by K E O'Connor
“You don’t want to be involved in Fleur de Bloom?”
“It’s not my thing. Felicity tried to get me interested and offered me different roles in the business. I didn’t love the idea.” Horatio scraped his hand through his hair. “I miss her. She always looked out for me.”
“Julius told me how she died. It was an unusual death.”
“For an unusual girl,” Horatio said. “I don’t know. Maybe Felicity wasn’t a smart as she thought, dying like that. It is strange how those bees got in. She always kept them out because she didn’t want them cross pollinating her plants and messing with her experiments. They must have found a hole and snuck in. I was always telling her to be careful. She never listened. Felicity thought she knew best, and most of the time, she was right. It’s just, in this case, she got things wrong.”
“You’re sure it was her fault? Felicity must have seen the bees. She must have known not to panic and how to get them out safely.”
“Felicity’s encountered plenty of stinging insects. She wouldn’t get in a flap because she spotted a few bees in her greenhouse. She’d have been angry and worried about her plants but not her own safety.” Horatio stared at me for a few seconds in silence. “It’s funny. I wonder about her death and how such a thing happened. I never got to see the body. Uncle Julius told me not to and that it wasn’t a pretty sight. It was probably for the best. But I never felt I got to say a proper goodbye to her. Uncle Julius said she blew up like a puffer fish because of the bee toxins. I wouldn’t want to remember her like that.”
I grimaced at the unpleasant description. “Sometimes, it’s better that way. You have your good memories of your sister when she was happy and healthy.”
“I guess so. It’s a shame she’s not around to help with my latest business idea. Felicity gave me seed funding for some of my businesses. She knew that, one day, I’d make it big just as she did with her flowers.”
“You mentioned inflatables at dinner. Is that your latest idea?”
The sadness left Horatio’s eyes, and he smiled. “Party inflatables. They’re all the rage. The wealthy set like to have giant inflatables at their pool parties. You can get them in all shapes and sizes. I’ve found someone in China I can import from. I was about to place a large order but can’t secure the funding from the bank.”
“They didn’t like your business plan?”
Horatio looked at the floor. “I tried the bank, but my credit isn’t good. I ran up a few debts years ago when I didn’t know how to handle credit cards. I’m blacklisted by every financial institution because of that. If Felicity was around, she’d have supported me. I wouldn’t have needed to go cap in hand to some stuffy bank.”
Flipper bounced through the back door of the kitchen and barked at an empty space before running to my side. I shivered as the temperature dropped and Felicity popped into view. She stood beside her brother shaking her head.
“Was Felicity always happy to fund your business ideas?” I watched her as I spoke. She looked at me and shrugged.
“She’d sometimes caution me about them. I didn’t always get things right. There was the failed attempt at breaking the mushroom enhanced coffee market. I also tried my hand at extreme laser challenges. Felicity told me I shouldn’t follow the trends and needed to look for something new, an untapped niche as she called it. That’s what she did with her plants. She looked for ways to tweak things and make them more exotic. That was why she loved the toxic plants so much. She saw potential in something deadly, something most people were afraid to touch.”
“Now she’s gone, maybe you can get more involved in the business,” I said. “It might be a nice way to remember your sister.”
Horatio shook his head. “She’d hate that. I’d mess up everything, and the place would go under within a year. That’s what happens to all my business ventures.”
Felicity smiled indulgently at her brother and nodded. It seemed she knew him well.
“In fact, I wouldn’t mind selling the whole thing and starting anew or maybe moving abroad.”
“What’s stopping you?”
“I’d have to get the agreement of the other partners to sell,” Horatio said. “It’s part of the agreement put in place when the business started. I don’t have a controlling stake in how things are run, so I can’t mess it up. I get a certain amount of input, not that I bother. Every time I do, I get laughed at.”
“If you control part of the business,” I said, “who else has an interest?”
“Zara, of course. She owns forty percent. Since she founded the business with Felicity, she’s much more involved. I own thirty percent. Uncle Julius owns the rest.”
I looked at Felicity as she hovered around her brother. There was an excellent motive for wanting her out of the way. Somebody killed Felicity to get greater control over Fleur de Bloom. That put Horatio, Julius, and Zara on the suspect list.
“What happened to Felicity’s share of the business after her death?”
“It was split between the three of us,” Horatio said. “Zara had a slightly bigger share but not enough to overrule Uncle Julius and me when we get together. We rarely do that. Both of us make lousy decisions when it comes to money. Zara’s got a good head on her shoulders. The business has stayed profitable since Felicity died. Although, after the big Halloween launch, I’m not sure what we’ll do. We’ve been flogging off my sister’s creations since she died. These are the last ones.”
“Can’t Zara work on new hybrids?”
“She’s more interested in business development than product development.” Horatio laughed. “Listen to me, I sound as if I know what I’m talking about. All I know for sure is my sister spent most of her time in the greenhouses working with the plants. She loved those plants and devoted her attention to them.”
Felicity nodded and ran a hand down her brother’s arm.
He flinched and shivered. “This place is so cold it gives me the creeps. Didn’t you think it was creepy when you arrived? All those cold spots and dark windows. I’m surprised you didn’t turn the car around and vanish.”
“It’s not so bad.” I refused to dwell on the ghosts lurking around. They hadn’t done me any harm. “It’s an old place. They’re prone to strange creaks and odd shadows.”
“Have you seen anything in the shadows?” Horatio glanced over his shoulder. “I’m not a superstitious person, but in the last few weeks, in the lead up to Halloween, I keep seeing things out of the corner of my eye.”
“If it’s any consolation, Helen was grabbed by a ghoul, and I ran straight into a ghost as soon as we arrived. With all the Halloween preparation going on, things will be unsettled.”
Horatio’s smile looked strained. “I keep walking through cold spots in the house. Isn’t that supposed to indicate something spooky?”
I stared at Felicity. Perhaps she’d been keeping tabs on her brother for a reason. “You’re talking about real ghosts?”
“If I believed in them, I guess I am,” Horatio said. “What about you? Are you a believer in unquiet spirits?” Although he grinned, there was tension around his eyes.
“Never say never. That’s my motto.” I smiled. “You never know what’s hiding in the shadows just out of sight.”
Horatio shuddered. “Don’t say that, or I’ll be packing my bags and moving into a nearby hotel. Not that I can afford one, mind you.”
“If you can’t sell the entire business, why don’t you sell your stake to your uncle or Zara? They both seem keen on keeping things going.”
Horatio swirled his whiskey around in the glass. “I thought about it. I feel like I’d dishonor my sister if I took a step back. Uncle Julius is a laugh, but his mind is on the money. He’s all about maximizing profits. So, it should be, since it is a business we’re running. But my sister’s passion was always the plants. And as for Zara, she does a good job, but I don’t know. I don’t want to let go of it. If I do, it would feel like I’m letting go of the final piece of Felicity. I�
��m not ready to do that.”
That made sense. Losing a sibling must be hard, especially since it sounded like Felicity was the only one who supported Horatio, no matter how ridiculous his ideas were.
“You seemed surprised this evening when Barnaby turned up,” I said. “What’s his involvement in the business?”
Horatio shook his head. “He’s an okay bloke, but I wish he’d stop coming by unannounced. He dated Felicity for a while, but I never saw it as serious. The trouble is, everyone else likes him, so I can’t tell him to get lost.”
“Zara didn’t seem keen on him.”
Horatio finished his drink. “No, they’ve never gotten along, even when my sister was around. Maybe Zara didn’t think he was good enough for my sister.”
“What do you think about him?”
“Barnaby’s decent enough company. He’s got a small investment in the business, but only because Felicity wanted him to feel involved. He used to spend time with Felicity in the greenhouse. Actually, there’s a thought. I said everybody liked him, but my sister didn’t just before she died.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Did they have a falling out?”
“I should say.” Horatio rubbed the back of his neck. “I heard Felicity and Barnaby arguing. In fact, it was the night before she died.”
“What were they arguing about?”
“I didn’t catch it all. I was in the garden and heard them in the office. Felicity sounded angry rather than upset. I mooched around to make sure things weren’t getting out of hand. A few minutes after the fighting started, Barnaby stomped out of the office. He looked spitting mad.”
I’d just unearthed another excellent motive for wanting Felicity dead. A lovers’ quarrel gone wrong.
“Did they often fight?” I addressed the question more to Felicity than Horatio.
She shook her head.
“Not so much. Barnaby used to get annoyed that Felicity loved her plants more than him. But he knew what he was getting himself into. They met at a horticultural show. Plants, not people, that was what my sister liked to say. She had a little motto on her desk that said: The more people I meet, the more I love my plants.”
The kitchen door opened. Helen looked in, a quizzical expression on her face as she brought in a stack of empty plates. “Everyone’s finished with the main course. It’s time for dessert if you fancy it. Zara says it’s in the fridge if you want to bring it through. I’ll grab the bowls.”
“Thanks, we’ll be there in a minute.” I turned back to find Felicity had vanished. “I hope you find somebody to help with your business idea,” I said to Horatio.
“I’ll be lucky. Without my sister around to help me, I’m at a dead end.” He turned to me, his eyes gleaming. “Hey, I don’t suppose you’ve got a bit of money sitting around you’d like to invest in the latest inflatables business?”
I shook my head and suppressed a smile as I walked to the fridge. “I’m afraid not. And I don’t have the first clue about inflatables. But I do know about pudding.” I opened the fridge door to find a shop brought apple pie on the shelf.
Horatio looked over my shoulder. “I’m glad Helen’s here. I’ll save a fortune on takeout, now we have someone on hand who can cook.”
I extracted the pie. “I hope people don’t mind cold pie.”
“We aren’t fussy.” Horatio placed his empty glass down and followed me out of the kitchen.
My head swam with possibilities as we walked back to the dining room. There were plenty of motives for wanting Felicity dead, even though I had yet to prove she was murdered. I needed to speak to Julius and Zara about their interest in getting control of Fleur de Bloom. I also wanted to chat with Barnaby about his argument with Felicity.
I had a head full of questions and too many suspects. I needed to narrow them down and decide who to target first.
Chapter 6
I sat on the couch with my feet tucked underneath me as Helen brought over croissants, strawberry preserves, and a large pot of tea for breakfast the next morning.
“Okay, since Felicity is lingering, we have to believe something bad happened to her.” Helen settled on the couch next to me and poured the tea.
“And she wrote help on the mirror,” I said. “She doesn’t need help passing on messages or finding something missing. We have to assume the worst.”
“Talk to me about the suspects,” Helen said. “I saw you sneaking off last night and chatting up Horatio. Did he have any useful information?”
“Almost too much.” I took a croissant. “He told me about a fight Felicity had with Barnaby just before she died. He also told me no one has a controlling stake in the business.”
Helen’s eyes widened. “Which implicates everyone who has a stake in Fleur de Bloom.”
“Exactly. Horatio, Julius, Barnaby, and Zara. Barnaby’s stake is tiny, but the others have a lot of skin in the game.”
Helen’s nose wrinkled. “If Zara wants control of the business, why doesn’t she kill Julius or Horatio? Why kill her best friend?”
“I’m not sure of the financial arrangements. It sounds like everyone was given a specific amount of leverage depending on their initial involvement. Maybe it isn’t as simple as her killing someone and taking their stake. When Felicity died, her part of the business was divided between the main investors.”
“Zara could have plans to bump them off one by one and buy their part of the business after they’re dead,” Helen said. “That’s what I’d do if my best friend had a stake in something I wanted. I’d kill her last, so she got a few more days of blissful ignorance.”
My croissant dangled uneaten in my hand. “Hold on. I’m confused. What would you kill to get your hands on exactly?”
Helen laughed. “Nothing! Well, maybe a really tasty brownie if it was the last one in the tin.”
I swatted her arm. “Thanks! I’m worth more than one measly brownie.”
“A tray of brownies then.” Helen dodged another swat from me. “Seriously, this business angle is worth looking into. People get nasty when there’s money involved.”
“Horatio said Julius is only involved for the money. Maybe he thought, by getting rid of his niece, he’d get more of the profits from the business.”
“That’s short-sighted if he did that,” Helen said. “He’s killed off the money maker. With Felicity dead, the fabulous hybrids stop.”
“That’s going to be a problem,” I said. “Horatio mentioned it last night. This big product launch for their Halloween plants will be their last.”
“If Horatio is worrying about the future of the business, he could be involved. He killed his sister to get money and now realizes what a mistake that was. We heard last night that he’s not blessed with an Einstein IQ.”
I nodded as I bit into my oven-warm croissant. “Julius said Horatio isn’t all that smart, but he seemed bright enough when we spoke last night. If he is involved, maybe he didn’t think it through before he killed his sister. Horatio needs money for his new business venture.”
“The problem with that is, how did Horatio train his killer bees?” Helen grinned. “That could be a new business he’s working on. A circus of bees. He might have little bees pedalling tiny bikes or balancing on high wires. That I’d pay to see.”
“You can suggest the idea the next time you see him. He might actually try it.”
Helen stuck out her tongue. “He could have gotten lucky. Horatio could have spotted a bee’s nest and stirred them up then opened a window so they got to Felicity.”
“Hold on a second. Felicity died in April, didn’t she?” I pulled out my cell phone and searched for bee behavior. “It says here that April can be a tough month for bees. A cold month means few food supplies, and they get desperate.”
“Which fits my theory! Desperate bees, hungry and cold, creeping out of their nest to find food. Horatio opens the greenhouse, and they fly in because they smell the flowers.”
It was possible, but I wasn’t convince
d. I jumped at the sound of a finger tapping on the glass at the front of the apartment.
Flipper raced to the window and barked.
I hopped up and looked out. Frost still covered the grass, and the sun was struggling behind a thick band of gray clouds.
“Who’s out there?” Helen asked.
“No one I can see.” I peered into the gloomy morning light, trying to locate the sound of the tap.
Flipper ran to the door and sniffed around it.
“It must be a ghost, since Flipper’s so interested,” Helen said.
Maybe it was all the ghost action I saw yesterday, but my nerves still felt on edge. “It’s most likely nothing.”
“You should set Flipper on them,” Helen said. “They’ll think twice about tapping on our window when we’re enjoying our morning croissants.”
I turned away from the window, and the sound came again. I whirled around and pulled the curtain aside. There was no one there.
“Maybe it’s Felicity playing a game,” Helen said.
I shook my head. “She doesn’t strike me as the kind of woman who plays games.” I jumped away from the door as a fist pounded against it.
Flipper barked and growled.
“That doesn’t sound particularly ghostly.” Helen was on her feet, the spoon from the preserves in her hand, like she planned to attack with a sticky blunt piece of metal.
“Lower your weapon. Let’s see who it is before we launch an assault.” I pulled open the door and yelped in surprise. A zombie stared back at me.
Flipper bared his teeth, and his growling intensified as the zombie raised its arms.
“Attack, Flipper!” Helen hurled the spoon at the zombie.
Flipper lowered his head, the whites of his eyes showing.
I grabbed his collar. “Stay! Ignore Helen.”
The zombie held up a hand and backed away. “Wait! Don’t attack. It’s only me.” Julius pulled off the zombie mask and snorted laughter. “I got you both really good. You looked so scared when you peered out the window as if you expected to find some rabid serial killer out here.”