“Think of it as letting sand run through a sieve,” Peggy said. “It will sort the particles by size.”
“Then we transfer the pattern to a nylon sheet.” Merton looked over Mai’s shoulder. “My name is spelled with an ‘e’ not an ‘o’. It’s not Morton.”
“Oh, sorry.” She scribbled through his name and held her notebook a little higher.
Merton squinted at her. “You’re a very pretty girl for a scientist.”
“Thanks.”
“All right.” Merton got up from his chair. “Let’s get this show on the road, shall we? I’ll use radioactive probes with the material on the nylon sheet and then expose X-ray film to the sheet. Bands should occur at the probe sites in a unique pattern. If the pattern is the same, your cottonseeds are from the same plant. If not, you’ll have to start over.”
“When will you know?” Ramsey asked.
“Shouldn’t take too long. I’ll give you a call in the morning.” Merton’s eyes raked him from head to toe. “You should work on your style, man. No reason a scientist can’t be a snappy dresser. Like me!”
They all looked at Merton’s blue pajamas with brown puppies on them. He was wearing brown puppy slippers on his feet. His iron gray hair stood up on his head like he’d just seen a ghost.
Ramsey opened his mouth to speak, but Peggy dragged him away before he had the chance. “Think of the sample,” she whispered. “This might be the only way we’re going to find out about the seeds.”
Ramsey tugged on his jacket and walked out of the house with his head held high until he connected with a low-hanging water pipe.
“Oh!” Merton groaned. “That had to hurt!”
Mai rushed to the ME’s assistance.
“Thanks, Merton.” Peggy yawned. “I’ll talk to you in the morning.”
“You got it! Have him put some dry ice on that bump.”
Peggy shuddered.
“What? That’s what I always do.” Merton showed her his bumpless forehead. “Works every time.”
By the time they got back to the lab, Peggy was exhausted. She said her good nights and drove home, not looking forward to facing the questions that were sure to come her way. It had been a long day full of unpleasant surprises. All she wanted to do was crawl in her bed and not get up again until morning.
But that wasn’t destined to happen. Sam was waiting for her in the drive when she got home.
“What’s wrong?” She immediately assumed something was wrong at the Potting Shed. “What happened? I’m sorry I haven’t called you back yet, but you didn’t need to come over.”
“Actually what I had to say I wanted to say in person.” He dug his hands deep into the pockets of his pants.
He was dressed in a suit and tie for once. Looking at him more closely, she realized he had tied his blond hair back in a queue. His handsome face was worried and angry. “What happened, Sam? Are you all right?”
“The police went through Holles’s apartment. They took him in for questioning at four this afternoon. He’s still there. No one will tell me anything about what’s happening or where he is. You have friends down there. Think you can find out for me?”
Peggy touched his hand. “I know what happened.” She told him about the cottonseeds. “If the seed on the hyacinth I found in Luther’s pocket matches the one they found on Holles’s shoe, I’m afraid they may put him in jail and release Darmus. I’m sorry, Sam.”
“No you’re not.” He jerked his hand from her. “You’ve been going after Holles from the first. You thought he killed Luther, and now you’re going to prove it.”
“Sam.” Her forehead furrowed. “I don’t want to hurt you, but Holles may have killed Luther. He was there pretty quickly when the police called after they found Luther in the garden. In comparison to where he lives . . .”
“He was close by,” Sam explained in a quiet voice. “He spent the night with me at my apartment. He didn’t leave until the police called to tell him about Luther.”
“Oh, Sam.”
“Peggy, we’ve been good friends, haven’t we? More than just that I work for you, right?”
“Of course!”
“Then why wouldn’t you leave it alone when I first asked you? Do you realize what I’ll have to do now? I’ll have to go in and tell the police Holles and I spent the night together. When that hits the newspaper, my parents are going to know I’m gay.”
“Maybe you could say something else.” She tried to help with his dilemma. She didn’t like where this conversation was going or the muted, angry tone of Sam’s voice. “You could say he was helping you on a job. Or at the Potting Shed.”
“And the police won’t investigate that?” Sam shook his head. “You’ve ruined it all, Peggy.”
“Sam.” She sighed, hating to sound tired and impatient, but she was tired and impatient. “Your parents should have known this years ago. I think you’ll find they at least suspected. I’m sure you’ve overdramatizing this.”
“That’s not the same as having your son’s perversion spread out on TV and in the newspaper for your friends and neighbors to see.”
“You’re not a pervert!”
“Try telling my parents that!”
Peggy could hear Shakespeare barking in the house. Her father would be sure to follow, peeking out the front window to see what was going on. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what to say. It wasn’t my intention to hurt you.”
“You’ll have to explain that to Holles.” Sam started walking toward his truck. “And you’ll have to find a new assistant manager. Good-bye, Peggy.”
WHEN SHE ENTERED THE HOUSE, Peggy saw Steve and her father and told them what had happened that day. They were sympathetic but didn’t see what else she could do. And that was part of the problem; she couldn’t see what else she could do, either. She was sure her plants were sick of hearing about the problem. She was tired of thinking about it.
Steve said good night right after she got home. Her father went in to watch a John Wayne movie while he finished reading his book. Everyone else was in bed when she tiptoed downstairs.
Peggy sat in her basement most of the night as she watched the miracle of life unfold. A monarch butterfly slowly emerged from its cocoon, glistening in the artificial light. It rested on a milkweed pod, gently moving its wings to dry. Peggy knew in the morning it would be ready to go outside and begin its life.
As she watched the butterfly, Peggy thought. Clearly, Hunter was right. There was more involved here than Feed America, even if Holles was connected in some way. Rosie, and maybe Abekeni, also figured into the scenario. She just wasn’t sure how.
She paced the concrete floor, watching the night change. Mars was out right now, a small, slightly red star in the black backdrop of the sky. Venus was in alignment with the moon opposite. She didn’t know anything about astrology, but it seemed these two things were a bad omen. Look at what a mess everything was!
Start back at the beginning in a failed experiment, her old chemistry professor used to tell her. Maybe that’s what she needed to do.
She’d assumed it was someone close to Darmus who was responsible for giving him the fly agaric. She’d assumed it was because of Feed America. Now Peggy knew Rosie had been in his life again for the last few months leading up to his breakdown.
Peggy’s analytical brain could see the fine method of torture employed. Broken down by the drug, Darmus succumbed to an illogical conclusion, which included pretending to kill himself. Did Rosie think the Council of Churches would give her control of Feed America and the ten-million dollars?
Luther got in the way and had to be removed. Maybe Holles, too. Maybe everything she’d pieced together about him was a setup.
But if it all centered on the money, it was a misguided approach. If Rosie wanted to be back in Darmus’s life, she wouldn’t want him to pretend to die and hide out. She’d want the spotlight Feed America would give her and Abekeni. So though she knew about Luther’s asthma, she wouldn’t have had
any reason to use her knowledge. It wouldn’t give her what she wanted.
Where did that leave her?
If the DNA from both cottonseeds matched, it would mean Holles was in the garden with Luther and probably gave him the poisoned flower. But that was impossible, according to Sam.
Peggy closed her eyes, her head aching. She should have gone up to bed earlier. She couldn’t get anything to fit together. Knowing she wouldn’t hear anything from Merton until morning, she slowly got to her feet. Shakespeare yawned and sat up beside her. “Let’s go to bed and worry about this tomorrow.”
She was on her way past the library when she heard muted giggling and voices behind the closed door. The sounds were too low to tell who it was, but she was pretty sure it wasn’t her parents or Aunt Mayfield and Cousin Melvin. She walked softly to the door and opened it, putting her head around it to look into the room.
Naomi was sitting on Abekeni’s lap, her arms twined around his neck. They were too involved in kissing each other to see or hear her. She slowly went back out, backing up and hoping they didn’t see her.
Abekeni and Naomi!
Just the fact that they were so intimately acquainted when they shouldn’t know each other at all made her pause. She stood by the door and listened on the outside for a long time. But the voices never got any louder. She couldn’t understand what they were saying. Could the fact that they were together have some bearing on the events that had taken place?
Peggy scuttled out of the way as the door started to open. She hid in the alcove behind the blue spruce, ignoring the prickle of the tree boughs on her face and arms.
“Good night,” he said to Naomi.
“Good night, love,” she replied.
“After tomorrow, it will all be over.”
“And we will be together.”
“Forever,” he confirmed.
There was a long silence Peggy assumed was a kiss. Then she heard the front door open and shut. Naomi locked the door and set the alarm. Peggy wanted to kick herself. So much for showing other people how to set the alarm!
What was going on? She wasn’t sure if she should confront Naomi or try to find out by herself. What would be over after tomorrow?
Of course! It was so obvious she wondered why it didn’t hit her in the head! Darmus was protecting Abekeni, not Rosie. He was keeping his son from getting into trouble. The son he didn’t know, didn’t help raise for all those years. Darmus had a guilty conscience with the best of them.
As soon as he found out he had a son who needed money, he began making arrangements to get the funds for him, using Feed America as a way to do it. Then he went to jail to protect Abekeni from being investigated.
Was Abekeni involved with Luther’s death? Maybe Holles wasn’t the only one who wanted to be head of Feed America. And maybe Abekeni was willing to do whatever it took to make it happen.
Whoa! Peggy took a deep breath. Before she accused anyone else of being responsible for what happened to Luther, she needed some hard proof. She’d already made a mess of things with Holles. She didn’t want to make that mistake with Rosie’s son.
But how could she pull the truth together from the strings of possibilities and suggestions?
Naomi might be a weak link in the chain. She was the only link Peggy had right now. She was going to have to question the girl. Maybe if she could get Naomi off balance enough, she could find out what she needed to know. Or find out if she’d managed to misplace her suspicion again.
Peggy followed Naomi up to her bedroom, glancing from side to side down the hall to make sure no one was around. The house was quiet except for the whisper of the TV downstairs. Shakespeare sighed when he saw she wasn’t going to her bedroom and dropped down in front of the door.
Knocking quietly, hoping not to disturb anyone who could ruin her plan, Peggy waited impatiently for the girl to come to the door.
“Yes?” Naomi opened the door a crack and looked out. “Oh, Peggy!” She opened the door wider and smiled. “I didn’t know it was you.”
Peggy hurried into the room. “Please close the door.”
Naomi raised her eyebrows but still didn’t suspect anything, closing the door and sitting on the bed. “Is something wrong?”
“I know about you and Abekeni.”
“Know about us?” The girl knotted her hands together. “What do you mean?”
“I heard you downstairs.”
“Oh! That.” Naomi got up and paced the floor, glancing at the phone like she’d like to call her lover for support. “We weren’t exactly keeping it a secret. He thought it might be a bad time to spring it on his mother.”
“How did you meet him?”
“We met about three months ago. He was part of a group who came to the church. We liked each other right away. We’ve been seeing each other ever since.”
Peggy digested the information. They met at about the same time all of this started. That couldn’t be a coincidence. “And then he told you he was there to meet Luther.”
Naomi began to look very uneasy. “I don’t know what you mean. I’d like to go to bed now, if you don’t mind.”
“He came to the church to get information about Luther.
He’d just found out that his father was the head of Feed America and thought there might be some money in it for him. He met you and used you to get what he needed.”
“What?” Naomi jumped to her feet. “No! He really liked me. He didn’t know about Reverend Appleby until I told him. You’re way off base.”
Peggy realized she was right on target. “He used you to get information about Luther so he could kill him when he realized he was going to get the group after Darmus left.”
“No!”
“You were the one who told him Luther was asthmatic and had been ill. He used that information to kill him!”
“No, you’re wrong! Abekeni wouldn’t have hurt Reverend Appleby. It was an accident.”
“Is that what he told you?” Peggy shook her head. “That’s why he wanted you to stay in Albemarle. He didn’t want you here in Charlotte, did he?”
“He wanted me here. He was afraid people would get the wrong idea, like you just did, if they saw us together.”
Peggy was afraid she might have pushed her suppositions too far. Naomi looked a little less fearful, her voice stronger and more confident. She had to think of something else. She thought about what they’d said downstairs. “And it will all be over tomorrow.”
Naomi’s eyes narrowed. “What have you heard?”
“The truth. The police know all about it. They’re just waiting for Abekeni to make his move.”
“No!”
Peggy decided to push Naomi far enough to learn the truth. “I spoke with Darmus today. He admitted to killing Luther and stealing the money from Feed America to save Abekeni,” she lied. “He didn’t want to see his son go to jail after neglecting him for so many years.”
The young woman covered her face with her hands and started sobbing. “I didn’t mean to hurt anyone. I love Abekeni. When he told me about his father, I wanted to help. It was just some money. They had plenty. We were going to take some and go away together. I didn’t know anyone was going to get hurt.”
16
Lotus
Botanical: Nymphaea lotus
Family: Nymphaeaceae
This is the only plant to flower and fruit at the same time. At night the flower closes and sinks to the bottom of the water. At dawn, it rises and blooms again. Because of this, it has earned the reputation of being the plant of spiritual enlightenment. In ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics the lotus flower symbolized the number one thousand.
PEGGY TOOK A DEEP BREATH and said a silent word of gratitude for the right ideas. It probably helped that Naomi wasn’t the mastermind behind the plot. She got caught up in the whole thing as part of her feelings for Abekeni. But it was no time to be soft on the girl. There was still too much to find out. “But you suspected, didn’t you?”
“When Reverend Appleby died, I was worried. I didn’t think Abekeni had anything to do with it until I heard about the hyacinth.”
“Then you were afraid?”
“Yes.”
“Did you give him any other information?”
“Not about Reverend Appleby.” Naomi glanced up at her. “But I told him about the cottonseeds you found I heard you talking about it. He wasn’t surprised.”
“And one of you called the police about Holles?”
“Yes.”
“And what happens tomorrow?”
Naomi looked scared, her pretty face drawn. “You told me you knew! You tricked me!”
“A jury won’t believe you didn’t know what was going on. You’re going to have to speak to the police and help them stop whatever is supposed to happen next. If someone else dies, you could be held responsible for two deaths.”
“I can’t betray Abekeni,” Naomi sobbed. “He only wants what should have belonged to him from the beginning. It’s fair.”
Peggy went to the phone and dialed Al’s number. “Fair has nothing to do with it. Luther never did anything to hurt Abekeni. He didn’t even know about him. And I don’t think it would be fair for another man to go to jail for what Abekeni did, do you?”
“No.”
“Then tell me what’s next on the list?”
“He worked with his father on Feed America. He knows the program. He thought they’d let him take over when his father was found incompetent. He didn’t know Holles wanted it.”
“So he decided to frame Holles for Luther’s murder?”
“Yes.”
“And when Darmus is released because the police think Holles is responsible?”
“Then he’ll take over for his father. He and his mother have already talked to several members of the Council of Churches. They know him.”
“And Darmus?”
“He doesn’t plan to hurt him, if that’s what you mean. Abekeni only wants the money so we can go away together.”
“You’re too bright a young woman to believe that,” Peggy charged. “Abekeni killed Luther. He doesn’t care who gets hurt to get what he wants.”
Poisoned Petals Page 24
