Dagger in Dahlias

by Dale Mayer

  “Why the hell would you say that?” Doreen asked.

  The two cops stared at Hornby in avid fascination.

  He shrugged. “Because the guy just upped and died. Everybody said he had a heart condition. But I saw him at the time, and white foam came from his mouth.” He snorted then. “Besides why haven’t you figured out who shot me? Like you give a damn about that.”

  “Maybe no one cares about you. But I’m sure somebody did an autopsy on George,” Doreen said. “And foam doesn’t necessarily mean he was murdered.”

  “No, but Penny having a lover at the time George died could.” He sneered. “So your nice and perfect Penny was not so nice and perfect.”

  Doreen gave him a bland little smile. “People like you can’t stand to see anyone happy. There’s rot in your core. You can’t resist spreading it all around you. Well, now you’ll be with your own kind. The rotten kind. You should finally feel right at home.”

  With that, Mack marched Hornby out the front door to hand him off to the two cops following them.

  They just shook their heads. “Man, oh, man,” Chester said. “Since she arrived in town, all we do is work overtime.”

  “You’re welcome,” Doreen called out. “I’ve also made the streets much safer. And, when you get overtime, you get extra pay, and I don’t get paid at all for my help. So quit your complaining.”

  The two men probably didn’t even hear what she’d said though. They were down the steps and walking toward the cop car. She held her uninjured hand over her eyes for a long moment, her mind running endlessly as she thought about poor Johnny’s end.

  When she felt Mack’s arms come around her and hold her close, she burrowed in deeper. He held her for several long moments. Finally she let out a heavy sigh and felt some of the tension rolling off her back. She looked up at him. “Thanks for the warning,” she said. “I got out as soon as I could.”

  He nodded grimly. “You did and right into Hornby’s arms.”

  “Yeah. That wasn’t your fault,” she said. “I’m the one who said nobody could get in or out of the garage via the outside door, and I was so wrong because he was hiding in there.”

  He tilted her head up. “You mean, there’s room in there to hide?”

  She wrinkled her nose. “Barely. But it looks like I need to get one of those big garbage bins and put ninety percent of what’s in the garage in the bin. It’s pretty bad. And I think Hornby must have done something to the door because it opens and closes now. Before, when I tried, it was all I could do to open it a little. And then it squeaked terribly too.”

  “Which means this was premeditated, his attack on you,” Mack said. “Good to know.” He gave her a slight shake. “Did you throw your tea at him?”

  She leaned back, looked down at her tea-covered, bloodstained blouse. “Yes. And now I need another one.” She stepped out of his arms, walked back into the kitchen, and put on the teakettle. She stared out at the garden, collecting her thoughts. But her mind was just such a mess. She turned to look at Mack. “You know what? If I had the money, I think I would sign up for one of those self-defense courses.”

  He crossed his arms and looked at her grimly. “It would be nice if you would stop getting into situations where you need self-defense.”

  She nodded. “But I don’t try to get into trouble. Once I figured this out, I was going to tell you. But I wanted to check the maps on the old Kelowna landfill to see if there was any hope of finding Johnny’s body.”

  Mack shook his head. “I highly doubt it. We can see if there are any records, but it’s been twenty-nine years, and the old landfill has been completely covered over and reclaimed. No, there won’t be much chance of finding his bones, especially with the new subdivision built on top of the old landfill.”

  She nodded. “So, in a way, it was the perfect crime.”

  “It was,” he said. “Except for you.”

  She gave him a wide smile. “I didn’t do anything really,” she said. “I just asked a bunch of questions, poked a bunch of people, waited to see what would pop up. Secrets like that are really great big zits. When you poke hard enough, they explode with all kinds of nastiness coming out.”

  He shook his head. “That’s one hell of an analogy. I’m not mentioning that one to the cops at the station.”

  The teakettle squealed. Doreen turned it off and made herself another cup of tea. “Do you want a cup?”

  “Hell, I want something a whole lot stronger.” He went to the front closet, reached up to the very top shelf, and pulled out a bottle of whiskey.

  She stared at it. “I didn’t know that was up there.” Disgruntled, she added, “I’d have had half a dozen drinks myself over the last few weeks.”

  He poured two glasses with a shot in each.

  She noted they were freehand shots and rather hefty.

  He handed her one and said, “Drink up.”

  “I’m not in shock,” she said.

  “No, I am,” he said in a hard tone. “And I don’t drink alone. So drink up.” He lifted his glass, clicked it with hers, and then tossed his back.

  She shrugged, did the same, and coughed as the liquid fire poured down her throat. She choked and gasped, finding it hard to catch her breath. “Are you trying to kill me?” she croaked.

  He gave her a glass of water, which helped.

  Finally she sat at the table and relaxed. “Will this day ever be over?”

  “It will,” he said. “It definitely is now.”

  She looked up at him and smiled. “So how about spending a few hours at the end of this very long day with a friend? We’ll take a cup of tea, sit in the garden, and forget about murders and murderers.”

  He smiled, made himself a cup of tea, and reached out a hand. “Come on. Let’s go outside for a few minutes and relax. Then we’ll create something from the leftover pasta and enjoy a meal. Afterward we can call it a day.”

  “Agreed,” she said as together they walked out to her garden.

  Epilogue

  In the Mission, Kelowna, BC

  Sunday afternoon … on the same day she closed her last case

  Mack got a hold of Penny over the phone to give her the official account, and she returned home from visiting a friend in Vernon. As soon as she hit town, she walked to Doreen’s place. When Doreen opened her front door, Penny threw her arms around her.

  “Thank you so much,” she cried out and hugged her again. After a moment, she stepped back and said, “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to run out on you. But I didn’t know what that horrible man meant to do. I couldn’t stick around long enough to find out.”

  “It’s okay,” Doreen said. “He can’t hurt you again.”

  Needing to walk and talk, both of them still too keyed up to just sit inside, they walked along Doreen’s backyard as Doreen gave Penny all the details. When their questions and answers ran out, Penny noticed the large garden beds along the side fence. “This is going to be lovely,” she said, motioning to a long stretch of Doreen’s overgrown garden.

  “I’ve got a long way to go to get it back to what it was,” Doreen said. “It’s a lot of work.”

  “Understood. It’s the same at my place,” Penny said. “And not sure I want to now. Before Johnny disappeared, I loved gardening. Then it became a way to wear off the worry and tension over the years, but after George’s death …”

  “I’d leave it as is,” Doreen said. “You’re selling, and your yard doesn’t look too bad.”

  “And yet, selling the house feels like a betrayal to George.”

  Doreen looked at Penny. “Were you happy with George?”

  Penny beamed. “Very happy with him. He was a good provider, a good man.”

  Doreen didn’t know if she should ask about George’s death. It was an uncomfortable topic. Just because Hornby had made some accusations, that didn’t mean it wasn’t true but also didn’t mean Hornby wasn’t just causing trouble. “How did George die again?”

  “A heart
attack,” Penny said, her face stilling. She put a hand to her heart. “He went very quickly.”

  Penny walked toward the rear of the property, where a large bunch of echinacea stood tall. The blooms hadn’t opened yet, but it looked to explode with flowers soon.

  “I’m sorry for your loss,” Doreen said. “That must have been very difficult.”

  “Oh, it was,” she said. “It was, indeed.”

  Doreen looked at the low patch of echinacea in her garden and smiled. “I remember how your plants are much bigger than mine.” She motioned at her poor echinacea, adding, “I have all kinds of other plants crowding mine, as well as more plants I need to move like foxglove, belladonna, nightshade…” She slid her glance sideways, checking Penny’s reaction to her list of poisonous plants, but saw absolutely nothing. Satisfied, Doreen linked her arm with Penny’s and faced her new gardening friend. “I wanted to give you more of the news personally, before you heard it elsewhere.”

  “Thank you for that,” Penny said. “I should get home now.” She looked back at Doreen’s gardens as they walked toward the creek. “You know what? Considering we found the dagger in the dahlias at my place and then that medallion out in my front yard too, I won’t ever look at a big clump of plants like that without wondering if more evidence is hiding in it.”

  Doreen’s mind kicked in, repeating evidence in the echinacea, evidence in the echinacea. But that was not today’s story. That would have to wait for another day. With a smile she said, “Forget all about that for now,” she said. “We can garden another day.”

  Penny chuckled. “Sounds good to me. At least we have something in common.”

  Doreen nodded. “We do, indeed. We plant things, all kinds of seeds, even ideas we weren’t aware we were planting …” Her tone was cryptic.

  Penny looked at her sideways, but Doreen just smiled and suggested, “Maybe you should set up a memorial garden for Johnny now.” At Penny’s startled look, Doreen explained further. “I know that came out of the blue. But I was thinking, you know, as I looked at that echinacea, how you have lost both Johnny and George, and both of them loved your home.”

  “But I’m selling it,” Penny said. “Remember that?”

  Doreen nodded. “Maybe that’s a nice way to leave it then, as the home you all shared together,” she said. “Creating a memorial garden before you move out would be a very nice thing to do for them. If the new owners rip it out, well, all fair and good. You wouldn’t have to do much. Just set up two rings of rocks and a little marker stone in the center of each ring and say some kind words over it. You’ll get Johnny’s medallion and his knife back at some point in time from the police. There is that little cross as well.”

  Penny looked thoughtful as she stared at the creek. “You’re thinking about me getting closure, aren’t you?”

  “I am,” Doreen said, but she was also thinking of something else that just wouldn’t leave her alone. “For your own sake. Plus you don’t know how long it’ll take to sell your house.” she said. “But, if you think about it, it could be a few months or even a year. You haven’t put it on the market yet, have you?”

  Penny shook her head. “I couldn’t while you were investigating,” she said starkly. “It seemed wrong to. Now that you’re done, and we know what happened …” She shook her head. “George spent most of his adult life searching for his brother, and to think that he never found out, … but, in just a few days, look what you accomplished?”

  “I’m really sorry about the long passage of time without answers,” Doreen said, her voice compassionate. “I think one of the hardest things for people is to never find out the truth.”

  “And you did it so fast,” Penny said in amazement. “That’s what really blows me away. I only talked to you like, what, last Tuesday, Wednesday? And then, all of a sudden, it’s Sunday, and here you are already, with it solved.”

  Doreen didn’t know what to say. While she formulated an answer, Penny burst out, “Why couldn’t the police have done that years ago?”

  “Because years ago, people stayed mum for a lot of different reasons. Things were different back then. People kept secrets, likely out of fear,” Doreen said slowly, thinking about what it had taken for the answers to come to the surface. “And I think Hornby stayed low and out of trouble, until he left town as soon as he could. Now so much time has passed, he thought he was safe.”

  Penny said, “It makes no sense. He killed all three of those boys, for nothing.”

  “Yes,” Doreen said, speaking slowly. “It also helped Hornby keep his secret when Susan couldn’t remember anything from the car accident. She was under the influence of the drugs and still hungover, so it’s no wonder the cops didn’t take her seriously. Yet she’s the one who kept saying a multicolored vehicle was involved, whereas Alan said it happened so fast that he couldn’t remember anything, other than a small car. Black, he thought, but he wasn’t even sure of that. Could have been dark green or dark blue. Apparently he’d been fighting with Susan.”

  “And, of course, it was all make believe anyway,” Penny whispered. “It’s just too incredible.”

  “It is,” Doreen said, “but, honestly, often the truth is the simplest answer of all.”

  “They had found no DNA back then that led to any suspects. They had no digital anything back then,” Penny said, “like to see if Johnny showed up in another county or whatever.”

  Doreen nodded. “And, of course, Alan’s father stuck up for him and gave him an alibi. Mr. Hornby believed his son was at home and didn’t see the body in the trash truck’s compactor. Julie’s family wasn’t any better. Nobody wanted to point the finger at Alan Hornby, even though nobody liked him. Even Julie had no way of knowing that an argument or picking one man over another would cause this kind of a reaction.”

  “But to think it was love triangle gone wrong,” Penny said in bewilderment. “And for all of it to stay a secret over all these years … We didn’t even know about Julie.”

  “But Mother Earth gives up her secrets eventually,” Doreen said. “Think about the dagger. Think about the medallion. Think about the cross.”

  “There’s no chance of Johnny’s body being found, is there?”

  “No, I doubt it,” Doreen said softly but firmly. “I’m afraid that idea has to be set aside. He was placed in the old landfill. Everything there was all mulched together and reclaimed, as the city does its job, and now a whole new subdivision has been built up there. I think the community of Wilden is there now.”

  Penny looked at her. “All those new fancy big houses in Glenmore?”

  “I think so,” Doreen said. “If not that area, another one nearby.” She watched her friend, still trying to take it all in, to make peace with it. “Come on. You’re a bit shaken up. I need a walk anyway. Let’s get you home.”

  “It’ll be dark soon. Are you sure?” Penny asked, but she looked grateful nonetheless. “I have to admit that I’m feeling pretty shaky. Knowing that it’s over, that all this which haunted us—which haunted almost my entire marriage—is over. Now if only you had moved to Kelowna years ago,” she joked, “then George would have known what happened before he died.”

  “The thing is, back then, I probably wouldn’t have been doing what I’m doing now anyway.”

  “Why is that?”

  “Because I’m a different person from who I was even a few years ago,” Doreen said with half a smile. She called for Mugs. “Mugs, you want to go for a walk?”

  Immediately her basset hound, who’d long lost his pedigree and his good manners, appeared, jumped up, and twirled around on his back legs. She giggled. “Now if only we could make money with a circus act,” she said. She bent down, gave him a quick hug, then pulled his leash from her back pocket to hook it on.

  “You don’t normally put him on the leash, do you?” Penny asked.

  “No,” she said. “Not since I moved here, but he is leash trained. I just figured that, every once in a while, I should do it to ke
ep him in the habit.”

  At that, they stepped out on the creek pathway, and a streak of orange bolted toward them. “Goliath, want to go for a walk?”

  From the veranda at the back of her house, Doreen could hear Thaddeus calling out, “Wait for me, wait for me.”

  Doreen chuckled. “I guess Thaddeus wants to come too.”

  Penny was fascinated as Doreen squatted down, waiting for the bird to waddle to them. She stretched out her arm, and Thaddeus hopped onto the back of her hand and sidestepped all the way up to her shoulder. Once there, he brushed his beak against her cheek. She reached out and gently stroked his back. “I wouldn’t go without you, big guy.”

  As if he understood, he nudged her a couple more times and then settled in. Just as she was about to take a step, he said, “Giddyup, giddyup.”

  Instantly she froze, turned her head to look at him, and said, “No way am I following your commands.”

  He twisted his head, looked at her, batted those huge eyes of his, and said, “Thaddeus, go.”

  “Yes,” she said in exasperation. “You can tell that you’ll be going somewhere,” she said. “You’re already on my shoulder, and we’re already out of the house.”

  And then he seemed to settle without more arguments. As she glanced at Penny, her new friend tried to hold back her chuckles. She rolled her eyes at Penny. “It’s pretty bad when the bird treats me like some sort of an old gray mare,” she snapped. “Oh, wait.” She returned to her house, reset the alarms on the front and back doors, and then rejoined her animals and Penny. “Now let’s go for a walk.”

  “I heard the beeps.” Penny glanced back at the house. “Do you always set an alarm when you go for a walk? You don’t look like the type to me.”

  “Normally I wouldn’t be,” Doreen said cheerfully. “But I have an antiques dealer coming tomorrow to look at a few pieces,” she said, carefully fudging the truth. “I would hate for anybody to go inside and help themselves.”

  Penny nodded. “Oh, my, no,” she said. “When I think of all the hours George and Nan spent arguing about her antiques …”