Poinsettias and the Perfect Crime

by Ruby Loren

  My first grudging acknowledgement was that she’d kept herself in great shape. Her figure was slim and she wore an expensive tailored blouse and suit trousers, the like of which would have been commonplace in my London place of work.

  I didn’t miss them one bit.

  Her dark brown hair was glossy. She would have had a pretty face, were it not for the permanent look of disgust she chose to wear.

  “I’m arranging the flowers,” I said, surprising myself with the lack of emotion both in my voice and inside me. I didn’t feel anything towards Cordelia. Not hate, not resentment, just nothing. I’d moved on from my childhood bully without even realising it.

  Cordelia’s expression underwent several quick changes as she internalised what I was saying. “Arranging flowers? You mean you’re working as staff?”

  “Tonight I am. I was commissioned by Mrs Wrexton and I’m here to put up floral arrangements. That’s my business.” I gave my apron a little tug to draw attention to the words embroidered there.

  Cordelia looked down at it. Then she looked down at me. “You’re a gardener? I thought you were going to best us all by becoming some NASA scientist, or something like that.” She waved a hand to show that she didn’t actually care.

  “I studied chemistry, not physics. But I decided to change careers. It turned out I wasn’t happy being a scientist after all.” I didn’t mind saying it, either. I’d been wrong about my career, but it was a mistake I’d needed to make in order to lead me to my current situation.

  “So you failed.” Cordelia looked every bit as smug as I remembered her. She opened her mouth to say something more but at that moment a man walked out onto the landing. Cordelia turned and gave him some major goo-goo eyes. If memory served from our school days together, that meant they were either together, or she was working on getting them together.

  “Who are you talking to, Darling?” the man asked, confirming my guess. He had glossy brown hair that had a bit of a wave to it. I knew I hadn’t seen Cordelia in many years, but I would have said that it would be a little long for her tastes. It nearly grazed the collar of the impressively fitted dark blue suit that the man wore. Beyond his hair, he was the perfect fit for Cordelia. Male model cheekbones, a hard set to his mouth, and glittering eyes that could be either warm of filled with malice - I noticed all of these things and wondered what he was noticing about me in return.

  “It’s just someone I knew from school. She’s a gardener now but she wanted to be a big shot scientist,” Cordelia told him, making it sound like I was some kind of dropout.

  “What made you choose gardening?” the man asked, looking genuinely curious the way I’d noticed some wealthy city workers did when they came across someone who was leading a different kind of life to the one they led. They got even more curious when they found out you’d quit their lifestyle to do something a lot of them believed was beneath them.

  “I’m not actually a gardener, although growing flowers is the main part of what I do. I sell cut flowers and I supply flowers to events.” That was it in a nutshell.

  “Isn’t that crazy, Harrison? She was supposed to be the school’s star student. Now she’s sticking flowers into our staircase.” Cordelia looked as though she couldn’t contain her delight.

  I did my best to shrug of Cordelia’s words. I knew that I was happy with my choice and that it had been the right one for me. What’s more, my business was bringing in more money than I knew most people imagined when you said that you sold flowers for a living. But even so, something about Cordelia’s gloating tone was getting under my skin, the way it had when we were young. Back then, I’d listened to the advice of older authority figures who’d told me to ignore her until the day I’d snapped. Now I was older I wasn’t going to keep my mouth shut.

  “What are you up to these days, Cordelia? Still living with your parents?”

  “Yes, you must be too,” she said, giving me a pitying look.

  Well, well! Cordelia must have missed the gossip and drama that had surrounded the death of a local man and the gift he’d left me in his will. “I own a house a few miles away from Merryfield. It’s where I grow my flowers. Have you heard of Upton Rise? It’s in that area.” Okay, so maybe I was stretching a point. Upton Rise was the rather posh hamlet consisting of large and fancy houses that anyone who wasn’t living in Merryfield Manor aspired to one day move into. It was also a good mile down the road from my current location.

  It had the desired effect. Her well-plucked eyebrows shot up before she could help herself. “No way,” was all she said, before returning to looking back down her nose at me. “You must have blackmailed someone.”

  Cordelia’s boyfriend was looking back and forth between his girlfriend and me with something bordering on amusement on his face. For a moment I wondered why he hadn’t jumped in to tell Cordelia she was acting like a psycho, before I remembered that he was dating her. It would make sense for him to be a total coward. Cordelia had surely found herself a cold-hearted man to suit her own cold, dead heart.

  “I should be getting back to work. Your guests will be arriving soon,” I said, somehow managing to keep my polite tone of voice.

  “Yes, you should be getting on, and then you can get on with leaving,” my nemesis told me, her voice filled with triumph.

  “It’ll be my pleasure,” I told her, all sweetness. There was no way I was going to let it show that I’d ever wanted to come to her ridiculous ball.

  Cordelia sniffed to show me what she thought of that, before she swung her glossy locks around and stalked back to her lair. Her boyfriend paused, looking down at me with that same amused expression. For a second, I thought I saw something flash in his hazel eyes, before he turned and followed after his chosen.

  I snorted loudly once they were out of earshot. When I’d accepted this job I’d known it carried the risk of me meeting my old bully. Part of me had actually wanted to come across her. In my head, I supposed I’d imagined her apologising for the way she’d behaved when we were young. We would let bygones be bygones, and from then on, I’d be invited to the ball.

  But Cordelia hadn’t changed in the slightest.

  I returned my attention to the star-shaped wreaths I still had to tie onto the stairs and resumed my work, feeling like some of the Christmas cheer had disappeared from the whole occasion. I tried to tell myself that I had achieved far more in two years than Cordelia probably would in her entire life, but that didn’t stop it from being unfair. If she’d just been blessed with an easy life of wealth, that would have been one thing, but when it was paired with how horrible she was, it was a bitter pill to swallow.

  I was so stuck in my bad mood that I didn’t hear the person standing behind me until they spoke.

  “Do you know the Wrexton family secret?” a familiar voice asked.

  I turned round and discovered Fergus was standing there, his hands thrust into the pockets of the rather fancy black tie outfit he was wearing. I didn’t think I’d ever seen him wearing a shirt and a bowtie before. For that matter, I didn’t think I’d ever seen him with brushed hair.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked, a smile already on my face. Fergus had that effect on me no matter how surprising his appearance.

  “Attending a rather fancy ball.” He made a big show of looking around.

  “How is it that you were invited?” I pressed, hoping that rephrasing the question would get a better answer. Fergus was remarkably good at sliding around giving straight answers when he wanted to.

  “I did the family a favour this year. If you must know, they had a problem when some local crazies decided there was buried treasure on their land. They’d found an old map, or something like that. I publicly debunked the piece of junk they were calling a map and posted it online. No one else has trespassed on their property since then,” he explained.

  “You debunked a theory?” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

  “Don’t look so surprised! I am serious about what I do. I
don’t like charlatans giving us all a bad name”

  “I’m impressed,” I told him, genuinely meaning it. I’d long worried that Fergus went along with any and every wacky theory out there, but I was glad to see that he did question everything he learned.

  “Well, to tell you the truth, you inspired the solution. I had the map tested and, although they’d used old paper, the ink was computer ink! Can you believe that?” He shook his head. “Anyway, Gillian Wrexton was so grateful to me for keeping the trespassing hordes out of her begonias that she promised to invite me to the annual ball. It’s my first time,” he confided.

  “Imagine that,” I said, knowing exactly the reason why Fergus had never been invited before. He was hardly what you might call a respectable member of the community. “Where were the police in all of this?”

  “Where do you think? You know what the police are like around here. They came, but trespassing isn’t actually an offence you can prosecute. After that, Bill Wrexton threatened to shoot anyone who came onto his land, but funnily enough, that is an offence you can prosecute.” Fergus shook his head. “The laws of the land aren’t always fair, are they?”

  “Life isn’t fair,” I said, automatically thinking of Cordelia and her attractive boyfriend.

  “Are you staying for the ball?”

  “No,” I said, unable to keep from glancing up towards the top of the stairs with a certain amount of resentment. “I’m not invited. It’s a long story that involves teenage me, my teenage bully, and a science lesson that will never be forgotten.”

  “Oh. Well, I have a plus one, if you did want to come.” Fergus had a mischievous glint in his eye.

  I thought about it. “Are you sure you can invite someone to come with you? Usually the Wrextons are very clear about who they invite, and they do it personally.”

  “But I’m a special case. I think it’s kind of a free pass. When I asked to have a plus one, they said yes.”

  “Did you have someone in mind when you asked?” I never took Fergus’ words at face value.

  He looked at me. “Perhaps I just asked for it because I wanted to test my power. But now I see it might have been an interesting move. Diana… will you go to the ball with me?” He bent down on one knee, taking my hand and looking seriously into my eyes.

  I looked around, just to check that no one was witnessing this embarrassing exchange. “I’m not sure it would be a good idea. Cordelia all but kicked me out, and that’s with me having permission to be here and do a job I’m being paid for!”

  “It’s an open invitation. Don’t you want to have a little fun?” Fergus arched an eyebrow at me.

  I was definitely wavering.

  “Plus, I haven’t even told you the real reason I’m here,” he carried on.

  He had my full attention. “Fergus, what are you up to?”

  “You’ll find out… if you come with me to the ball tonight. You’ve got…” he glanced down at the impressive looking watch he was wearing tonight. It was just as un-Fergus-like as the rest of the get up. “…one hour to get changed and get back here. Meet me out front and make sure you look fancy.”

  I frowned. “I can look fancy when I want to! You don’t need to tell me to look fancy.”

  “You’d better prove me wrong then. Go, hurry! Find your fairy godmother and get your glass slippers on.” Fergus made chivvying motions with his hands.

  I hastily tied on the last of the wreaths, before gathering my paraphernalia and getting out of Merryfield Manor.

  As I bounced my way down the long drive to where I’d left my car, I felt a big bundle of emotions twisting around in the pit of my stomach. I was going to the ball! But Cordelia still hated me. She’d been just as nasty as I remembered. But Fergus was going and had asked me! Why was Fergus there? What was he really up to?

  “I can’t leave him alone all evening. Who knows what trouble he’ll get into?” I said, climbing into my car. I gave the imposing house one last look, before I made my final decision.

  I was going to the ball and to heck with the consequences.

  5

  Murder at Midnight

  “Diana! Are you supposed to be here?” my sister called, before hushing her voice down to a whisper when she neared me.

  “I was invited,” I said, taking care to not say by whom.

  “Who by?” my sister asked. She wasn’t a journalist for nothing. She knew when someone was being cagey with their answers.

  “My friend Fergus. He had a plus one and no one to go with. I said yes as a favour to him.”

  Charlotte gave me another ‘I don’t believe you’ look, but Samuel arrived with drinks in his hands.

  “I didn’t know you were coming,” he said, greeting me with a smile.

  “Change of plan,” I weakly replied, hoping that I wasn’t going to get the third degree from him, too.

  “Are those chocolate strawberries? Be right back,” Charlotte said, making a beeline for one of the tables of nibbles.

  I turned and smiled at Samuel, feeling around for small talk.

  “You look lovely,” he said. And then my sister’s boyfriend looked me up and down.

  “Thanks,” I said, deciding it was better to ignore his over enthusiasm. Perhaps it was just his way.

  “I really mean it,” he said, taking a step closer and making his eyes go all warm.

  I opened my mouth trying to search for something that was both polite and discouraging.

  “There you are. Glad I found you before the lynch mob did. You’re here as my guest, remember?” Fergus said, sliding in next to me and saving me from any more alone time with Samuel.

  “And you are?” Samuel asked.

  I blinked. His personality had just taken a complete u-turn.

  “Fergus Robinson,” Fergus said, extending a hand.

  “You’re the conspiracy theorist.”

  Fergus looked across at me. “I told you I was famous. How have you heard of me?” He grinned at Samuel, who didn’t look nearly as friendly as he had done a few seconds ago.

  “Samuel is my sister’s boyfriend. We talked about you last night - that’s how he knows who you are.” I wanted to stop this craziness before it went any further.

  “What did you chat about? My courageous deeds? My stunning good looks?” Fergus was on fire tonight.

  “It wasn’t your modesty, that’s for sure,” I sniped.

  Samuel looked back and forth between us. “You guys are like a married couple.”

  I glanced at Fergus, wondering if I was imaging the grudging tone in Samuel’s voice or the ridiculous amount of tension that seemed to be hovering in the air between us.

  “Married couples argue way more than we do,” Fergus said, before looking at something off in the distance. “Hey, Diana… didn’t you say something about someone not wanting you here?”

  I followed his gaze and discovered Cordelia looking back. Or, to be more precise, raging back. Her eyes looked like they might ignite any second now. I watched as she angrily stalked over to where her mother was chatting with an older man I recognised from the Merryfield allotments and began gesticulating in my direction. Her mother turned and looked over. By my side, Fergus raised a hand and smiled as charmingly as I’d ever seen. I watched as Gillian Wrexton shook her head at her daughter and turned away again. Cordelia looked from her mother to me, and then back again, before stomping off out of the room.

  “Looks like you’re staying,” Fergus commented.

  “I think I’d better watch out for the pot of red paint that might fall through the ceiling on me later tonight,” I muttered.

  Samuel looked delighted by the drama of the occasion. “So, are you the bad one in the family?” he asked, taking a sip of his drink and looking very deliberately over the rim of it at me.

  I looked across at Charlotte, who’d returned bearing out-of-season strawberries, and smiled like nothing strange was happening. “Charlotte’s the rebel. I stayed home and studied while she went out and partied.
”

  “Hey! I studied sometimes!” my sister protested, but not with a great deal of enthusiasm.

  “But you quit your job to start a business, right? That’s pretty brave.”

  Gosh, Samuel was really trying to make this conversation all about me. “It was more a fortuitous alignment of the stars and planets that allowed me to take the risk. I would still be doing it part-time if it weren’t for…” I didn’t want to say luck. “…the circumstances.”

  “You know… stars and planets actually have surprisingly little to do with our lives,” Fergus announced.

  “Really?” I knew I sounded skeptical and suspicious.

  Fergus grinned, letting me know I’d just fallen into whatever trap he’d been setting. “That stuff is complete and utter nonsense. I’d have expected you of all people to know that.” He looked around our small group with that smile on his face. I noticed my sister smirking at the way he was doing his best to make me look foolish. “However, there is something up above the stratosphere that could be influencing our lives…”

  “…aliens,” I finished and then clamped a hand over my mouth. I was so used to Fergus’ ways that I’d jumped the gun. And now I was the one who looked crazy!

  “I was going to say solar flares. Flares can affect radio signals and also result in some beautiful auroras at the poles. Diana, do you really think aliens are running our lives? Next you’ll be telling us you believe that ridiculous theory about Prince Charles being a vampire,” he chortled.

  “Don’t make me poison your mince pies,” I muttered, seriously put-out about being backed into a corner.

  “Maybe that’s why she got kicked out of science,” Charlotte said in a carrying whisper.

  “I did not get kicked out of ‘science’.” I glared at Fergus. “I’m going to get some drinks. Feel free to stay here and amuse yourselves at my expense.”