Poinsettias and the Perfect Crime

by Ruby Loren

  “I’ll tell her it’s time she got a job,” Gillian agreed. “You wouldn’t be hiring by any chance, would you?”

  I shook my head. I had my limits. And Cordelia Wrexton was way, way beyond them.

  “So… there really was a pressure group who controlled the government,” Fergus concluded.

  We both looked at him in surprise, before realising we’d drifted off topic.

  “It’s complicated. There was a group called Elephas, and they were dangerous and influential, although, the extent of their influence may have been exaggerated. A secret government-endorsed group managed to gather enough compromising information about them that it could sink them forever, if it ever got out. We’re talking their personal lives here… big businesses. You can imagine the type of people this group consisted of in order to be able to get any kind of leverage whatsoever. The original evidence was the only real proof, due to the specific nature of it. It was placed in a dossier and given to an agent who would assume an entirely new identity and life in order to keep it concealed for future generations. Should the group regain the dossier…” She hesitated. “You can probably paint your own picture.”

  Fergus was frowning. “Let me get this straight… our government right now is not being controlled by anyone? They act of their own free will?”

  “Yes, of course they do,” Gillian replied.

  “Then just what is their excuse?!”

  Somehow, Fergus’ comment lightened the mood in the room.

  “Remember, none of this can be spoken about ever again. I know you like your theories, Fergus, and I like reading about them. They are… entertaining.” She smiled fondly at him,

  “It was all well and good you reading my books when I didn’t know you were part of some secret organisation,” he grumbled, annoyed at being reduced to a punchline.

  “Please don’t follow this trail. I understand your desire to get to the truth, but pick something less…”

  “…important?” I suggested.

  Gillian looked pained. “I suppose you could put it like that.” She sighed. It was a day for sighing. “I already got the diamond back from the police. They said there was nothing they could take from it. It was wiped clean. I actually have a favour to ask you about it… but I’ll talk to you later about that, Fergus.”

  “There’s just one thing I have to know,” Fergus said, leaning forwards and looking intently at Gillian. “Where did the diamond come from?”

  “It really was won in a card game by my grandfather, the same one who took down Elephas. The story goes, he won it whilst playing against a maharajah. Unfortunately, that story is quite well known in certain circles, which is why the diamond has always been the family secret. Clearly, I didn’t emphasis the secret part of it enough.”

  “There’s nothing more to the diamond? You don’t know anything about its history before that point? Did anyone die mysteriously?”

  “It’s not going to start a war with India?” I asked, before feeling like a fool for even saying it.

  “Not that I know of.” Gillian looked genuinely apologetic.

  “I can’t believe that hack writer was right about the Indian connection…” Fergus said, looking more devastated than I’d seen him look since the start of our investigation.

  “The truth isn’t always what we want to hear,” I said, admiring my own philosophy for a moment… until his pillow hit me in the face.

  18

  Happy New Year!

  I wasn’t too surprised when the story of Fergus and I finding the lost diamond hit the headlines. I was a bit startled to discover it was a national headline… and more surprised still to see Alex Anderle’s name as the author of the article. I’d called Fergus up immediately, and he’d explained that Gillian had asked him to publicise the recovery of the diamond - in the hopes that the publicity would put off any latent aggression from the group who’d once held influence over an entire government.

  Fergus had then revealed that giving the story to Alex had been his idea… and his olive branch. The deal was, Alex would write about how Fergus had saved the day and their feud would be over for good. I’d been rather peeved when that was exactly what had been printed. ‘Fergus saves the day and foils the perfect crime… with next to no outside assistance.’

  I’d remained peeved until one of the large national newspapers had called me up for an exclusive insider interview. As payment, they’d agreed to give my business a credit in the article and include an advert for my online flower service in the paper itself. It was an advertising avenue I’d never have been able to afford, were it not for the diamond case, and it paid off big time. I’d watched my email inbox fill up with new orders with a new one seeming to come in every minute. In the end, I’d had to cap my subscriptions to be sure I could make enough bouquets, and I’d set up a waiting list. That had strangely only seemed to drive the demand even higher. I was considering raising my prices a little in the future. Heading towards the New Year, business had never looked brighter.

  One day before New Year’s Eve, Walter Miller had come to call. I’d judged from the crimson hue to his face when I’d seen him through the window that he wasn’t in the mood for a friendly chat. After debating whether I could pretend that I hadn’t seen him (risky, because we’d made eye contact through the window) I’d bitten the bullet and opened the door. He’d had a good shout about how we’d bypassed the police in our investigation and how we deserved to be locked up for it. I’d replied that his ineptitude and lack of presence hadn’t helped him get any closer to figuring out where the diamond was… Or having the slightest clue as to what was really going on, I’d added in my head. He hadn’t taken kindly to my constructive criticism. In the end, we’d parted ways on the same bad terms we’d begun the conversation.

  Fergus himself was scarce in the few days after the late night bust had taken place. I knew from the newspapers that he was going to release a book ‘telling all’ about the hunt for the diamond. I’d raised my eyebrows at that. Even Fergus wouldn’t be crazy enough to go against what Gillian had warned us about. I knew he’d be filling his book with something, but it probably wasn’t going to resemble the truth too closely. I only hoped that no one important took it too seriously and tried to halt production… forcibly. That would probably make the end product sell like hot cakes, but I’d rather have Fergus in one piece.

  Unless he’d left the royalties to me in his will.

  No, even then. I wouldn’t be tempted.

  Today was New Year’s Eve and I wasn’t certain if I’d be seeing my friend. Earlier in the year, we’d agreed that we would spend the evening together, but I knew what Fergus was like when he was focusing on a project. He threw himself into it fully and lost track of everything else.

  Having said that, he had surfaced long enough to contact me a day ago with an update on George. I’d completely forgotten that he’d offered to look into my ex and find out if there was anything shady going on. The news I’d been given was unsettling. According to Fergus, George had left the company we’d both used to work for one month ago. No one there had heard anything from him since. When you paired that with George practically begging me to come back to work at the laboratory with him… it didn’t add up to anything good. I found I was more worried for his safety than my own, but there was nothing I could do if he wouldn’t tell me anything.

  I was thinking all of this over when I happened to walk past my hall table and noticed the small wrapped gift from George, still sitting there. I’d promised myself that I would throw it away but now, predictably, my fingers were itching to know what was inside. Now that I knew a little more about the strange situation surrounding George, I decided it would be irresponsible to leave it. What if it contained some sort of cry for help?

  And I’d ignored it up until now.

  Gulp.

  I tore off the wrapping paper and opened the little box inside.

  A black memory stick looked back at me.

  “I guess i
t’s more unusual than jewellery?” I muttered, before replacing the lid. I didn’t know much about memory sticks, but I did know that I would be seeking Fergus’ help to look at whatever was on this one. I didn’t want any surprises, and Fergus was the most paranoid person I knew. If there was anything suspicious about the stick, he’d know.

  I was still wondering about what could be on it when there was a knock on my door. I turned around, half-hoping to see Fergus there, but my visitor was certainly not someone I’d been expecting to see again… not for a long time to come.

  “Charlotte!” I said when I opened the door, half happy to see my sister and half worried she was here to throw eggs at my house.

  “Happy New Year… nearly,” she added with an awkward smile. “I, uh… wanted to come and see you. I hope you don’t mind too much…”

  “Come in! I’ll put the tea on. Biscuits? Mince pies? Party food?” Just in case Fergus did decide to appear, I’d planned a whole spread.

  “Just tea thanks,” Charlotte said. “I love your flowers.” She admired the display I’d placed on the coffee table. It had been a backup for the New Year’s Eve party I’d decorated that morning.

  We sat in silence for a few moments when I brought the tea out. Then we both started talking at once.

  “You go,” I said to my little sister.

  “I wanted to say sorry. I shouldn’t have blamed you for any of what happened between me and Samuel. I just hated for you to be right. You always seem to be right about everything!”

  “Not quite,” I said, thinking of a few questionable incidents that had occurred over the past couple of years. I still wasn’t sure I’d made the right decision on some of them.

  “I was stupid to not see it before. I thought he was interested in me for being me! Not because I was on the guest list to a stupid ball. He’s still calling me trying to say he made a mistake. What else does he want to use me for? Can you believe that?”

  “He came round here after everything that happened,” I confided, wanting to be fair. “He said he realised what a fool he’d been and that he loves you.”

  “Did you believe him?” Charlotte asked.

  I spread my hands out across my lap. “He seemed to believe he was being sincere, but the rest I think is for you to find out. If you choose to.” I still wasn’t wild about Samuel, but he’d asked me to pass along that message. I’d done my bit.

  Charlotte was quiet for a moment. “Do you think he’s a bit nuts? I was practically in awe of him and his work, but now I know he’s some crazy conspiracy guy… I don’t know. If people find out, it’s not going to do wonders for my own credibility.” She blushed. “Not that I always put myself first, but… journalism is tough! One slip and you’re out.”

  “I think Samuel knows that. That’s why he’s not gone public with who he is. He just writes under both names.”

  Charlotte nodded. “But you figured out who he was.”

  “I was looking for something. That’s how I found it. But I can tell you the phrase he uses too much, if he hasn’t already figured it out himself.”

  “I think I’d like that,” Charlotte said after a moment. “I just don’t know if I can ever see eye to eye with someone who believes all those things. How do you do it? You’ve never stood for any nonsense, but you’re so close to Fergus. I mean… he is good looking…”

  I choked on my tea. “We’re just friends. I know it sounds strange, but in a way, we balance each other out. You’re right, I don’t stand for nonsense, but I have a lot of time for someone who wants to find a way to prove the work they’re doing. I try to help Fergus with that. In turn, I think I’ve become more open-minded about certain things.”

  “Sure, that sounds like the whole story,” Charlotte said with a twinkle in her eye. “Is he coming round tonight? I’m going back to London to celebrate with some colleagues from work.”

  “I’m not sure,” I confessed. “He’s busy writing a book.”

  She nodded. “We’ve never really had much luck with men, have we? I’m sure everything will work out for us both eventually.”

  I opened my mouth to tell her that Fergus wasn’t that kind of man, but I shut it again. When my sister made her mind up about something, it was tough to persuade her to change it. That was what made this visit so remarkable.

  She finished her tea and got to her feet. “I should be going back to London. Lots to catch up on. Do you think we’ll do the same again next year?”

  I knew she meant a family Christmas, but it was hard to not think about the murder and the suspicions I’d harboured about Samuel.

  “I’m sure we’ll do something similar,” I managed, privately thinking that, even if I was invited to next year’s ball at Merryfield Manor, I’d rather jump into a pit of venomous snakes.

  * * *

  My heart jumped when I heard the knock on the door at seven ‘o’ clock that evening. When I’d walked out into the hall and discovered that it was Fergus on my doorstep with Barkimedes by his side, I’d felt the warmth of happiness spreading through me when I realised I would be seeing in the New Year with my best friend after all.

  We’d played games, Fergus had eaten most of the food, and then we’d finally settled into our usual rhythm of talking about life, the universe, and everything.

  “I looked into the diamond’s history, by the way… as part of my books research,” he casually announced as I poured him another drink.

  “I hope you didn’t look in the wrong places,” I said, remembering the stark warning we’d been given.

  “Don’t worry, Gillian is reading everything through before I hit publish. That’s the beauty of publishing the books myself, I can send proof copies to whoever I like.

  “Where’s my copy?”

  “You’ll have to buy one like everyone else.”

  I hit Fergus with a cushion, nearly spilling his drink. Diggory barked and tried to pull it from my hand, believing that we were starting a game. The cushion exploded and feathers flew everywhere.

  “I did find out something interesting,” Fergus said, shaking a feather out of his hair, but otherwise acting like we weren’t now sat in the midst of a feather explosion. “You know Gillian told us that the diamond was won from a maharajah?”

  I nodded.

  “That seems to be true enough, but prior to it being lost in a ludicrously high stakes game of cards - which, by the way, had nothing to do with diplomatic tensions between us and India - the diamond had it’s origins in… wait for it…”

  “…Egypt?” I said, hazarding a guess.

  “You didn’t wait for it! But yes. The diamond’s history leads back to Egypt. Who would have thought it!”

  “But is it cursed?”

  “I suppose if you look back through its history, possession of the diamond has never been particularly lucky for anyone… lost in a card game and then tied up with murder…”

  “Fergus…”

  “Lots of people who owned it died young. They died in their forties!”

  “What point in history are we talking about? Before the invention of modern medicine, I presume?”

  “Well… I suppose.” He flicked a feather off the sleeve of his shirt. “Fine. It’s probably not cursed. Not in any way that can be tangibly proven.”

  I placed my hand over my heart and smiled adoringly at him.

  “Shut up. I’m still the same conspiracy theorist I was before I met you. You ruin everything,” he added.

  I laughed into my drink and glanced at the clock on the wall, which my sister had given me for Christmas. It was getting close to midnight. “We should turn on the TV. They do the countdown,” I said, popping open another bottle of fizz.

  “Yeah, of course,” Fergus said, picking up the remote and turning it on. We watched as Big Ben lit up ready for the countdown to start. “Hey, I forgot to tell you something. I had an interesting call earlier on today.”

  “What about?” I asked, preparing my glass.

  TEN!


  “Well, it was just interesting…”

  NINE!

  “How was it interesting?”

  EIGHT!

  “Someone asked if we were available to work as private investigators…”

  SEVEN

  “…you know, the kind who solve crimes…”

  SIX

  “…that baffle the police…”

  FIVE

  “…we’d be paid good money!”

  FOUR

  “…and we’re already so good at it!”

  THREE

  “That’s ridiculous…” I countered.

  TWO

  “…I hope you told them no?!”

  ONE

  “Oh. I said I’d think about it. I’ll call back and tell them no…”

  I wasn’t convinced.

  “Fergus…”

  HAPPY NEW YEAR!

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  Books in the Series

  Gardenias and a Grave Mistake

  Delphiniums and Deception

  Poinsettias and the Perfect Crime

  Peonies and Poison

  The Lord Beneath the Lupins

  Prequel: The Florist and the Funeral

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