event just now sunk in.” She had assumed from her nice, easy, safe existence that he had died of natural causes and that someone may have buried him. No, that really didn’t make any sense. She was such a fool. Why hadn’t she jumped to this conclusion immediately?

  Frowning, she walked back into the kitchen. “Sorry,” she muttered. “It never occurred to me. I guess maybe I am still in shock over this whole mess.”

  “Don’t worry about it. We don’t have any details on it yet. But I highly doubt he met his death in any natural way.”

  “Well, he might have. What if he just keeled over and had a heart attack?”

  “Then why bury him? Why not call an ambulance to haul away the body?”

  She stared and shook her head. “I don’t know. I can’t come up with any scenario that makes sense.”

  “Exactly, which usually means murder.”

  “But neither can I come up with a reason why anyone would bury the body so shallow and so close to the house with the animals all around.”

  “Usually it’s a case of expediency. Accidents happen, or an argument gets out of control. Somebody kills somebody and must get rid of the body real fast. Or maybe they couldn’t move the body very far. If you think about it, the grave was right near the bottom of the steps.”

  “Which is a stupid place to put a body.”

  “Let’s say a garden was already there.”

  She frowned at him. “Well, the cops did pull out begonia bulbs. Normally they come up in spring. It’s an unseasonably warm April, but it’s still too soon for begonias to show much more than shoots. And, depending on the climate, they could be left in the garden. Although they have to be insulated in cold climates or better yet they get pulled and replanted after the ground warms.”

  “So, the garden is likely freshly turned, with bulbs breaking up the dirt underneath, so that makes it easy digging.” He cleared his throat. “And of course there’s the new deck over top…”

  She stared at him suspiciously. If anybody said anything against Nan, Doreen wasn’t having any of that. “I don’t like what you’re implying, that this could be Nan’s work.”

  His eyebrows shot up. “Why is it I would be implying it’s Nan?”

&nbs
p; “It’s her house. It’s her garden. She’s a small and aging woman who couldn’t pull the body very far.”

  He nodded soberly. “And, in that case, you’d be quite right. However, it also fits other people.”

  “Like who?”

  He gave her a grim smile and said, “There is somebody else. She’s standing right in front of me. She could’ve come several days ago and done this. She’s not very strong, but she’s certainly determined.”

  Chapter 12

  Day 2, Thursday

  Doreen woke up the next morning to a sore back and the not-so-musical sound of the bed springs. Mugs had taken up residence at the base of the bed near her feet. Goliath had taken up the other half of the bed. And, yes, Thaddeus appeared to be snoozing on that old metal railing at her feet. And every time she rolled, the bed springs squeaked and groaned.

  “Not sure how long I can live with this noisy tortuous bed. It’s not conducive for actual sleeping. But getting a new bed is out of the question for a while.”

  She stared up at the old ceiling and thought—although it would take a lot of time, effort and money to fix the house—it was a gift in her time of need. It was a far cry from where she’d been, but it was hers alone. There was a certain sense of peace and security with that.

  With a hard realization, she looked back over the years where she’d spent money indiscriminately because it was always available. It was… there. She’d bought jewelry, clothes and knickknacks for the house, and she’d never thought to put away any cash. When she’d married, she had believed in forever. And, sure, she’d wanted out of her marriage a lot of times. But it had never occurred to her she would be replaced. How was that even fair? Or legal?