Killing Weeds

by Joyce

  “I have one cup left.” She poured it for him. “The shop was a mess.”

  “So I understood. I saw Steve leave earlier. Is he going to get the FBI to help you?”

  “The FBI doesn’t do things like that.” She sat with him for a moment. “I have a lot of things I have to do today, Walter. The shop won’t be open, but there’s the insurance and police matters to resolve.”

  “Any idea who did it?” He grabbed the last strawberry on the plate. “Need any help sussing him out?”

  “I don’t have a clue. I wish I did. I think we’ll have to spend today recovering from it before I can really worry about who did it.”

  “But aren’t the first few hours critical to finding the suspect?” His puffy gray brows met above his sallow face and pale blue eyes.

  Peggy hadn’t always been friends with Walter. They’d had many disagreements after he’d moved next door. But she’d found they had more in common than she’d thought. He was a plant lover too, and a botanist like her.

  “Unless the police find something to track the people who did this, I’m at a loss. But if I’m going to ‘suss out’ the person, I’ll be sure to let you know.”

  He rubbed his hands together. “Thank you. You know how I enjoy your little excursions into the forensic field. I even took the same forensic botany class that you did in Raleigh. If something ever happens to you, the police may call upon me.”

  She laughed. “I’ll be sure to let them know.”

  Her cell phone rang as she was gently trying to shoo Walter from the house so she could leave. The call came from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg police so she assumed it had something to do with the vandalism.

  Instead, it was John’s old partner—now a homicide lieutenant—Al McDonald.

  “Hey, Peggy. I have a case right up your alley. Can you come and take a look at a murder over on Providence Road?”

  Hakone Forest Grass

  A handsome Japanese perennial that is long-lived and grown around the world, prized for its long, slender leaves and not growing wildly outside its planted area.

  Chapter Three

  Peggy didn’t bother changing clothes. Usually she dressed in something more office casual for her forensic botany work for the city. With the day she’d had so far, jeans and a T-shirt seemed to be appropriate.

  She was glad Walter went home without much argument. He was excited by the prospect of another case for her with the medical examiner’s office. Peggy was their contract forensic botanist. It was only a part-time job when the ME believed she needed advice on anything to do with plants that could influence a police investigation.

  She’d taken the forensics course years ago out of curiosity rather than expecting to make much money from the work. Her specialty had evolved into poisonous botanicals after she’d finished college. She looked at the forensic botanist job as an extension of that, and it was fascinating.

  Peggy frequently led workshops and programs for local law enforcement on how to know if they were dealing with something in her field of expertise as well as how to collect and store potentially poisonous plants. It was fulfilling to her, even though her schedule could get hectic at times.

  Al had called her to a huge building filled with luxury condos. The whole place looked like a castle. The grounds were beautifully landscaped with all the neatly trimmed flowering trees and shrubs that one would expect. There were flowering pear and cherry trees. Remnants of their blossoms drifted to the sidewalk at her feet. There was bright yellow Hakone forest grass that artfully draped close to the walkway without touching it and square holly bushes that barely reached a foot tall.

  Police officers were at the front door to the building. She’d seen their cars on the street before she’d parked. Two young officers—maybe their first time out—were stationed there to check IDs before allowing anyone inside.

  Peggy didn’t know them and had to show her ID from the medical examiner’s office. They waved her through, and another officer handed her covers for her shoes and gloves. She took a paper mask from him with a smile, though she didn’t think it would be necessary to use it and then followed the trail of officers to the eighth floor.

  Al was waiting for her, having been notified by the front door officers that she’d arrived. The police seemed to be on their best behavior in this case, perhaps because of the high-dollar housing they were investigating.

  “Peggy.” He smiled and hugged her. He’d been on a diet since his last doctor’s visit and had lost ten pounds. It didn’t show yet on his heavyset body or his thick, muscular neck, but he said it made him feel better.

  “Everyone is so polite and quiet,” she mentioned. “They’re doing everything but tiptoeing and whispering. This is a beautiful place. I guess they’re impressed.”

  “It’s nice enough.” He glanced at the heavy wood paneling that covered the walls. “I’d rather be out at my old fishing cabin than live here. How could anyone think of a place like this as home?”

  She laughed. “I’m sure Mary would love it. The carpet is nice.”

  “Whatever.” He started walking away from the elevator. “We’ve got a weird one.”

  “Which is why I’m here.”

  “That’s right. I hate the weird ones as much as I like seeing you.”

  “I know you do. John always did too.”

  He smiled at her. “I think he’d get a kick out of you doing this.”

  “I’d like to think so.” It was years after John had been killed during a domestic dispute before she’d started working with the police. She really wasn’t sure how he would have felt about her job. Would he have been comfortable working with her?

  Al looked at his notebook. “We have one dead woman. Ms. Nita Honohan. Mid-thirties, about five-five. Dyed blond hair. Obviously well-to-do. She’s lived here since the building opened. She was originally from New York. Owned some kind of business. We’re looking into that.”

  “How did she die?”

  “That’s why you’re here.” He grinned at her. “You don’t make the big bucks with no effort. Uh-uh. Mai’s got this one. She’s waiting inside.”

  The large condo Peggy stepped into was as beautiful and carefully appointed as the outside hall and the entry downstairs. Everything appeared new and thoughtfully arranged. It seemed the building interior designer had very good, very expensive taste.

  There were dozens of police officers and crime scene techs scattered throughout the three-bedroom condo. Two of them were closely examining the large balcony. There was one brilliantly red begonia out there. It was the perfect spot for it to make the most of the sun.

  “Over here!” Mai Sato-Lee, the assistant medical examiner, waved to her. She was standing next to the covered body on the carpet.

  “Good morning. You’re out early.”

  “Yeah. Paul had to take Rosie to daycare. I usually do it so I get that time with her.”

  Mai was married to Peggy’s son, Paul. Peggy had become a grandmother last year and found that it was the most glorious occupation of all.

  “I can’t wait until playtime Thursday afternoon,” Peggy said. “She’s such a sweetie. And a lovely combination of you and Paul.”

  Mai was Vietnamese. Her huge, almond-shaped brown eyes and pretty face complimented Paul’s green eyes and red hair. Rosie was a wonderful combination of the pair.

  “Yes.” Mai cleared her throat as she glanced self-consciously around the crowded room. “I’m glad you’re here Dr. Lee. We have an unusual death. I think there may be something you can contribute. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

  Peggy steeled herself as Mai carefully crouched beside the victim and pulled back the sheet. It had never become second nature to see people in their final throes of life. No one should have to be on exhibit this way. No one should ever be killed by another human being.

  This one was particularly gruesome. The woman had obviously been in terrible pain when she’d died. Her face and body were contorted, parts of her dress a
nd coat ripped away from her body. But there was very little blood.

  Peggy was horrified. And intrigued. She knelt on the carpet beside her daughter-in-law. “How did she die?”

  The victim was dressed as though she was ready to go out. Her makeup was perfect. She still wore stylish black heels.

  Ms. Honohan was also wearing a full-length mink coat. It looked new, but it was hard to say since she seemed to have taken very good care of her things.

  Everywhere the coat had touched her left the skin red with some kind of chemical burn. The worst of it was on her torso where her dress and skin had almost melted into the lining of the fur.

  “She was trying to get the coat off,” Peggy said. “Something in it burned her.”

  “We were thinking formaldehyde when we first got here,” Mai said. “People have been known to be poisoned by clothes that still have formaldehyde in them if they wear them without adequate cleaning.”

  Peggy shook her head. “No. Look at her. She didn’t get this coat from a secondhand store. And formaldehyde wouldn’t have this effect. I can’t smell anything, can you?”

  Mai agreed there was no scent. “But the only thing I could think of was an organic poison. What else could do something like this? I’ll have it tested, but I don’t think it’s acid. If it was, why wouldn’t it burn through the coat too?”

  “I’ll need some samples.” Peggy studied the beautiful young victim as Mai sent one of the lab techs to fetch a sample container. She’d had everything going for her. How terrible that this had happened to her.

  Was it a murder, as Mai and Al had surmised, or was it a terrible mistake?

  Eucalyptus

  A fast-growing tree, native to Australia. The trees can grow quite tall and have an interesting bark and fragrance. The leaves have been used for generations as a medicinal.

  Chapter Four

  Peggy had seen too many careless mistakes with botanicals in recent years. People didn’t understand that plants and their extracts could be deadly. They used plant chemicals they knew nothing about in ways they were never meant to be used. Hadn’t she recently read a case of a woman accidentally using eucalyptus to burn out her sinuses?

  Mai handed Peggy a sealed sample container and a thin wood stick that she was supposed to use to scrape off some of the goo that was between the victim and her coat.

  It was part of her job to gather this evidence, but Peggy didn’t like it. Her work was centered on plants—how to grow them and how to improve them. Forensic work was fascinating, but could also be disgusting.

  She carefully used the tiny wood spatula to push a little of what was left of the woman’s skin and clothes into the container. Mai quickly sealed it and wrote her name, the date, and time on it.

  “Maybe you should get one more while you’re there.” Mai handed her another container and another spatula. “It’s good to have two samples, right?”

  Peggy agreed and got the sample before she got back on her feet.

  “I can see why you thought it was acid,” she said to Mai. “Actually, the material is completely smeared on the inside of the coat. It’s where it came into contact with the skin that burned her.”

  “Cause of death was probably shock from chemical or biological burns,” Mai said. “I hope never to see anything like this again.”

  Peggy was still scanning the woman on the floor. On the right sleeve of the mink was a tag.

  “I think the store tag is still on the coat.” She glanced around the room. “And there’s the box it came in.”

  She and Mai went over to it. The large box was open, both halves on the expensive silk sofa.

  “Stewart’s.” Mai wrote it down and took a picture. “We’ll have to examine the box for any residue of what’s in the coat. Looks like she got it today, tried it on, and it killed her.”

  “I guess she didn’t try it on at the store,” Peggy said. “Maybe she ordered it online and it was delivered here.”

  Al came to stand with them by the box. “Ladies. Anything interesting?”

  Mai confidently told him their theory. “I guess you should check with the store, huh? And the lobby downstairs. Maybe there’s a video of someone selling it to her or bringing it up here.”

  He wrote what she said. “Thanks. Careful now. We’ll be like one of those forensic shows on TV, and I’ll be out of a job.”

  “I’m not carrying a gun,” Mai said. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to step on your part of the investigation, Al.”

  Peggy knew Mai was excited and nervous about being there. She was only an assistant medical examiner. “Where’s Dr. Beck?”

  “She’s at a conference,” Mai explained the whereabouts of the ME. “It’s been a while since I had to take over for her. It makes me worry that I’m not doing something right.”

  “Steve’s at a conference too,” Peggy said. “Maybe they’re at the same conference.”

  Mai’s brown eyes widened. “That’s not what I meant. I’m sure Dr. Beck isn’t at a conference with Steve. I mean, they wouldn’t be there together.”

  Al laughed and patted her arm. “Don’t worry about it. You’re doing a good job. I’m sure Steve and Dr. Beck would get a good laugh out of the idea that they met for something besides business at a conference. I’m going to send someone downstairs to see if there’s video of people going in and out.”

  Mai’s pretty face was red. It had become a little rounder since she’d been pregnant with her daughter, Rosie. “I’m sorry I didn’t understand what you meant, Peggy.”

  “Don’t be silly. I was just teasing you. Is there anything else you’d like me to do while I’m here?”

  “No. That’s fine. I guess I’ll see you later at the lab. I hope you can figure out what killed her.”

  “Before Dr. Beck comes back, right?” Peggy smiled.

  “That would be nice,” Mai admitted. “But not necessary.”

  “Okay. I’ll see you later. Say hi to Paul for me if you see him.”

  Mai looked confused. “You just saw him last night. Is something up with you two?”

  Peggy considered her words carefully. She hadn’t seen her son last night. Was Paul taking extra shifts to make ends meet? Mai wouldn’t like that since she felt that he worked too much anyway.

  But if he was going to make her his alibi, he needed to let her know.

  “No. Nothing’s up. I just worry about him. That’s all.”

  “Oh. Of course. Bye, Peggy.”

  Peggy left the condo and went back downstairs. A group of concerned tenants were questioning Al about what had happened. Two officers flanked him, but it seemed unlikely the young, well-dressed crowd would get rowdy. She walked around the people in the lobby area and went back out to her car.

  She shivered as she got inside, thinking about that poor woman upstairs. She wasn’t trained to make deductions about what she saw—only come up with facts about botanical agents that may have been used during a crime.

  But if deductions had been her job, she would’ve considered a toxic mink to be something that involved a crime of passion. Who else would give a woman an expensive coat? She hoped Al checked with the woman’s boyfriend or lover. She obviously lived alone but that didn’t mean she didn’t have someone special in her life.

  Peggy checked her phone. There were several messages from her assistant at the garden shop, Selena Rogers. There were also a few messages from Sam.

  She didn’t want to block anyone in at the condominium and decided she’d wait to answer those messages until she got to The Potting Shed. No doubt she knew what Sam and Selena had to say.

  She’d already seen the message from Eve Malcolm that the investigation was complete. That meant cleanup could commence.

  The glory of a Southern spring surrounded her as she drove the short distance between Providence Road and Brevard Court. Colors, smells, and warm days had seemed to erupt all at once, engulfing the city of Charlotte in its embrace.

  Peggy marveled at a double flowering, we
eping cherry tree on one corner. It was all she could do to stay in the car. Daffodils and tulips lined walkways and porches. Forsythias spilled their bright yellow blossoms in nearly every yard.

  It was hard to see these marvels without feeling a lift in her heart. Despite Nita Honohan’s death—or maybe because of it—it was wonderful to be alive on such a day.

  Traffic was light. The sky was brilliant blue. Peggy sighed and took her time getting to The Potting Shed. It was unheard of for her not to be excited about spending time at her shop, but knowing the destruction that waited for her put a damper on her usual exuberance.

  She took the time to appreciate the beauty around her as she organized her thoughts for cleaning and restocking. Should she keep the shop open even though it would mean being embarrassed when a customer asked for something she didn’t have? Or should she leave the closed sign up and plan a grand reopening? She could see the merits in both plans.

  Brevard Court was busy when she arrived. Even in the back loading area where she parked, there were dozens of cars. Wouldn’t it figure that just as people were venturing out of their winter hibernation to enjoy the nice weather, her shop would be closed?

  Grabbing her handbag and refusing to allow Sam or Selena to see her sadness about the damage, she put on a bright smile and marched up the metal stairs into the shop.

  To her surprise, the back storage area was almost completely clean. The trash was gone, and the concrete floor had been swept. She didn’t understand until she saw one of her best customers, Claire Drummond, with a scarf on her head and a broom in her hand.

  “Oh, Peggy.” Claire hugged her. “I came as soon as I heard. I think I scared Selena because I brought my own cleaning things. But it’s just as well because some people didn’t think of it, and they needed to use your brooms and such. I’m so sorry someone did this. But we’ll have it straightened up in no time.”

  Peggy was speechless. She stared at Claire, but couldn’t think of a single thing to say. She walked into the front of the store where a dozen more customers were picking up shelves and taking out trash.