Fruit of the Poisoned Tree plgm-2

by Joyce Lavene

  “I’m free today if you need to do any sleuthing,” Steve offered.

  “I’m only planning to go to the Potting Shed until one, then I’m taking Shakespeare back to Rue for his next lesson. I’m hoping it goes better this time.”

  “He seems calm today.” Steve patted the dog’s head. “I’ll take you over to Rue’s. Unless you have other plans.”

  She smiled and kissed him. “It sounds like the highlight of my day. I’ll see you at one. Thanks, Steve.”

  He put his arms around her and extended the brief kiss she’d started to give him. “I don’t want to get married or buy a house. Don’t worry.”

  “That makes me feel so much better,” she assured him sarcastically. “But I’m sure there were other issues involved in Mai and Paul’s breakup.”

  “I’m sure you’re right. That’s the way it happens.”

  “You sound like you have prior experience.” She yawned and tried to hide it behind her hand.

  “You sound exhausted.”

  “I am. But we’ll take this up later. You know all about my past life. I don’t know anything about your old flames.”

  “They’re all ashes,” he quipped. “Really. Not worth discussing.”

  She raised one eyebrow above a curious green eye. “We’ll definitely be talking about it later.”

  Steve frowned and shook his head. “You’re going to be disappointed. I’m not as colorful or ambitious as you, Peggy.”

  “We’ll see!”

  “I’ll see you later.” He finally gave up. “Keep me posted if you hear anything else about Beth.”

  Peggy dragged herself to the house, unlocked the door, and disarmed the alarm system. The house was cold. She definitely needed a new furnace, with or without Dalton’s help. She went upstairs with Shakespeare running up before her. It wasn’t until she pulled herself up the long stairway that she realized her mistake.

  Shakespeare had stripped the sheets, pillows, and comforter from her bed in the few moments she lagged behind him. He was chewing on one of the pillows when she reached him. Furious, she grabbed his collar and dragged him back downstairs. He whimpered and barked when she locked him in the laundry room. “It’s for your own good,” she yelled at him. “It’s either the laundry room or I’m going to strangle you!” And Steve had to mention how calm he seemed.

  Sheer force of will got Peggy back up the stairs and into the shower. The phone rang, but she ignored it, letting the hot water flow down her face and body. She tried to push everything that happened out of her thoughts. She couldn’t reach a rational conclusion when her emotions were overwhelming her.

  She stood in the shower until the hot water was gone, then wrapped a towel around herself and ran, freezing, into the bedroom. There was one conclusion she reached during her shower. Teeth chattering, she picked up the phone before she bothered dressing.

  When Dalton answered in his slow, deliberate way, she blasted him. “If you don’t get this furnace repaired from the trust fund, I’m going to have it repaired out of my own money and sue you and the house trust. This is stupid, Dalton. You know I have every legal right to be in this house.”

  “What about being fair to the next one in line, Peggy?”

  “When the next Lee moves in here, he’ll have a garden most people only dream about. I’ve taken good care of this house. This is my home. I won’t let you force me from it. It’s all I have left of my life with John. I’ll fight you to keep it.”

  She heard a long, indrawn breath. “All right, Peggy. I’ll have the furnace repaired. But you’d better keep that alarm system on. If you have another break-in, I won’t be moved by any pretty words. Understand?”

  “Yes. I’ll take care of it.” She hung up the phone, shaking with cold and temper. She’d won . . . at least for now.

  Peggy dressed quickly and warmly. She fed Shakespeare, but he still wouldn’t eat. She was getting concerned about his lack of appetite. Maybe it would be better to dog-proof her house and let him out. She loved him. She didn’t want him to get sick. But how could she dog-proof everything?

  She stroked his head as he lay on his massive paws. “I love you, you know. Otherwise I wouldn’t put up with you. I have to go now, but I’ll be back after lunch to take you for your next lesson with Rue. Try to eat something while I’m gone.”

  Riding to the Potting Shed was slow, heavy traffic on all the roads. She thought about the night before as she rode past Myers Park Presbyterian Church. The image of Jesus with the lambs didn’t seem so comforting now. Even though Beth survived what happened to her, her life would never be the same again.

  And what would happen when it was time for Beth to go home? They wouldn’t keep her forever. The killer would have to act again to secure the money. Unless he or she were long gone with all of it. Unlikely, she considered as she rode her bike up to the back of the shop. Beth’s life could be in danger again. She had to prove what really happened. But where could she start?

  “Good morning, Peggy!” Selena sang out from behind the cash register. “I hope your friend’s doing better. It’s a great morning, isn’t it?”

  Peggy took off her coat, scarf, and gloves. “Either your grades have come up, or you’re dating someone new.”

  Selena laughed. “How about both? I finally found a good way to get tutored. I’m dating the professor!”

  “Don’t tell me who it is,” Peggy urged, holding out her hand. “It’s not ethical to date a student. I have enough secrets in my brain right now. Wouldn’t it be easier to learn the material?”

  “Those old rules for not dating professors are stupid,” Selena told her. “I’m an adult. He’s an adult. What we do isn’t anyone else’s business. This is working for both of us. Can’t anyone just be happy for me?”

  Peggy assumed from Selena’s tone that she’d already been chewed out by someone else, probably her mother. Glad it wasn’t her job to rein the girl in, Peggy started her day as she always did with a cup of tea and a look at the delivery book. It was early for customers. The silence in the shop was only broken by the sound of the radiators fighting the chill that tried to creep in from outside.

  There was a full day ahead of her. She was glad about that. It made her feel better to call the customers who had benches coming, clear out space for some pansies, and stock shelves with seed packages. She had pussy willows and blue Dutch irises for Diane Walters who practiced ikebana, a Japanese form of flower arranging. But the pink thrift that meant sympathy brought her right back to the muddle in her brain.

  Hunter came by with David a little while later. She looked as pale and hollow-eyed as Peggy felt. “I just left the hospital. Beth is still unconscious. Her parents are with her.” David slipped his arm around her shoulders.

  “She’ll come out of it,” Peggy predicted. “She’ll be embarrassed about all the fuss. I know I would be.”

  “I’m not sure where to go from here,” Hunter confessed. “I know she’s not crazy. This could happen to anyone under the kind of stress she’s had to deal with.”

  “Unfortunately, the law doesn’t care about the circumstance,” David reminded her. “She’s your friend. You’ll just have to stand by her through everything that’s going to happen. People can come out on the other side of something like this. Mental illness is a treatable disease.”

  “I know you’re right.” Hunter kissed his cheek and hugged him. “I wish I could crawl under my bed for a while, but I can’t. I have a wrestler with a bad attitude waiting for me. I’ll talk to you later, Peggy. Let me know if you hear anything about Beth. I’ll be in court, so I won’t have my cell phone on.”

  “I’m making dinner tonight for Hunter,” David said as they were leaving, “why don’t you and Steve join us? I’m sure we could all do with a bottle of wine and a little conversation over some good food. Around seven?”

  Peggy smiled. “Thanks, David. I’ll talk to Steve and get back with you.”

  When they were gone, Selena shook her head. “You
didn’t give Hunter a hard time about dating someone so quickly.”

  “My problem with you dating your professor has nothing to do with dating someone quickly,” Peggy explained. “But I’m sure you’ve heard all the arguments already. You’re an adult. You get to make these choices for yourself. You also get to cope with the mistakes you make.”

  “Why does everyone assume it will be a mistake?”

  “Because the ethical question rubs up against the notion of romance in this case,” Peggy answered as she put on her work jacket to go into the warehouse space in the back of the shop. “Would you want your daughter to date her teacher?”

  “Oh, Peggy.” Selena frowned. “You sound like my mother!”

  Customers began filtering into the shop, and a delivery driver needed help dropping off a load of apple trees in the back. Contrary to what most people thought, winter was a good time to plant trees. As long as they were healthy and well-footed, they should thrive.

  Gratefully, Peggy left Selena in the front and went to help him. She certainly wasn’t in any frame of mind to offer advice to the girl. She had all the peace of mind that a ticking time bomb in her pocket could bring her.

  Lunchtime came quickly. Peggy felt like she looked up from a delivery of carrots and animal sculptures with solar batteries that made them glow at night when Steve was there with Shakespeare, waiting to go to Whiskers and Paws. She picked up her coat and gloves, smiling at Selena. “I should be back in a couple of hours.”

  “Good luck with the horse,” Selena said. “Peggy?”

  “Yes?”

  “Thanks for caring about what I do anyway.” She smiled self-consciously and glanced at Steve. “I know I get to make my own choices now. Maybe they won’t always be right. But I appreciate you taking the time to listen to me.”

  Peggy paused and looked at her. “Are you all right? I can skip the lesson today if you need me to stay.”

  “I’m fine.” Selena opened the shop door for them. “We’ll talk when you get back.”

  “What’s with her?” Steve asked as they left the shop.

  It was her words to Selena about the ethical question of romance that struck Peggy like a bolt of logic. Suddenly, she knew the answer. She pulled out her cell phone. “I have to cancel Shakespeare’s lesson for today.”

  “What’s up?” Steve wondered, herding the dog into the SUV.

  “I think I know what the link is between Cindy and the money. And I’m sorry, Steve, but you can’t help me find it.”

  18

  Amaryllis

  Botanical: Hippeastrum

  Family: Amaryllidaceae

  The amaryllis is a relative of the daffodil. It is native to the Andes mountains of Chile and Peru. It was discovered in the eighteen hundreds by Dr. Eduard Poeppig. This showy plant is one of the greatest treasures of the gardening world. It can be grown indoors or out with great success and minimal effort.

  STEVE WASN’T SURE IF he should be offended or glad he had to be excluded. “What are you planning to do?”

  “I’m going to take a look around Cindy’s condo.”

  “You’re going to ask her first, right?”

  She glanced at him, eyebrows raised.

  “Never mind.” He started the Vue’s engine. “I don’t want to know. But you can’t go in alone.”

  “I have to. It’s the only way.” Peggy outlined her plan. “I know where she lives. We’ve done work there. I think I can get the doorman to let me in.”

  “I could be there with you, taking Sam’s place,” Steve volunteered. “I won’t let you go in alone.”

  “All right. You wait downstairs. If you see Cindy, call me on the cell phone, and I’ll get out.”

  “I don’t like it,” he maintained. Shakespeare barked to agree. Or disagree. It was hard to tell. “What are you hoping to find?”

  “The link Al told me has to exist. Cindy can’t get her hands on the money and probably isn’t doing this for herself. She’s always had bad taste in men. If I’m right, she’s involved with Gary Rusch. He could access Park’s money. It would be easy for him to ‘take care of’ the estate and the insurance. And Beth’s suicide attempt came on the heels of her telling me she said something to him about it. I’m betting he gave her the Nembutol when she was with him.”

  “I can’t believe I’m going to say this.” Steve shook his head as they stopped at a light. “But if you actually suspect Gary of being the killer and Cindy of being his accomplice, wouldn’t it make more sense to go through Gary’s place? He might still have some of the poisoned honey. Or something else incriminating.”

  Peggy leaned over and kissed him. “That’s why I love you!”

  The light changed, but Steve didn’t move the Vue forward. “You do?”

  She cleared her throat and rearranged the folds of her scarf, carefully not looking at his handsome face. “Yes, I suppose I do. It happened so fast that I—”

  He took her in his arms and kissed her while car horns blared and drivers either laughed or cursed as they went around them. “I love you, too, Peggy. For different reasons, probably. I’ve wanted to tell you for a long time.”

  “You mean all three months we’ve known each other?”

  He grinned. “Every minute since you crashed into the side of my car.”

  She stared into his wonderful eyes, almost forgetting her plan to find Park’s killer. She never thought she’d see that look in another man’s eyes. “Well! I don’t really know what to say.”

  “Don’t worry.” He started the Vue off again down College Street. “I’m not asking to go house hunting or hit the bridal registry at Belk. What we have right now is enough for me as long as it’s enough for you.”

  “It is.” She smiled and squeezed his hand. “Thank you.”

  He squeezed back, then sobered, his eyes glued on the road. “So where does Gary Rusch live?”

  Peggy didn’t know. “But it should be easy to find out.” She used her Internet connection on her cell phone to access the Charlotte Yellow Pages. “Well, that’s cozy!”

  “What?”

  “Gary lives in the same condo complex as Cindy. What a coincidence!” She glanced at Steve. “So Plan A still works, except I get into Gary’s condo instead of Cindy’s, and you keep watch downstairs for either of them.”

  “Why don’t you let me go and you keep watch?” Steve suggested as they pulled into her driveway.

  “As you’ve said before, I have a talent for this. Jonas might call me a busybody, but I prefer to think of it as research.”

  “All right.” He gave in as he let Shakespeare out of the Vue. The dog whined and pulled at the leash, trying to reach Peggy.

  “Let’s get him settled in and take care of it.” She patted Shakespeare’s head. “With any luck, we’ll have our answers and still be done in time for dinner.”

  PEGGY GRABBED A THRIVING red amaryllis from her kitchen before they left and put a Potting Shed tag on it as they drove back downtown. It was as simple getting into the condo as she thought it would be. The doorman knew Sam and the Potting Shed name. He was glad to finally meet Peggy.

  “I’m glad to meet you, too.” She endured his hearty handshake after she put the amaryllis on the bench near the door at the entrance to the plush, expensive condos.

  “You know, I’ve heard rumors the owner here is going to hire a new landscaping service, inside and out,” Tommy, the doorman, confided. “I was wondering if you might be interested. I was planning on giving Sam a call.”

  “That would be great.” She smiled, thinking how life worked in strange ways. “Should I get in touch with the owner or give you my card?”

  “Let me give you the owner’s number.” He wrote it out on a piece of paper and gave it to her. “I think he’ll be interested.”

  “Thanks!” She tucked it away. “I’ll give him a call.”

  “Nothin’ at all. I hope you get it.”

  Peggy walked quickly to the elevators after a peek at Steve waitin
g outside the building. She called Tommy when she reached number 17 on the seventh floor. He buzzed her into the luxury condo unit.

  Inside the elegant condo, nothing was out of place. Not even a smell of any kind. It was more like a high-dollar hotel room than a home. She put the amaryllis down on a table, not planning to leave it behind. With all the glare protection on the windows, there wouldn’t be enough light to grow a shade plant. Amaryllis loved sun. In this environment, it would shrivel and die. She couldn’t imagine anything living there anyway.

  What was she looking for? Contrary to her confident manner with Steve, she wasn’t really sure. She searched the kitchen for any sign of honey. There wasn’t anything edible in the room, poisoned or not. But it was very shiny and glamorous. Lots of chrome and beautiful inlaid black marble on the countertops. Like a kitchen from a magazine. She wondered if Gary had ever been in there. He didn’t seem like the type who cooks.

  She tackled the bedroom next. The bed was huge, with a large portrait of Gary on the wall behind it. There were mirrors everywhere. The black carpet muffled any sound as she walked into the room. She accidentally touched a switch by the door, and a cascade of light and sound streamed into the room. Multicolored strobe lights flashed across the bed.

  “So this is the way the other half lives,” she mumbled to herself with a wry smile.

  Peggy checked through the closet carefully. There was no sign of women’s clothing or shoes. There were no personal photos on the bedside tables. Nothing that could tell her if Cindy had been there. The immense bathroom with the black marble tub was the same story. It was like no one lived there.

  “I love you, Steve,” she said as she dialed Tommy’s number at the front desk, “but you’re not a great detective.”

  Tommy was totally understanding of the fact that she forgot to mention she had something for Cindy Walker as well. Apparently it happened frequently with multiple deliveries to the building. She picked up her amaryllis and carefully shut Gary’s door behind her.

  The buzzer sounded, and Peggy pushed open the door to Cindy’s condo. She knew she was at the right place as soon as she peeked inside. Clothes were strewn everywhere. Some of them were Cindy’s, but there was also some men’s clothing. Two wineglasses and two empty take-out boxes proclaimed the fact that Cindy had been there with someone else. Stationery from Lamonte, Rusch and Peterson had a shopping list scrawled on it.