Lethal Lily (A Peggy Lee Garden Mystery) (16 page)

She directed his gaze to a dead fern that was hanging by the door. “I’d say that.”

“Come on back to my office, and let’s talk.” He held the door for her as she struggled with the heavy canvas bag holding the plant.

Peggy put the bag on the floor near her feet as she sat down in Al’s office. Paper, files, and empty food containers were heaped on his desk. She thought he could do with a good clean.

“From what I can tell, this Houck character isn’t into much.” He handed her Arnie’s file. “He’s got a few speeding tickets and a misdemeanor for not paying a court fee—but that was a few years ago. He’s clean.”

“What about Harry? Anything new?”

“There was no sign of an empty, or full, scotch bottle. I don’t know what’s up with that yet. He’s got a file three inches thick for everything from driving without a license, to breaking and entering charges. He served some time when he was younger, but he’s been off our radar for a few years. I don’t have a clue yet why anyone would want to kill him.”

Peggy explained about the puncture wound and poison Dorothy had found in Harry’s body. “You’d better find Ann Fletcher’s file too. She’s going to be exhumed as part of this.”

“Really?” He shivered. “I
hate
when they do that. Is she so sure Ann Fletcher was murdered too?”

“I’m probably to blame for that—though I don’t like exhuming the body any more than you do. The same poison that killed Harry was in her body when they autopsied her at the hospital. No one took it any further, but it’s there. How can we look the other way?”

“I suppose not. I’ll pull what I can find on Fletcher’s wife.” He scribbled her name on a piece of paper. “I don’t think it’s much since there wasn’t an official investigation.”

“I should tell you that Harry’s papers were stolen too.”

“You mean the ones about John?”

“I mean everything he had in the storage unit. Harry had been saving information he could find about his wife’s death too.”

“You think this Arnie Houck took them?” He sat back in his chair, hands folded across his stomach.

“Why would he? He already had them. We went there this morning, and everything was gone. The manager said the cameras at that side weren’t working so we don’t have any idea what happened.”

“That’s a nice coincidence,” he muttered. “Your car isn’t quite ready to go. You could hang around a while until it is. Feel like taking a look at some pictures to see if you recognize the man who assaulted you yesterday? Maybe this man is already in the system. I don’t know about you, but it would make me feel better if we knew who it was.”

“Sure. Dorothy is probably working on that court order. I can look at pictures. Maybe we’ll get lucky.”

Al heaved his large frame out of the chair and got her settled behind his computer. He found the spot where the digitized pictures of criminals were kept. “Go to it. I’ll check on your car.”

Peggy had to sit on the very edge of Al’s big, leather chair to keep it from rocking back. It nearly swallowed her in its buttery, soft folds. She put one hand on the mouse to scroll through the photos. These were not only local criminals, but also national felons.

It was amazing, after a short time, how much all of them looked the same. She blinked her eyes, and pushed to focus, but it was difficult. Page after page flew by with no sign of the man whose face was etched in her memory.

“Any luck?” Al came back with a cup of coffee for her.

“He might be in here, and I might not recognize him.”

“I know what you mean. There are a lot of faces in there. Try to close your eyes for a minute, and visualize him when he was closest to you. Remember, his hair will probably be different. He might be younger. Just keep looking.”

Peggy did as he asked. She scanned four more pages while she drank her coffee. She was about to scroll up again, when one of the faces caught her attention.

Is that him?

She squinted hard at the man’s face. His hair was different—shorter. His face was thinner too, but the eyes looked the same. Also the mouth. He’d had a scar right at the corner of his mouth when he’d attacked her. It wasn’t in this picture, but Peggy believed it could be him.

His name was Ray Quick. He’d been born in Florence, South Carolina, and had been in and out of trouble most of his life.

She looked closer at the image. The more she looked, the more sure she was that it was him. His description included his height and weight. Five foot nine, one hundred and sixty pounds.

Peggy closed her eyes and envisioned him during their scuffle in the parking lot. He was taller than her, but not as tall as Steve or Paul. The height worked, although she thought he might weigh less than what they had listed.

Al came back a few minutes later, and she showed him the photo. He nodded. “Yeah. Kind of a small-time punk who does jobs for other people. We’ll look him up and see if he’s in Charlotte. Good catch.”

She smiled. “I hope I’m not causing some poor man extra grief by picking his face out of the computer. I could be wrong.”

“Let’s run with this, and we’ll see. If we can find him, we’ll bring him in for a line-up. That way you’d see him in the flesh, and it would be what he looks like right now.”

“Thanks. I guess I should get back to the office. Is my car ready?”

“Yeah. It’s ready to go. I had it taken in front.” He handed her the keys. “Be careful, Peggy. I don’t like not knowing why you were attacked. He had to know you could go right back in and get another copy of the file he took. That means it was a warning. The next time could be worse.”

“I know,” she admitted, getting to her feet slowly. She was so stiff from the fall yesterday. It felt like every part of her was bruised. “He probably hoped I was too scared to go back and get another copy.”

Al smiled. “But he didn’t know how stubborn Peggy Lee is, did he? How are you feeling today, by the way?”

She eased herself forward a few steps. “I’m in good shape, as long as I don’t move.”

“I’ve had those days.” He kissed her cheek. “I’ll talk to you later.”

Al had a rookie take the poinsettia out to the car for her. She stopped in her tracks when she saw that her car wasn’t covered in red paint. Al had gotten it cleaned, and the inside was even spotless because of the crime scene work.

She got in the car, texted her thanks to Al, and put the passenger seatbelt around the plant. She was about to drive toward the ME’s office when she got a call from Dorothy. A judge had issued a court order for the exhumation at three p.m. Dorothy couldn’t be there and asked Peggy if she would mind taking her place.

“Of course,” Peggy said, though she would rather be anywhere than at the cemetery.

“Thanks. I’ll send you the name of the cemetery, and where you need to meet them when you get there. Talk to you later.”

Peggy started the car and drove to The Potting Shed. She might as well take advantage of her time away from the case to relax with her plants and customers. She could also take a peek at lecture for tomorrow at the university. She’d given the same lecture so many times that she tended to take it for granted. It couldn’t hurt to look it over.

“And you, my new friend, can be repotted so you can spend the rest of your life at the shop. People will fall in love with you when they see how magnificent you are.” She patted the poinsettia carefully.

Selena was surprised to see Peggy at The Potting Shed that morning. She was sorting through another shipment of bulbs, trying to organize them. “What are you doing here?”

“I work here.” Peggy put her bag away and put on her apron. “I thought I was here enough that you’d remember that part.”

“Ha-ha. You know what I mean. Usually when you’re hot on the trail of some bad guy, we get neglected. I’m used to it.”

Peggy hugged her. “Not right now. I have to leave to be at an exhumation at three, but I’m here until then.”

Selena frowned. “Exhumation? You mean you’re digging someone up?”

“I’m afraid so.” Peggy started sorting through the bulbs too. “There seems to be no other way to figure out what happened to this poor woman.”

“Wow. I didn’t know you did things like that. Can I come too?”

Chocolate Vines

These exotic plants grow leathery, green leaves. The pulp is edible and likened in taste to tapioca. The chocolate vine plant is visually stunning with its purple flowers and has a wonderful chocolate scent. Large seedpods ripen in mid to late fall. The vine climbs walls, fences, or anything upright.

Chapter Sixteen

Peggy felt blessed that she didn’t have to answer that question. Only Selena would want to go out to a cemetery and dig up a woman who’d been dead for twenty years. She talked with the customer who came in looking for something new for her garden and pretended that she hadn’t heard the question.

Mary Ann Polumbo was looking for an unusual vine that she could train to climb a new trellis on her gazebo. “I know there are plenty of tried and true plants I could use,” she explained. “I see those new exciting plants in the garden catalogues, and I just want one.”

“I understand. I feel the same way. And I might have something for you. Come back here with me.” Peggy led her to the back of the shop where new plants were kept. “We just got this in. They call it a chocolate vine. Smell it.”

“Wow! It smells just like chocolate,” Mary Ann raved. “What are these little pods on it?”

“Edible fruit.” Peggy pulled one off for her. “Have a taste.”

“Are you sure? I’ve been to your poison plant seminars. Is this safe?”

Peggy popped one into her own mouth. “Very safe. And very delicious.”

Mary Ann pulled off another pod and chewed it. “I love this! How many could I grow on my new gazebo?”

“I would think two or three. You don’t want to be overwhelmed by them. Aren’t they fantastic?”

“You always have what I’m looking for, Peggy. I’ll take three, if you have them. Can I plant them now?”

“Yes. But they may lose the flowers and pods. They’ll come back next year.”

“Wonderful. Thanks so much. What would I do without you?”

The three chocolate vines were actually for one of Sam’s projects. Peggy let Selena ring up Mary Ann’s order while she got on the Internet and ordered five more. It looked like chocolate vines might be popular.

Selena carefully wrapped the vines and helped Mary Ann take them out to her car.

Peggy started back sorting bulbs. This was the bad part about getting them wholesale. They came in one large box with stickers showing which was which. If she put them all out together, the customers got confused. It was worth the time and trouble to separate them.

Mr. Beazle came in with his usual sour expression. Peggy and Selena always joked that he reminded them of Ebenezer Scrooge. He always dressed in an old black suit and frequently complained. Usually he was looking for the cheapest sale plants.

Selena ran into the back of the shop before she had to wait on him.

Peggy smiled, as she always did, and went to ask him what she could do.

“There were three of the five tulip bulbs I bought from you last fall that did
not
bloom this spring.” He glared at her over his starched white collar. “What do you plan to do about it?”

“I plan to give you three new bulbs,” she replied, trying not to lose her patience with him. “Would you like more tulip bulbs?”

“That would be all right—but not red. I have far too many red tulips.”

“All right.” She grabbed a small brown bag and put three yellow tulip bulbs into it. “Is that all?”

“I might be interested in a new rose bush for my formal garden area.”

“This isn’t really a good time to plant roses, Mr. Beazle. I can’t guarantee they’ll grow.”

“Inferior products, madam. You should be able to plant them at
any
time with success.”

“You’ve been a gardener for a long time,” she reminded him. “The dog days of summer aren’t a good time to plant many things.”

“Superstitious hogwash!”

“Have it your way.” She shrugged. “I’ll sell you a rose bush, but I won’t guarantee it.”

“Why would I purchase it from
you
then?” He grabbed his bag of tulip bulbs and left the store.

Peggy sighed as she sat in her rocker. She was glad all of her customers weren’t like him.

Selena glanced around before walking to the counter. “That is one mean, old dude. I wish he’d find another garden shop.”

“Thanks for running off and leaving me with him.”

“You could just ban him from The Potting Shed, and we wouldn’t have that problem.”

“We can’t always work with people we like.”

Selena snorted. “That’s the truth. Look at Sam.”

“I think you’re jealous of him.”

“Jealous? Why?”

“Because everyone loves him and asks for him.” Peggy got up to pull a dead catkin from the miniature cattail plant that grew in the pond. “It’s either that, or you’re in love with him.”

“Both of those ideas are stupid,” Selena argued, but her cheeks bloomed with red. “Sam is gay. He isn’t interested in me that way.”

Peggy shook her head. “That doesn’t mean you aren’t interested in him that way.”

“Trust me. I can go out with whoever I want, whenever I want. I don’t have to sit around sighing over Sam like those other women. They’re so pathetic.” Selena glanced at her watch. “Speaking of which, I’m going to take a break and get something at the Kozy Kettle. Want something?”

“No, thanks. Have fun.”

Did Selena have a crush on Sam? That could lead to all kinds of difficulties. She needed them to be able to work together, but she knew the heart wasn’t always predictable. It might be a good idea to talk to Sam. He was a few years older, and in most cases, very mature. She’d have to hope he could take what she had to say seriously, without making fun of Selena.

The door chimed, and Peggy looked up. It was Arnie again. He stepped inside and used his inhaler.

“I suppose you’re surprised to see me.” He smiled. “I’m surprised to be here.”

“Why are you here?”