Cornflowers and Corpses

by London Lovett

  "It was a club. Couldn't they have just kicked him out?"

  I shrugged. "That would be the easy way, of course. But my idea is far more intriguing."

  "Yes, it is. However, I've found, in my years of solving many crimes," he added unnecessarily and a little annoyingly, "when there is a group of co-conspirators, one person generally caves immediately out of guilt and a sense of self-preservation. It's much easier to work a deal with the prosecutor if you come clean first and provide details to convict the others."

  "All right. I suppose that makes sense, but I'm not taking it off my list."

  "That's fine and I'll buy you a new ice cream on a cooler evening if your theory turns out to be right."

  Chapter 25

  Amelia was already standing at the shop door when I arrived. She was even more prompt than my Aunt June, a woman who showed up to every social event at least thirty minutes before the actual start (a habit that annoyed my mom to no end). I sensed that this time she wanted to get to work early to talk to me without Barbara hearing.

  Her sweet smile was more pursed than usual as I greeted her and turned to unlock the door. "I was thinking," Amelia said before I'd even pulled my key out of the lock. "My neighbor, her name is Molly, she's a super nice person, a little hard of hearing but really friendly." I wasn't exactly sure where she was going with the flattering description of her neighbor.

  Kingston headed to his perch, and we walked to the office to put away our things. I flashed her an encouraging smile to let her know I was listening.

  "Anyhow, Molly is a whiz in the garden. A real green thumb," she continued. "At least the thumb that isn't twisted from arthritis."

  "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," I said. "She sounds like a nice neighbor to have."

  "She's the best." Amelia shoved her backpack purse into the cupboard we'd designated for personal belongings. "Even so, she powers right through her pain to grow the most beautiful garden in the neighborhood." We headed back to the front of the shop to start our morning routines. "Poor Molly has been really lonely and bored since her husband, Burt, died, three years ago."

  "Again, I'm sorry, but I'm glad she's found joy in gardening." I pulled a treat out of the can for Kingston. (It was the first thing to do on my routine list, otherwise I wouldn't be able to do anything else.)

  "I was thinking that maybe Molly would be good at arranging flowers. She really does have a magical touch with blooms." Amelia lifted her hands. "Unlike these crab claws. Maybe you could consider hiring her to help—"

  "Amelia," I said with a heaping dose of sympathy. "I'm sure Molly is a wonderful gardener and a sweet woman, but that doesn't necessarily mean she can create bouquets. That takes a special skill. I know Barbara is difficult, but I'm in the height of bridal season and I need her speed and expertise. I'm hoping she'll ease up on forcing her unwanted advice on us. In the meantime, I'm reminding myself to ignore her. I hope that's not going to be too hard for you, Amelia. I don't want to lose you. You're a great assistant and the customers love you."

  My last two comments helped bolster her courage. A smile appeared from ear to ear. "I love working here, and I love helping customers. I suppose I can just try harder to ignore her pushiness."

  "Great. And I promise you, my usual flower arranger is much easier to get along with. Ryder is absolutely wonderful. You two will get along well."

  Our timing was perfect. We'd finished our conversation and our resolve to ignore Barbara's more annoying qualities just as she walked inside. Her cheeks were full as if she was bursting with news to tell.

  "My hometown of Mayfield has become quite the crime riddled city," Barbara said before hurrying off to the office to put away her things.

  I glanced at Amelia to see if she had any idea what Barbara meant.

  Amelia shrugged. "Don't look at me, I live in Chesterton where the biggest crime is teenagers knocking down trash cans."

  Barbara's heels clacked the hallway as she brusquely returned to the front of the shop. "Should I start on the lilac centerpieces?" she asked.

  "Yes, that would be great, but are you going to fill us in on why Mayfield is a crime riddled city?"

  "It seems there is a serial killer on the loose." Barbara announced it almost flippantly as if she was telling us it was going to rain.

  Amelia gasped. "A serial killer? Like Jack the Ripper?"

  "Yes, well, I mean, I don't know if it's risen to that level yet, but there's been a second murder. A friend of mine who works for the park service texted me that they found a body on the rocks near Mayfield Park this morning." She scurried off to get the vases of lilacs.

  I turned to Amelia. "A second body, that's shocking."

  Amelia giggled quietly. "Yes but I was just as shocked to learn that she has a friend," she whispered.

  We both finished our brief moment of amusement by the time Barbara returned with the two containers of lilacs.

  Since work in the shop was in full swing, I took the opportunity to slip back to the office and text Briggs about the body.

  "Is it true there's been a second body discovered near Mayfield Park? Don't keep me waiting. Your investigative partner is anxious to hear details." There was no immediate response, and something told me it would be delayed if there was another body. I headed back out to help with the centerpieces and to see if Barbara had any more details to share.

  I began trimming the bottoms of the lilac stems. "So, Barbara, did this friend tell you who the deceased person was? A local, perhaps? A fisherman who uses those rocks frequently?"

  "Not a local. Someone visiting for the local bird convention. At least that was what my friend was told. Since the same thing happened yesterday, I can only assume there's a serial killer in our midst." Barbara spoke with so much confidence, if I hadn't already known more about the murder than her, I might just have been convinced. But I knew better.

  "I think it takes more than two deaths happening in a short span of time to verify the existence of a serial killer," I noted, but another of her frustrating traits was on full display. As much as she liked to tell everyone how to act, work and even wear their hair, she never heard a criticizing word anyone pointed her direction.

  With the precision and speed that had made me keep her past the first day, she put together a stunning lilac centerpiece, all while continuing with her serial killer conclusion. (It was way past a theory in her mind.)

  "I've attended several of the Mayfield City Council meetings to tell them how they could clean up the traffic on Main Street and keep vandals from destroying parks. During those public speeches, I've also given them my plan for making the town safer. They've consistently ignored me on all the important suggestions, and we now see that the town is out of control. I'm definitely going to go to the next meeting where I'm sure all the talk will be about the serial killer. I'll bring my list of safety improvements again. I might even throw in an 'I told you so' or two. After all, I told them and now people are ending up dead all over town." I let her go on with her haughty tale of how she was right and the entire Mayfield City Council was wrong as long as she continued to motor through the centerpiece order. I also allowed myself a brief moment to visualize the faces of the city council as Barbara stood up for one of her regular speeches. There were a few notes being passed and eye rolls exchanged in my momentary daydream.

  I didn't know the mayor of Mayfield, but I could just imagine our own less than congenial Mayor Price's face as Barbara stood up to tell him everything he was doing wrong. Thankfully, my phone rang, seizing me from the visions before I got too caught up in them.

  I pulled my phone out. It was Briggs so I walked to the office to take the call.

  "Hello, so I hear there's a Jack the Ripper in Mayfield," I said as I shut the office door.

  "News to me," he said.

  "That's not good considering your position and all. No, seriously, my new assistant is a little dramatic. She said there was another death near Mayfield Park."

  The sound of pa
pers shuffling crinkled through the phone. "Yeah, I just got back from there. It was one of the German visitors who helped corroborate alibis yesterday."

  "Uh oh, that's never good. Killing off the witness? Maybe my theory about it being a group thing was spot on, and he was the first to crack so they killed him."

  Briggs paused to talk to Hilda a moment, then returned to the call. "Or maybe the guy slipped on the rocks while trying to get a photo. At least, that's what his German buddy told the interpreter. The friend, who was visibly distraught, recounted the whole accident to the interpreter, who then retold it to me. Of course, Nate is going to do a thorough exam, but this time, it seems as if the bird watcher was in the wrong place at the wrong time. It seems one of those unexpected rogue waves hit the rocks and sprayed him violently enough to cause him to slip. He hit his head on a jutting rock. The injuries and state of the body seemed to match the story."

  "That's a shame about the accident, but I have to say, I'm glad to hear that Mayfield isn't the new Victorian London with Jack the Ripper roaming the streets killing off bird lovers."

  "You and me both," he said.

  "That brings us to the one known murder, any other information?"

  "No, I was busy with this all morning."

  I opened the office door, and a slew of voices skittered down the short hallway. "Oops, looks like I've got customers. Guess I have to run the flower shop."

  "Even though you'd rather be out solving the murder," he said before I hung up.

  "You know me too well, Detective Briggs."

  "That I do, Miss Pinkerton. Talk to you later."

  "Bye."

  Chapter 26

  After a long morning of serial killers, lilacs and Amelia walking a wide berth around Barbara in my small shop, Barbara took off for lunch, Amelia cleaned up the morning mess, and I sat at the computer to check emails and catch up on paperwork.

  "Yay," I cheered quietly when I saw that the first email was from Ryder. I clicked it open.

  "Hey Boss, Greetings from the Amazon where the stickiness never ends and the insects love to bite. Still, I'm having the time of my life. However, I received a distress call from our mutual loved one. Lola said you were having a terrible time finding a floral arranger. She said your current one was so whacky she rearranged everything in the store. I haven't given the team a definitive answer on staying another month. I could always come home if it's really bad. Let me know and be honest. I heard all about the guy who had to return to his home planet. Hope he got back safely. Interplanetary travel at this time of year can be out of this world. See what I did there? Anyhow, I'm going to be on my computer putting in data for a few days, so we can Skype if you need to talk."

  I sat back with a sigh. Lola was going to hear an earful from me. She was using me to get what she wanted. Lola was my best friend, but occasionally, she could be a real stinker. As much as I needed to talk to her, I desperately needed to talk to Ryder. I would let him know everything was fine and that I had a great floral assistant. And she was great—at least where it mattered most.

  I opened Skype and rang Ryder up. According to my calculations it was mid afternoon at his location in the Amazon Rainforest. It took only seconds before Ryder's wonderful face popped up on my monitor. He was clean-shaven and had a red bandana twirled into a headband around his forehead. His ivory colored, loose fitting cotton shirt was clinging to him in spots. "Hey, boss." His greeting ended with him waving a hand in front of his face to scare off a tiny flying insect. "How are things going? You look good."

  Instinctually, I reached up and smoothed a few curls back off my forehead. "I'm a mess. Just got finished with ten lilac centerpieces. But nice of you to say. You look—you look—"

  "Hot?" he answered. He pulled at his clingy shirt, but it immediately stuck to his skin again.

  "I was going to say you look like 'going home for the holidays'. You know that feeling you get when all of a sudden you feel homesick, like you've been missing something major in your life." I had not expected to feel so nostalgic upon seeing my wonderful assistant, but all the emotions just bubbled to the top. So much for me reassuring him that everything was fine.

  He lowered his face, I assumed so I wouldn't catch his reaction. Then he took a deep breath, looked up and flashed his warm, familiar smile. "I know that feeling exactly. I'm homesick too. I miss you and the shop and my buddy Kingston and of course the crazy shop owner across the street. And Elsie's blueberry muffins." He closed his eyes for a second. "I really miss those muffins. Any baked item, for that matter. We eat a lot of raw food here. Since we're on Skype, I can only assume you got my email."

  I shook off the bittersweet melancholy from seeing Ryder's face and sat up straighter. "Yes, I wanted to assure you that Lola was being her usual dramatic self when she told you I was having a hard time with assistants."

  He shook his head and waved off another bug. This one was more persistent, so it took a few swipes. "I knew that one about the guy leaving for his home planet was baloney. Can't believe I fell for that."

  I laughed. "Actually, that one was true." I lifted my hand for the good ole scout's honor three fingered salute. "Not kidding. And he said it so calmly and casually as if he was just telling me he was going home to eat dinner."

  Ryder had a good a laugh. "I wish I'd seen your face. Guess that makes me seem kind of boring."

  "Are you kidding?" I asked. "You're the least boring person I know, and that's saying a lot considering my two good friends, the baker and the antique seller. Which brings me to the main reason for calling you up on this funny video call that always makes everyone look like they have the head of a horse."

  Ryder laughed again, then sat forward abruptly with a cough. He patted his chest and swallowed. "Darn, that's the third insect today."

  "Gosh, no wonder you went off into a delirious daydream about Elsie's blueberry muffins. Mosquitoes and gnats are hardly a good substitute for pastry. But bug eating aside, Ryder, I definitely don't want you to factor me into your decision about staying longer. I'm fine. I've got Amelia, the woman I told you about in the last email. She's great with the customers. People love her. I'm thinking I'll be keeping her on permanently. And a new floral assistant, Barbara, started on Monday."

  He was about to talk, but I kept going through the delay.

  "She's great with flowers, fast and efficient. Yes, she likes to move things around. She's a bit of a control freak," I said as quietly as I could while talking to a computer.

  Right then, Amelia knocked lightly on the office door. She streamed right inside, holding a folded piece of paper in her hand. I hoped it wasn't a letter of resignation. She shut the door and moved closer, dropping right into a hushed rant about Barbara. She was off and running before I could let her know that I was talking to Ryder.

  "Barbara nearly scared away that last customer," she said in a low mumble. "Now she's decided to rearrange all the tools in the potting area. And she told me my shoes clashed with my t-shirt."

  I forced a smile and turned the monitor a few inches. "Amelia, let me introduce you to Ryder."

  I hadn't meant to embarrass her, only to stop her from doling out further aggravating details about the new floral assistant.

  Amelia immediately fussed with her hair and straightened her shirt. "Hello, I've heard so much about you."

  "And I've heard great things about you, Amelia," Ryder said. "Thanks for being such a great help to Lacey."

  Amelia was in full blush mode as she thanked him and scooted back out the door.

  I spun the monitor toward me again. Ryder was looking at me with a perfectly arched brow. "Doesn't sound like your new floral assistant is making your life much easier."

  "Nonsense. Sure she has some quirks, but I promise you, she's great with flowers, and that's what I need right now."

  Amelia popped back inside. "Nearly forgot. This was slipped under the front door." She placed the folded paper on my desk. Lacey was handwritten on the folded side. Amelia scurri
ed out and closed the door.

  I focused back on my computer conversation. "Ryder, whatever happens, please don't let the flower shop get in your way. Your job is here when you return, even if it's later this summer. I'll manage just fine. Lola is another story altogether, but I'll let you two work that out."

  Ryder nodded. His image froze for a second and the audio cut out. "Oops, looks like we're losing the connection. I'm glad you're managing all right. I hope we can talk soon." His image froze again and the connection was lost before I had a chance to say goodbye.

  I signed off and nearly forgot about the note Amelia had handed me. I opened it up. It was nice, neat handwriting.

  "Please meet me at the small children's park off Culpepper Road in one hour. I have some information that I need to tell someone. I don't want to talk to the police anymore."

  I flipped the paper back and forth. There was no signature. I headed out of the office.

  Amelia was giving Kingston a treat and making a big show of how much she enjoyed being friends with the crow. Barbara was too absorbed in her potting table organization to notice.

  "Amelia, did you see who pushed the note under the door?"

  "No, I was busy with a customer. In fact, the woman I was helping noticed it on her way out."

  "Barbara, did you happen to see anyone leave the note?" I asked.

  Barbara looked distraught. I'd already discovered she hated not knowing the answer to something. She tapped her chin. "I think it was a lady who was—uh, I think she was walking a poodle and wearing a straw hat."

  Amelia shook her head. "No, I saw that lady with the poodle. She was just looking in the window admiring our wonderful store pet." She patted Kingston on the head.

  I sighed. "Then I guess no one saw who left the note. That's all right. I'll find out soon enough."

  Chapter 27

  After receiving the anonymous note from someone claiming to have information, I assumed about the murder, I was excited, slightly nervous and entirely too distracted to focus on work. Barbara and Amelia didn't seem to notice that I was utterly useless for the next half hour. They went right on doing their jobs and doing them well. If Barbara was left on her own, to arrange flowers, she was generally focused, productive and too busy to criticize or tell someone how to wear their hair. That helped create a serene, almost congenial atmosphere in the shop, which was exactly what I needed. I also needed the courage to ask the women (namely Amelia) to watch the store while I went off on an important errand. Naturally, I hadn't told either of my assistants about the content of the mysterious note, however I had decided it was probably a smart idea to tell someone where I was going. Briggs would give me a hard 'no way' if I told him what I was up to. He'd head to the park to meet the person, but the letter writer had said they were tired of talking to the police. I was sure if Briggs showed up with me, the informant would flee and the opportunity would be missed. That left one of two people to tell, just so someone knew where I was in case the worst happened and the informant had more nefarious motives for writing the note. I needed to have a chat with Lola anyhow, so the decision was easy. Besides, Lola was less likely to try and talk me out of it.