by Joyce
The bell on the door jingled. She looked up and saw Mr. Bellows, her neighbor from Queen’s Road. He was normally so reclusive. It was odd to see him more than once in a day. As far as she knew, he’d never visited The Potting Shed before.
“Mrs. Lee.” He removed his ancient-looking tweed cap. Little tufts of gray hair stood up around his head. “I remembered when I saw you this morning that you had a flower shop. I wanted to see what it looked like.”
Peggy didn’t correct her name. She hadn’t changed it after marrying Steve. She thought it might be too confusing for everyone. She’d been Peggy Lee for a very long time.
“Hello, Mr. Bellows. Yes, this is my garden shop. Are you interested in some bulbs for the fall? I have some nice daffodils.”
He glanced around with a disinterested look on his sallow face. “No. Not really. I was interested in the shop itself. How much do you want for it?”
Now he wanted The Potting Shed? What was wrong with this man? “I’ve never thought of selling it, Mr. Bellows. I’ve had it for so long that it seems like my home away from home.”
He waved aside her words with his long, thin hand. “Yes, yes. No haggling, please. I’ll pay fair market value for it. I won’t cheat you and I expect you not to try and cheat me if we’re going to do business.”
Peggy smiled and held her temper in check. He was completely obnoxious.
“It’s not for sale. I appreciate your offer. I wouldn’t think of selling.”
He gazed at her with his cold blue eyes, as though she were a thing to be purchased too. Was he weighing her merit to see if it matched the price he thought was fair for her?
“What do you want for it? I don’t have time to stand here and wait all day, Mrs. Lee. I have more important things to do.”
It was difficult, but Peggy managed to be polite. “Mr. Bellows, I’m not selling The Potting Shed. If you’d like to purchase something, I’ll be happy to help you. If not, perhaps another shop owner in Brevard Court or Latta Arcade might be interested in your offer. Thanks for stopping by.”
“You must be out of your mind. Anyone who was sane would take my offer on this place. Good day, Mrs. Lee.” He tipped his cap to her then put it back on his head and left.
Peggy couldn’t believe the nerve of the man. What had he expected her to say? What made him think she wanted to sell the shop, or the house, for that matter?
Still steaming, she dusted and rearranged a little more forcefully. At least one thing was good—she normally didn’t see him at all. That had been a blessing she hadn’t realized until today.
Emil Balducci brought Peggy lunch from the Kozy Kettle. His thick, gray mustache drooped a little on the right side when he frowned. That didn’t happen often. He always seemed to be in a good mood.
With his broad Italian features, craggy brows, and shadowed dark eyes, he was quite a ladies’ man. Especially when his wife, Sofia, wasn’t at the shop.
“I made my special crusted eggplant on Ciabatta bread.” He kissed his fingers on his big, callused hand. His voice was still heavily accented even after twenty years away from Sicily. “You’re gonna love it!”
Peggy smiled. “I know I will. Thank you for bringing it over. I’m the only one here right now.”
“Like the old days.” He nodded as he handed her a cup of peach tea with a lid on it. “I remember when you were always here by yourself. I thought that would change once you married again. I think you married the wrong man. A husband should be around when a wife needs him.”
“I suppose I could’ve put a note on the shop door and come over to get lunch.”
“That’s not it. You hire people. Where are they? You pay people money to help you, right? When you need them, they aren’t here. That’s what I’m talking about. That’s why I don’t pay no one. Sofia works with me now. Your husband should be here with you.”
“He has a job, a career of his own,” she reminded him. “He’s a veterinarian, remember?”
Emil made a grimace that brought his big mustache almost up to cover his nose. “What’s that? He could do that here. A woman needs a man, Peggy.”
His swarthy face was very close to hers. Peggy had always thought Emil was joking around when he said such things, though she’d talked to other women who had insisted he wasn’t. She’d felt sure he would never really go too far.
For a moment, she wasn’t as certain.
“I have to go.” He said with a sigh. “We’re expecting a group this afternoon. Sofia is making those little sandwiches they like. You should come over.”
“What kind of group is it?” she asked politely, knowing she didn’t have time for a meeting.
“Sofia and I, we call it the lonely hearts club. The group, they call it singles.” He shrugged. “Same difference. You should come over.”
“I’ll try. Thanks again for lunch.”
He waved as he walked out of the shop.
Peggy was almost done with lunch when Sam got back. He ranted for a few minutes about the rental company refusing to give his deposit back.
“They said the trailer was dirty.” He walked around through the narrow aisles, flailing his big arms in the air. “Can you believe it? I swept it out. They wanted me to wash it out. I’m never renting from them again.”
“I’m sure it will be worth it to have the extra mulch in. We always sell a ton of mulch in the fall.”
Sam stopped walking around and complaining. “Are we gonna make it, Peggy? I look at the numbers every day on my computer. I know we’re holding our own right now, but there isn’t much left over. Maybe we should think about moving to a cheaper place. The rent here is killing us.”
“I know it’s high,” she agreed. “It’s the location. I love it here, Sam. I’d hate to move.”
He came close and hugged her. “I know. I like it here too. I guess we’ll keep going, at least for now. Let me get cleaned up and grab some lunch and you can go investigate dead people. What’s that? It smells good.”
Peggy slapped at his hand as he grabbed a piece of her sandwich. “Eggplant.”
“The bread is good anyway.” He grimaced once it was in his mouth.
Sam was back in a few minutes with a burger and fries. They talked for a while about the shop and the murder investigation. Peggy and Sam were more than just partners in this business. Sam was nearly as dear to her as her own son, Paul.
“All right. Get out of here,” Sam said when they were both done eating and their conversation began to wane. “Be careful. Don’t dig up too many secrets.”
Peggy hugged him. It was all she could do to put her arms around his wide chest. “I’ll call you later and we can see how the rest of the day goes. Don’t give up yet, Sam. I think we’ll be okay.”
He shrugged. “If not, we can always sell the shop.”
Her green eyes narrowed suspiciously. “That’s a peculiar thing for you to say.” She told him about Mr. Bellows.
“Don’t look at me.” He held his hands up. “I don’t even know the man and you know I wouldn’t do anything like that without talking to you first.”
“I know.” She frowned. “Just striking fear into your heart.”
He went behind the cash register and put on a green Potting Shed apron. “Yeah. My hands are shaking. Get out of here before I start crying.”
Peggy got her pocketbook and climbed on her bicycle. The weather had held—blue sky and puffy white clouds. It wasn’t a long ride from Brevard Court to the medical examiner’s office. Traffic wasn’t even too bad.
She had to use her new police badge for identification at the entrance. There were many new faces since she’d worked here on a regular basis two years ago.
There was even a new medical examiner. Her name was Dorothy Beck. After Peggy had made it through the security check and let people look at her ID a dozen times, she met Dr. Beck.
“It’s very nice to finally meet you.” Dorothy Beck shook Peggy’s hand. She was tall and thin. Her white lab coat hung badly on her.
Peggy wondered why they didn’t find the right size for her.
“It’s nice to meet you too, Dr. Beck,” Peggy said.
“Please, call me Dorothy. I’ll call you Peggy. Let’s start off on the right foot.”
They walked together down the long, green-tiled hallway. Several doors led off of the hall including the main examination room, the cadaver cold storage, and the lunch room.
It had always bothered Peggy that the lunch room was so close to those other rooms. It seemed to her as though people should eat away from those areas. No one else seemed to mind. She’d eaten outside when she’d had to be there during a case in the past.
“Here’s my office.” Dorothy opened the door. “Please sit down.”
“You’ve done a great job redecorating.” Peggy took a seat in front of the glass desk. There were new, colorful curtains on the windows. A new, blue carpet was underfoot, and there were some delightful landscape paintings on the wall.
Dorothy smiled as she put on her glasses. She was about Peggy’s age—mid-fifties. Her face was long and angular. Her brown eyes appraised Peggy at the same time that Peggy appraised her.
“It’s been a while since you were here last.” Dorothy picked up a file. “The former medical examiner ran this place like it was his own private theme park. I’m not like him. I like our work to be clean and accurate. I’ve read your record. I think we’ll get along just fine.”
“Thank you.” Peggy didn’t comment on the former ME. It was best not to speak ill of the man. “I’m hoping you have some information to bring me up to speed on these botanical murders.”
“You mean The Poison Plant murders?” Dorothy looked at Peggy across the top of her glasses. “You haven’t heard? Some enterprising reporter noticed there seemed to be a pattern and now it’s all over the news.”
“That’s too bad,” Peggy said. “It makes it so much harder.”
“Don’t I know it? I’m sure I don’t have to caution you about sharing information with the press.”
“No. I don’t particularly like sharing with anyone.” Peggy accepted the manila file from her.
“That’s for the best. You’ll find everything we know about the two homicides in that file, Peggy. There’s a computer station for you and you’ll be able to view the information and receive email there as well.”
There was a knock at the door and Dorothy called for the person to come in.
It was Mai Sato-Lee, Paul’s wife. Peggy restrained herself from hugging the young woman. She’d worked with Mai before and knew professionalism was important to her.
She also knew how unhappy Mai had been on being passed over for promotion when the former medical examiner had retired. She’d worked hard to take over that position. The board that had hired Dorothy turned down Mai’s request for the position, saying that she was too inexperienced.
Peggy, Mai, Paul and Steve had talked about it for months over Sunday dinner.
“Mai.” Peggy nodded to her. She couldn’t hold back a smile.
“Dr. Lee.” Mai nodded, without the smile.
“Oh please,” Dorothy intervened. “I know you two are related by marriage. We don’t need those formalities here, do we?”
“Of course not, Dr. Beck.” Mai’s voice was polite and cool.
Peggy recalled the first time she’d met Mai. It had been at a crime scene. The young Vietnamese woman wore a blue crime scene uniform. Her huge, almond-shaped, brown eyes and pretty face were half hidden by heavy, black glasses.
It hadn’t been long after that meeting that Paul and Mai had started dating. They’d moved in together and finally were married. Peggy kept hoping for grandchildren. Mai was dedicated to her career and not really interested in that prospect.
“I’ll be glad to show you your workstation, Dr. Lee,” Mai said.
Dorothy sighed. “All right. I guess that’s the best we’re going to do today. Peggy, if you need anything, give me a call. I’d appreciate it if you come to me with any findings before you share them with the police.”
“Of course, Dorothy. I look forward to working with you.”
Mai and Peggy left Dorothy’s office. The door was barely closed when Mai began to ask questions. “Did she bring you here? Isn’t she happy with what I’m doing on the Poison Plant case?”
“I don’t think that’s it at all,” Peggy answered. “Where did they get that information? How did the press find out it was plant poison that killed those men?”
“I don’t know. But one minute, this is my case and the next you’re coming in to work as a consultant.” Mai made a growling sound. “I don’t know what she wants from me. Sometimes I think she wants me to leave.”
“I’m sure she doesn’t want you to leave.” Peggy tried to reassure her. “Why are you so stiff with her? Why not call her Dorothy?”
“It’s awkward being friends with people at work—especially people who took my job.”
Peggy knew Mai held herself to very high, sometimes impossibly high, standards. She’d truly felt her work was below those standards when the city had hired a new medical examiner from outside the office.
“You should try and loosen up a little with her,” Peggy said. “I’m sure she’s very friendly once you get to know her. I like her.”
Mai rolled her attractive eyes. Paul had talked her into getting contact lenses. What a difference those had made! “That’s easy for you to say. You’re a consultant, not fighting for your job.”
They stopped at a desk with an aging computer on it. “Here’s your workstation. If I can assist, please let me know. I’ve done all the preliminaries on this case. I know something about it, even if no one appreciates it.”
Peggy didn’t even have a chance to say thank you before Mai left her there. She’d known her daughter-in-law was angry but hadn’t realized how much she resented her new boss. She wondered if Mai would stay on with that attitude.
The thought made her cringe. Paul could get a job anywhere as a police officer. There was only one medical examiner’s office in Charlotte. If she left her position, Mai might want to leave town.
Peggy spent the rest of the afternoon familiarizing herself with the case. There were a lot of facts, as Mai had said. It was clear, however, what the manner of death was. In both cases, poison had been injected into the victims. Mai had made a note of the unusual types of poison. More often than not, poisoning came from arsenic, cyanide—something easy to get from commercial products.
These poisons were specially made, it appeared. As Peggy had told Al, a person with specific knowledge and the right equipment had to be responsible.
It seemed odd to her, as she looked at the files. Both men were named John and their middle names were Lee. One was spelled Leigh, but it was still the same name.
Maybe it was because she was married to John Lee that she found that fact unusual. Al and his three detectives hadn’t thought both men being named John was strange at all.
It was starting to get dark when Peggy finally left for the day. She didn’t feel as though she’d made any significant contribution toward finding the killer. She’d familiarized herself with the case. She’d have to work from there.
Traffic was heavy again going out of the uptown area. She stayed on the side of the road and avoided any trouble. Cars and trucks whizzed past her. They couldn’t possibly be driving the lower speed limits that were posted.
The outside lights on the house were on a timer so they were on when she got there. Shakespeare began barking as soon as he heard her. She let him out for a few minutes before she went to the front door and checked her mail.
The house seemed empty without Steve. She wouldn’t have thought she could attach herself to someone so quickly. She glanced at her watch. There was still an hour before their next Skype session. Time to change clothes and find something to eat.
It was then she noticed that the front door was slightly open. It surprised her. Had she forgotten to set the alarm again? She was going to have to be mor
e careful about that. Someone had broken the lock on the door to shove a thick envelope between the door and the frame.
Peggy opened the door all the way and the envelope fell on the floor. It was addressed to her.
She opened it and read, “Recognize me yet?”
Chapter Five
Elder – Sambucus - Common wild shrub in backyards, roadsides and forests. Dark, hanging fruit that can be eaten or made into jelly or wine after ripened and seeds removed. Cyanide glycosides in leaves, twigs and seeds. Children have been poisoned by making whistles from the hollow twigs. Listed as a highly effective medicinal for many years.
“It’s probably your old buddy, Nightflyer, playing games with you.”
Peggy had shown the note to Steve when she picked him up at the airport the next morning. It wasn’t the romantic welcome home she’d hoped to give him. She’d been up most of the night thinking about the note.
“I don’t think so.”
“Why not? You said you’d heard from him again. This sounds like something he’d do. You should let the police handle it.”
It was raining hard, crashes of thunder stalking the morning commute into Charlotte. Lightning stabbed across the dark sky. Cars moved slowly with their emergency lights flashing. The road was bumper-to-bumper when traffic moved at all.
“I plan on giving it to Mai this morning. I feel a little silly. It might not have anything to do with the case at all.”
“I don’t know. The murder happened across the street and you’re involved. Why take chances?”
“I know you’re right. I also know their budget is tight. I hate to waste it on something that doesn’t matter.”
“Just give it to her, Peggy. Mai will take care of it. Consider it the perks of having a daughter-in-law who happens to be an assistant medical examiner. We need one in the family.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” She couldn’t glare at him because she needed to concentrate on the drivers that obviously weren’t nervous about the weather or bad traffic.