Lyndsey Cole - Lily Bloom 01 - Begonia Means Beware

by Lyndsey Cole

  Ryan looked down at Lily. “And why are you really going home now?”

  Lily diverted her gaze. “To let Rosie out.”

  “And?”

  Lily sighed and continued walking. “And to have another look around. Something very odd is going on today.”

  Ryan fell into pace with Lily. “We’ll look together. But I don’t expect to find anything.”

  Lily opened her back door and called Rosie. She turned to Ryan standing behind her. “That’s strange. She’s usually waiting here for me to let her out. Come on in. I’ll look around for her. Rosie? Where are you girl?”

  A woof sounded from the front of the house.

  Lily jumped and bumped into Ryan when a breeze blew the back door closed.

  Steadying her, he asked, “Are you alright?”

  “Just a little jumpy. Something feels off here.”

  Rosie was sitting in front of the bathroom door. “What’s the matter Rosie? You’ve scratched the door all to pieces.”

  Ryan held Lily’s arm, stopping her from opening the door. “Let me go in there. Just in case.”

  “In case of what?” Her arm was tingling where he had touched her. Nerves?

  “In case there’s something, or someone, in there.” Ryan had his gun out, standing to the side as he slowly pushed open the door. He relaxed. “Empty.”

  “Check in the tub.” As soon as Lily uttered those words, Rosie leaped in front and nosed the curtain open.

  Ryan gasped. “Don’t look.”

  But Lily was already peering around Ryan’s side at the body, with flowers scattered around the body’s chest.

  “More begonias,” she whispered.

  “Begonias?”

  “The flowers in the tub are begonias.”

  “Do you know who this is?”

  “This is the body my mom saw this morning. Someone must have moved him from the kitchen.”

  “Who is it?”

  Lily couldn’t stop staring. He had khaki pants and a short sleeve, light blue, button down shirt on. A single bullet hole through his left breast pocket and a red blood stain surrounding the hole. “Clifton Harris. He’s supposed to be getting married this Saturday.”

  Ryan closed the shower curtain and guided Lily to a chair in the living room.

  Lily patted Rosie. “Who was here this morning, Rosie?” Rosie put her paws on Lily’s lap and licked her face. Lily looked up at Ryan, into his kind, dark brown eyes. “Why would someone put the body in my house?”

  Ryan handed Lily a glass of water. “Are you ready to walk back to your shop? You’ll have to bring Rosie, too. This is a crime scene. You can’t leave her here.”

  “I’ll grab a few clothes and stay with my mom tonight.”

  “I’ll walk back with you. My cruiser is still at your shop.”

  Lily got her backpack. “Come on Rosie. You get to spend the day with me.”

  Ryan tried to sound encouraging. “You should be able to go back into your house tomorrow. Sorry for the inconvenience.” They walked in silence for a few minutes. “What can you tell me about Clifton Harris? Did he have any enemies?”

  Lily laughed out loud. “I don’t know about enemies, but he was not well liked. It would probably be quicker to tell you who did like him.”

  Ryan stopped and looked at Lily. “Really? How did he find someone to marry him?”

  Lily flipped her hand. “He has the correct breeding as far as Tamara Biotchi is concerned. Have you had the pleasure of meeting her yet?”

  “Not yet.”

  “I don’t think Tamara’s daughter, Melinda, had much say in the matter of who she would marry. She had a high school sweetheart but Tamara forbade her from seeing him.”

  “Interesting. What did Mr. Harris do for a living?”

  Lily stopped so Rosie could sniff around the maple tree. “Lawyer. Real estate. He owns part of a lot of businesses in town.”

  “Sounds like there could be many people who had a motive to kill him.”

  Rosie dashed ahead, pulling Lily. “I was thinking the same thing.”

  “Thanks for the information. I guess I’ll be meeting the people in town sooner than I expected.”

  “Ryan?” Lily’s voice was serious.

  “Yes?”

  “You’re a lot better for Misty Valley than the old police chief. He was a real scumbag.”

  Ryan nodded. “So I’ve heard.”

  Lily watched Ryan get into his car and drive off. He does seem nice. Maybe Mom is right about him.

  Daisy came out the side door. “Well, look who decided to come back to work. What took you so long? And why do you have Rosie with you?”

  “I don’t want to talk here on the street. Is Mom still inside?” Lily asked, looking around to see if anyone was eavesdropping.

  Daisy nodded. “What’s going on? You look like you’ve seen a ghost or something.”

  The door slammed behind them.

  Iris took one look at Lily. “You found him didn’t you?”

  “Found who? What are you two talking about?” Daisy demanded.

  Lily looked around the store. Empty. “Yes. The body was in my bathtub.”

  Iris gasped. “Clifton Harris?”

  “Yup. With a bullet through his heart. And flowers on his chest. My house is a crime scene. I can’t stay there tonight. I have Rosie and a change of clothes. Can I stay with you, Mom?”

  “Of course.”

  The phone rang and all three of them jumped. Iris looked at the phone. “That’s Tamara calling.”

  Lily cautiously picked up the phone. “Hello. Lily Bloom speaking … hello Tamara … yes, I did hear … I’m so sorry … well, of course the wedding is cancelled … alright, I’ll see you in the morning.”

  Lily looked around her shop. “What am I going to do with all these flowers now? Let’s get busy organizing them. Maybe Tamara will want to decorate her house. We can still make the arrangements. The flowers are too beautiful to waste.” Lily and Daisy got back to work making the centerpieces.

  Chapter 5

  Tamara walked in bright and early in the morning. She saw all the lovely flowers and almost fell apart. “This is an unfortunate event, but we’ll make the best of it. I’ve decided to donate all the flower arrangements for the new hospital charity event. They’re raising money for a new building. Clifton would have wanted that I’m sure.”

  Lily looked at Iris and raised her eyebrow. “Tamara. What have you heard?”

  “Just that Clifton was found dead.”

  “Who told you?”

  “Geoffrey called me. Is there more?”

  Iris interrupted. “I haven’t heard anything. Your idea of donating the flowers is very kind.”

  “Of course, I’ll need a receipt for tax purposes.”

  “Of course.” Iris rolled her eyes.

  Lily handed Tamara a receipt. “When is the charity event?”

  “On Saturday. I was going to miss it because of the wedding, but now I won’t have to. I’m on the planning committee, you know.”

  Lily replied. “I’ll give Jack a call and work out the delivery details with him.”

  Tamara looked angry. “That boy is useless. I don’t know how he ever got the job as manager of Misty Valley Country Club. I did everything I could to stop it but someone went behind my back and hired him. If I ever find out who did that—well, never mind about that.”

  “I hear he does a fantastic job managing the country club.” Iris wanted to add fuel to the fire and see what Tamara said.

  Tamara huffed. “I should withdraw my membership until they fire him.”

  Iris wanted to find out more. “What on earth did he ever do to you?”

  “He stalked my daughter and I just wish he would move out of town. He’s not good enough for my Melinda.”

  Daisy walked over to Tamara. “How is Melinda holding up? She must be devastated with the news of Clifton’s death.”

  “The poor dear. She is so fragile. She can’t stop
crying. This is just the most tragic event in her life.”

  Iris poked a little more. “I hear you and Clifton were working on some real estate deals together. What will happen with that now?”

  “Oh, umm, well, I haven’t thought about that yet. I really don’t need Clifton to handle that. My ex, Tyrone, can do all the paperwork for me. Did you know that Clifton was going to be a partner in Tyrone’s law firm?”

  Lily was busy wrapping a bouquet of pink tulips. “Really? That’s quite a loss for Tyrone.”

  Tamara waved her hand as if to shoo a fly away. “Not really. I don’t think he was happy about the whole idea anyway.”

  “Why would he do it then?”

  “For Melinda I guess.”

  Lily handed the wrapped tulips toward Tamara. “Here are some flowers for Melinda. Maybe it will make her feel a little better.”

  Tamara held up her hand. “Can you deliver them? I have to go to the country club for a meeting of the hospital building committee.”

  Lily saw Ryan park a mountain bike outside her shop. The bell above the door jingled as he walked in. “I thought this might be a good starting point. Seems to be a central meeting spot here at Beautiful Blooms.” He winked at Lily. “That’s a catchy name. Does it refer to your flowers or the beautiful Bloom women?”

  Heat shot up Lily’s neck but Iris came to her rescue. “You are a clever policeman, Mr. Steele. The name can mean whatever you want. But I rather prefer your interpretation.” She actually fluttered her eyelids at Ryan.

  Ryan extended his hand to Tamara Biotchi? “And who is this lovely lady. I’m Ryan Steele, the acting police chief.”

  “Did you ride up on a bicycle?” Tamara said with disdain, ignoring his outstretched hand.

  “Yes ma’am. I find riding a bike is quicker getting around this charming town.”

  “It’s not very professional, in my opinion.” Tamara looked him up and down with distaste. “And shorts? What next? If you’ll excuse me, I have an important meeting to get to.” Tamara headed to the door.

  Ryan blocked the exit. “I’d like to extend my condolences on the death of your future son-in-law. It must be very difficult for you and your family.”

  “Thank you. We are certainly all devastated. My Melinda is completely heartbroken.” She tried to maneuver by Ryan in the confined space and knocked over a big basket of red snapdragons sitting on a small three legged table.

  “Oh dear. I’m sorry, Lily,” she said as she scurried out the door, leaving the others to clean up the mess.

  Ryan’s gaze met Lily’s. “Is there a quiet spot we can talk?”

  “Sure. Come on into the back work area. It’s crowded and messy but we’ll be away from prying eyes.” Lily glared at Daisy and Iris.

  Rosie got off her bed and wiggled all over when she saw Lily and Ryan. Sweet Pea was nowhere in sight. “Kind of lonely back here, Rosie?” Lily turned to Ryan. “How about we walk and talk so I can give Rosie some fresh air. Actually, I need it too.”

  Ryan looked around at all the arrangements waiting to be delivered. “This is beautiful back here and it smells wonderful. What flowers do I smell?”

  “Probably those big white oriental lilies. They have a nice scent but can be overpowering in my opinion. My favorite are these.” Lily held up a yellow flower for Ryan to smell.

  He held her hand to pull the flower closer to his nose and took a deep breath. “I’ve never smelled anything like this. What is it?”

  “Freesia.” Lily pulled her hand away. She liked how his hand felt but it unnerved her. “Shall we take our walk now? You take Rosie out. I need to tell Daisy I’ll be gone for a few minutes. I’ll meet you out front.”

  Lily hurried to the front of the shop.

  “Well?” Daisy asked, eyebrows shooting up.

  “Well what?”

  “Come on, Lily, tell us what’s going on with you and handsome new cop,” Daisy whined.

  “Nothing is going on. He needs to talk to me so we are taking Rosie for a walk while we talk. I’ll be back soon.”

  Iris hollered. “Do you need a chaperone?”

  Lily could hear both Iris and Daisy laughing as the door slammed behind her. She loved her mother and sister but sometimes she needed more space away from them.

  Rosie was pulling Ryan toward the town green by the time she was catching up to them. “Looks like we’ll go this way,” Ryan said, just barely holding on.

  Lily jogged to keep up. “Have you got more information about the murder?”

  “Not really. I need your help. You know everyone in town and I’m new here. I was hoping you could help me make a list of anyone that might have had a reason to kill Mr. Harris.”

  “I told you before, that list is pretty long. He was involved in a lot of real estate stuff. Maybe you should start there. Also, there’s going to be a charity event to raise money for the new hospital at the Misty Valley Country Club on Saturday. Lots of people will be going.”

  “Are you inviting me to go with you?”

  Lily was flustered. Is he teasing me, she thought. “Mrs. Biotchi is donating all the flowers that were supposed to be used for the wedding so I’ll be busy getting that set up.” She paused as she looked around. “I could meet you there.”

  “Lily. Wait up,” a voice called behind them.

  Lily turned around to see Jack Weaver running up the street toward her.

  “Hi Jack. This is Ryan Steele. The new police chief. Have you met yet?”

  “Hi.” Jack shook Ryan’s hand.

  Jack was trying to catch his breath. “I was looking for you at your shop. What’s going on with the wedding?”

  “Didn’t Tamara call you?”

  “Are you serious? She doesn’t talk to me. She’s trying to get me fired.”

  Lily stopped walking to face Jack. “Clifton is dead. The wedding is off.”

  Jack’s jaw dropped. “Dead? What happened?”

  Ryan responded. “That’s what I’m trying to figure out. Did you know Clifton?”

  Jack hesitated. “He recommended me for my job managing the Misty Valley Country Club.”

  Ryan kept digging. “Were you friends?”

  Jack acted nervous. “No. Not exactly. I’m friends with his fiancé.”

  “Melinda?”

  “That’s right. We’ve known each other forever.”

  Lily put her hand on Jack’s arm. “Tamara is donating all the wedding flowers for the hospital charity event. When should I bring them over?”

  “That’s generous of her. How about Saturday morning?” He paused, thinking. “Now that the wedding is cancelled, I won’t be as busy. I don’t know how both events got scheduled for the same day. It was going to be extremely chaotic. I can meet you in the event room. Does nine work for you?”

  Lily smiled. “Perfect. See you then. I’m turning around here to get back to work.”

  Rosie watched Jack walk away. “Come on Rosie. We have to go this way.”

  Lily glanced at Ryan. “That was interesting.”

  “What?”

  “Jack said that Clifton recommended him for the manager job.”

  Ryan was confused. “So?”

  “Tamara just told me how unhappy she is that Jack got the job as manager. She’s thinking of withdrawing her membership until he’s fired. Maybe she found out that Clifton recommended him. That would have made her pretty angry.”

  Ryan considered this angle. “Angry enough to kill him?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Ryan wanted more information. “Why doesn’t she like Jack?”

  “Melinda and Jack were high school sweethearts. Tamara broke up the relationship. She doesn’t think Jack is good enough for her Melinda.”

  Ryan put his hand on Lily’s shoulder. “See? This is why I need your help. I would have missed those clues. By the way. I’ve been wondering. Does your mom own a gun?”

  “Why?” Lily felt the hairs on her neck stand up.

  “She was the first
one to find the body. I just need to ask.”

  Lily was angry. “Yes she does and she’s a good shot, but if you put my mother on your suspect list, you can forget about me helping you.” She stomped back to her shop with Rosie trotting at her side. Ryan watched her blond ponytail bob back and forth as she walked away and wondered what had just happened.

  Chapter 6

  The door into the work room slammed behind Lily.

  Daisy turned, surprised. “Are you okay?”

  Lily stood with her hands on her hips. “That Ryan Steele is crazy.”

  “You were only gone for ten minutes. What happened?”

  “He thinks Mom is a suspect.”

  “The murderer?”

  Lily walked to her work space and started poking flowers into florist foam. “Well, he didn’t exactly say it that way, but that’s what he was implying.”

  “Slow down. Don’t get your panties in a twist. What exactly did he say?”

  “He asked if Mom owns a gun.” She pushed a snapdragon into the foam so hard it broke.

  “You like the tall, dark handsome cop, don’t you?” Daisy laughed.

  “Are you crazy?” Another snapdragon broke.

  Daisy took over the arrangement. “Why don’t you deliver those tulips to Melinda before all the flowers end up in the trash? I’ll help you load the deliveries.”

  “Okay. Come on Rosie. I’ll drop you off at Mom’s house first.” Lily took Rosie out the side door, then stopped. “Daisy? What is Mom doing today?”

  “She said she was going to the shooting range. With a killer on the loose, she wants to get some practicing in.”

  Lily mumbled to herself. “I hope Ryan Steele doesn’t see her there.”

  “What?”

  “Nothing. See you later.”

  Lily looked at her delivery list. “Five arrangements to the nursing home. That’s easy. I’ll drop you off first, Rosie.” Rosie wagged her tail and did her silly doggy grin which looked like a snarl to people who didn’t know her. Lily laughed. “Thanks Rosie. I feel a little better now.”

  ***

  Lily pulled into Melinda’s driveway behind a shiny black Mercedes. Great. This probably won’t be quick. As she was knocking on the front door, she could hear arguing inside. Awkward.