Narcissist in the Daffodils

by Kristy Carter

  Penelope gave her cousin a sympathetic smile. “At least you know he cares. He didn’t mean to get in the way of the investigation. I think he just panicked.”

  “Yeah, maybe,” Sorrel mumbled. “I thought I’d found a decent guy. He seemed so nice.”

  While Sorrel wallowed in pity on Penelope’s couch, Penelope got her cousin a cup of tea and herself a cup of coffee. Penelope sat the drinks down on the coffee table. “I think he has to be fairly nice to risk an obstruction charge for you.”

  “That’s the thing, though. I don’t want him to do that. I want him to trust that I’m innocent,” Sorrel said plaintively as she sipped her warm tea. She smiled. “Hey, you made me some peppermint tea.”

  Penelope smiled back at her. “Just like Grams used to. You remember whenever we got sick or sad, she’d always make us that tea?”

  “Yeah,” Sorrel said wistfully as she cupped the tea to her chest with a smile. “Thanks, Penny. You’ve been doing so much to try and prove us all innocent. What have I done?”

  Penelope smiled at Sorrel as she picked up her own cup. “You’ve been doing the most important thing. You’ve been holding down the fort. Greene Fields is lucky to have you.”

  The two cousins sat on the couch and drank in silence for a moment. Sorrel whispered, “Who would do this to us and Greene Fields?”

  “I don’t know,” Penelope said with a frown. “But I’m going to find out, and they are going to pay for it.”

  Chapter 9

  “Is it true that they arrested that boy who worked for you?” Mabel was all ears as she leaned over the table toward Sorrel.

  Sorrel frowned at the nosy woman. “They took him down to take his statement. They didn’t arrest him.”

  “Well, he isn’t at work, I note.” Mabel looked around the gardening center and then back at Sorrel.

  Some hair blew out of Sorrel’s ponytail holder, and she pushed it out of her face in frustration. “Penelope thought it best he take some time off until the investigation is concluded. That way nosy people won’t get the wrong idea about him.”

  If Mabel realized the jab was about her, she did not let on. The woman just shrugged and patted her hair to make sure it was still in place as a gust of wind came through the gardening center. “Well, his absence looks a mite suspicious too.”

  It took all Sorrel had not to scream at the woman, but soon enough Mabel was sauntering away. Penelope came up beside Sorrel. “Okay there?”

  “I hope she did it,” Sorrel said with feeling.

  Penelope chuckled. “We are not that lucky. Besides, someone had to get access to Greene Fields. We need to figure out who could have gotten our keys.”

  “That’s just it. I carry mine in my pocket, zipped up. No one is getting that.” Sorrel patted her pocket and sighed. “I should start getting used to wearing orange.”

  Penelope mock gagged. “Orange is not your color, Cousin.” She straightened up and breathed deeply of the cool air. “No. Someone out there knows something, and I’m going to find that person.”

  “Thought Leo didn’t want you going off on your own?” Sorrel picked up the paper cup that had her morning pineapple juice in it. She took a sip as she eyed her cousin.

  Penelope laughed and assured her, “I’m going to let him tag along today. I’ve got to ask the last local some questions and see if she can shed any light on who had an affair with George Falston.”

  “I can’t believe anyone would,” Sorrel said with disgust. “He’s slept with half the town’s women. I wouldn’t touch that man with a ten-foot pole.”

  “Let me do the talking?” Leo ventured as he knocked on Debra Zeigler’s door. Penelope rolled her eyes but accepted with a nod.

  The door opened a bit, and Debra peeked out. “Are you the police?”

  “Yes,” Leo said honestly. “Miss Debra Zeigler?” When the woman nodded, Leo continued, “We are just here to ask you some questions about George Falston and your relationship.”

  The door swung open wider, and Debra eyed them with resignation. “It was me.”

  Leo and Penelope exchanged a look. “It was you?” Leo asked to clarify what the woman meant.

  “George and me,” Debra said. She gave them a helpless shrug. “He was very charming when I first met him.”

  Leo cleared his throat. “So, you were having an affair with Mr. Falston?”

  Debra nodded eagerly. “Oh yes, we were quite the item for about six months.”

  “Did Elizabeth ever talk to you about George?” Penelope asked curiously.

  Debra leaned against the door and frowned. “That woman was a hellcat. She put George through the ringer.” She nodded. “Yes. Beth asked me about my relationship with George. I was honest with her. I knew she was doing that corruption probe, and I wanted her to know that the relationship never benefited me. I wasn’t even with him last year during the art show.”

  “Do you know of anyone else Elizabeth questioned regarding the art show corruption?” Leo asked the woman as he watched her face closely.

  Debra pursed her lips in thought. “She talked to a lot of people the week before she…” Debra trailed off, then mumbled, “the week before she was killed.” She folded her arms across her chest as if the thought of Elizabeth’s death had upset her.

  “Do you know who she talked to, exactly?” Leo tried again to refocus the woman.

  Debra’s black hair was twisted up into a messy bun, and the woman patted it in thought. “I don’t know for sure. I had heard she talked to several people; she talked to council members and artists alike. She never was one to leave a stone unturned. I feel like she just talked to the wrong person.”

  Penelope sighed. “You have no idea who Elizabeth talked to, then?”

  “Well, I know she talked to all the front-runners and most of the council.” Debra chewed her bottom lip. “Oh, I remember Jamie saying that Elizabeth was supposed to talk to her the day after the murder, but she never heard from her. Then, of course, we all heard about the murder.”

  Leo nodded. “Did you hear anyone mention any other names?”

  Debra tapped her arm as she thought. “Jonathon Stanton—he’s a council member. He and Elizabeth often butted heads, but he went out of town this week with several art council members. I haven’t seen him since last week.” Debra gave them a sad look. “I’m sorry I’m not more help. Elizabeth was a mean lady, but she didn’t deserve what she got.”

  Penelope felt a sinking feeling yet again that they had not found the person they were looking for. She looked over at Leo as he made a note on his notepad. “Thank you for your help, Miss Zeigler.”

  The woman nodded and closed the door. Leo and Penelope shared a look as they turned to go back to Leo’s patrol car. “At least she confirmed that Elizabeth was talking to art show contestants and council members,” Penelope mused aloud.

  “Yeah, she also gave us a name that I’ve heard before. Matt told me that Stanton and Elizabeth had been at each other’s throats before he left. Matt said that it seemed to revolve around some affair that Stanton was having with one of the artists. Elizabeth was closed-lipped about who it was, though. I’ve called him, but he hasn’t gotten back up with me.” Leo tapped his notepad against his palm in agitation.

  Penelope frowned. “But our killer is a female, right? So, maybe whoever Stanton was having an affair with was the next person Elizabeth went after. I’ve been chasing George this whole time, but what if it had nothing to do with that and everything to do with the art show? Maybe someone was putting in a bid to topple Margie out of first place.”

  Leo nodded. “Maybe. Did Margaret mention anyone that had threatened her or given her any indication that they might be expecting to beat her in the art show?”

  “I haven’t asked,” Penelope said honestly. “Margie’s been helping me with info about the contestants, but she hasn’t mentioned any open hostilities. Although Jamie London wasn’t too happy when Margaret started winning. She kept implying that Margaret didn
’t get there on her own.”

  Leo shrugged. “I talked to Mrs. London, too. She didn’t seem involved. I checked with Matt, and her story was confirmed. Elizabeth hadn’t spoken to her as far as Matt knew.”

  “That’s if Matt is telling the truth. I love Matt, but he acted a bit odd the other day when I was there. Do you think he could be involved?” Penelope enjoyed hashing out the clues with Leo, she discovered. His own investigation had run parallel to hers, and she liked his feedback.

  The detective scratched his eyebrow. It was something he did when he was stressed. “I’d hate to think he was. I honestly think he’s more concerned about losing his job if he blows the art show this year.”

  Penelope said quietly, “I need to get back to the garden center. We have a shipment of seeds and planting soil coming in this afternoon. With Tom on a leave of absence, it’ll take twice as long to get it unloaded.”

  Leo offered, “I could help.”

  “No. You need to keep at this investigation. There has to be someone who knows what happened.” Penelope sighed. “Come on. Drop me off at Greene Fields.”

  At Greene Fields, Penelope was quickly distracted from thoughts of art shows and murder by the task of moving large pallets of planting soil where customers could purchase them. Margaret was working, so she helped with the shipment while Sorrel finished taking care of the last customers of the day and minded the front. Penelope pulled and Margaret pushed the last pallet up front just as Sorrel was closing out the cash register for the day.

  “I despise potting soil,” Penelope gasped as she kicked the pallet. She pulled the pallet jack out from under the pallet and dragged it toward the storage room.

  Margaret laughed and dusted her hands off. “Do you want me to get the plastic off the pallets?”

  Sorrel shook her head. “Just leave it,” she said as she walked up to Margaret. “We’ll take it off in the morning.”

  When Penelope returned, she and Sorrel took the cash inside and covered everything up. Margaret went to lock the greenhouses while they tidied up. Sorrel was the first to head out for the day, as she wanted to check on Tom. Penelope gave her cousin a wave as Sorrel left. She and Margaret locked the building and made their way to the front gate.

  As Penelope locked the front gate, she glanced over at Margaret, who was fishing in her purse for her car keys. “Hey, do you know a Jonathon Stanton?”

  Margaret dropped her keys on the ground. She cursed as she bent over to grab them. “Yeah; he’s on the council, isn’t he?”

  With a nod, Penelope continued, “Apparently Elizabeth had some words with him last week. People seemed to think it had to do with the corruption probe.”

  “I haven’t heard about it. I’ve been out of town, though, so all manner of things could have happened while I was gone,” Margaret said with a shrug.

  Penelope walked with her, as she had parked near Margaret’s car. “Did you run over a post?” Penelope nodded toward a ding in Margaret’s bumper.

  “Nah, there’s this bush in my yard that I keep hitting,” Margaret said dismissively.

  Penelope glanced over at the saplings. “Margaret, when did you get back into town?”

  “You know it was a couple of days after the murder,” Margaret said as she eyed Penelope curiously. “I think it was a Wednesday. My vacation has my mind all out of sorts.”

  Penelope nodded. “Yeah. They can do that to you.” Penelope eyed the woman, who was busily straightening her hair and unlocking her car. “How’s Teddy?”

  Margaret looked confused for a moment, then smiled. “He’s doing much better. I think it was just a touch of something he ate.”

  “Shame he had to miss all those fun parks just for that,” Penelope said with a frown. Margaret nodded her agreement as she got in her car. Penelope raised her hand as the woman left. After Margaret was out of sight, Penelope foraged in her purse for her cell phone. She rarely took the device out, but this was one of those times it was invaluable. She hit Leo’s number and put the phone to her ear. “Leo…can you meet me here at the gardening center?” Once the man had agreed, Penelope clicked the phone off. She glanced back over at the saplings as she waited.

  Penelope let Bramble back out of the truck. Something was not sitting right with her.

  About fifteen minutes later, Leo pulled up. “What’s up?” He asked as he got out of a black SUV—his civilian vehicle.

  “Tell me what happened when you called Margaret’s family in Florida.” Penelope did not have time to waste dancing around her questions.

  Leo frowned, then said, “They said Margaret was headed in.”

  “Who did you talk to?” Penelope eyed the man intently as Leo thought back to the conversation.

  He scratched his eyebrow and said hesitantly, “Her sister, Rita. She said that Margaret had headed back.”

  “Did she mention her son being sick?” Penelope waited, and finally Leo shook his head. “What if Margaret was here the night of the murder? What if she came in that night, met Elizabeth here…then just pretended to come into town later?” Penelope could see Leo’s mind working out the numbers. “Did Rita say how long Margaret had been gone?”

  Leo pursed his lips. “She didn’t. If we can’t put her at the murder here, then it doesn’t matter.”

  “Her car has a dent on it, right about the same height where the sapling got hit. If she was parked over there,” Penelope pointed to the space near where the purse had been found, “then she could have backed up, hit the sapling, and took off.”

  Leo eyed the scene as if picturing the events. He looked over at Penelope. “It’ll be circumstantial. We need someone to collaborate it. Or a confession.”

  “Tom found that book and hid it because he thought that Sorrel would get blamed. Is there anything about the book that you guys could find out?” Penelope gave Leo a hopeful look.

  The detective nodded thoughtfully. “There were a couple of pages missing. We are assuming that the info on those pages might incriminate whoever killed Elizabeth. One of the pages missing is the day Elizabeth was murdered.”

  “What about the other page missing?” Penelope had figured the day of the murder would probably be gone. As thorough as Elizabeth was, she probably wrote down whom she was going to see.

  Leo said, “We are waiting on Matt for that. He said he found what he thought was an online version of Elizabeth’s book.”

  “Well, it is the modern age. She would want that information safe just in case someone tried to destroy her book.” Penelope was just thinking aloud, but the more she spoke, the more it seemed logical. Elizabeth was a thorough woman. “She wouldn’t leave things up to chance.”

  Leo nodded. “Matt has been trying to get into it since he found it hidden in her files yesterday. I can give him a call, but he’s likely on his way home.”

  “The book was in an obvious spot,” Penelope said as if she hadn’t heard Leo. “It doesn’t make sense. Unless…” She glanced around at the gardening center. “Unless the murderer came back after they were sure we had searched for the book here.”

  They both turned and looked at the gardening center. “You think they came back and hid the book here thinking that we wouldn’t double back?”

  “The book turned up after we had already searched everyone’s houses and the gardening center. That book couldn’t have been there. We would have seen it. Sorrel parks right in front of it.” Penelope shook her head and stomped determinedly up to the gardening center. There was a bark, and she yelled over to Leo, “Hey, let Bramble out. I was loading him up to go home when I saw Margaret’s bumper.”

  Leo opened the truck door, and Bramble bounded over to Penelope as she unlocked the gate. “He found the book. He might be able to help us find the pages if they are really here.”

  Leo just went along with it, following Penelope and Bramble through the gate. They walked for a long while before Bramble took off toward the greenhouses. Penelope and Leo ran after him. They found the Lab nosing around
the door to the #3 greenhouse.

  “Has anyone been in there since we closed it for the investigation?” Leo asked as he pulled the door open quietly.

  Penelope nodded. “Actually, yeah. I caught Margaret coming out of it. She said she was going to get some daffodils. Come to think of it, she didn’t have any plants in her hands.”

  Leo’s face settled into a grim line, and he slipped into the greenhouse. Penelope flicked the switch that turned the overhead lights on. The inside of the greenhouse was still and quiet. Penelope shivered when she looked over at the spot where Elizabeth had been found, then her eyes zeroed in on a pot that looked disturbed. “That pot on the end of the table.” Penelope motioned with her hand.

  They walked toward the pot in question. The daffodil was sitting at an awkward angle, as if someone had just stuffed it back in the pot in a hurry. Leo lifted the plant carefully. It slipped out of the dirt easily, proving how loose the dirt was around it. Leo and Penelope exchanged a look as Leo dug down into the dirt with his fingers. His face settled into a frown as he brought his hands back out of the dirt. In his fingers were pages that looked similar to the ones Penelope had seen in Elizabeth’s book.

  “Is that them?” Penelope asked question quietly, as if they would be overheard.

  Leo shook the dirt off the pages and brought them to a spot where an overhead light would shine down on them directly. On the page was written in a fine, unhurried print everything Elizabeth had done during those days. Penelope’s heart leaped when she saw a note that Elizabeth had been planning to meet with Margaret. “I really hoped it wasn’t true.” Penelope felt sick to her stomach.

  “It’s here, though. The other page is a note from her confrontation with Mr. Stanton, where he gave Elizabeth Margaret’s name in return for keeping quiet about his involvement.” Leo folded the papers back up and put them in his pocket.

  The door to the greenhouse opened, and they both turned around to see Margaret. Visibly shaking, her hands lifted a small handgun and pointed it toward them. “I didn’t want it to be like this,” Margaret said earnestly. “I met her here because I didn’t want to meet her at home. I tried to leave, but she grabbed me.” Margaret shook her head, and in doing so, she waved the gun around. “She fell. You gotta believe me.”