Poisoned Petals plgm-3

by Joyce Lavene

  “Excuse me, sir,” Peggy interrupted the transaction. “Those orchids will be lucky to live another day. They haven’t been well taken care of.”

  “Who are you?” the seller asked with a sneer. “Plant police?”

  “No,” she replied. “Just a concerned plant owner.”

  “Go away!” The little man behind the orchid stand shooed her. “We don’t need you here.”

  “Don’t worry.” The young man in the brown suit turned to smile at her. “I was only looking at them to say the same thing. How are you, Professor Lee?”

  It was Fletcher Davis, a friend of Darmus’s from a radical ecological group. Peggy wasn’t sure if she was happy to see him or not. He was a little off the wall. “Hello, Fletcher. How are you?”

  He held up his briefcase. “A changed man. I figured out I could better affect the policies of the government from the inside. I’m a lobbyist now. How’s Darmus? I haven’t talked to him since I was here last. I was going to go and see him, but I’m only in town for a few hours.”

  Peggy shook her head. “He’s in a bad position, Fletcher.” She explained about the missing money and Luther’s death. “He confessed to killing him, but I know he’s not guilty.”

  “No doubt.” He glanced at his watch. “Look, I don’t have a lot of time, but I might be able to shed some light on this for you. Would you like to have a cup of tea with me?”

  Wondering what in the world Fletcher knew, Peggy followed him into a coffee shop where they both ordered chai tea and sat at a small table well away from the other patrons. The sun shone in through the tall, hazy window, glinting off the Hearst building tower.

  “Darmus was approached by his ex-wife for money when I was last working with him here.” Fletcher stirred honey into his tea. “She said she needed it for their son. I never even knew he’d been married.”

  Peggy was too surprised to drink her tea. “Did he give her money?”

  “Yes. I don’t know where he got it, but I saw him give her a few thousand dollars. She counted it while we stood there like she was afraid he was shortchanging her.”

  It had to be Rosie. Did Darmus take money from Feed America to give her? “When was that, Fletcher?”

  “About three months ago, I guess. If Darmus took money from the group, it was for her.”

  That would make sense. It was about three months ago that Darmus started acting strangely. If he knew about Rosie and Abekeni, she wouldn’t put anything past him. He was a passionate man. What he felt, he felt deeply.

  But if Rosie had known about what was happening with Darmus, why the elaborate charade when she went to tell her? And why pretend to suddenly come back into his life?

  What would Rosie gain by influencing Darmus to leave Feed America? If she was looking for cash, it was a bad move. And Holles was always destined to take over the group. No!

  She immediately looked up at Fletcher. “Luther was the one who was supposed to take over Feed America. As close as Darmus was to Holles, he always had Luther in mind.”

  “And now Luther’s dead.” Fletcher shrugged. “You’re the crime solver. I thought you should know.” He glanced at his watch again. “I have to go. Please tell Darmus I’m thinking about him. Good luck, Professor Lee.”

  “Thank you,” she replied absently, lost in playing back everything that had happened to Darmus in the past few months. When she looked up again, Fletcher was gone. Peggy wasted no time in going to the jail and confronting Darmus.

  The Mecklenburg County Jail was clean and modern. It smelled of antiseptic and a peculiar scent that she recalled from her previous visits. She thought of it as human beings closed in together for too long. A musty, animal smell.

  It was a large bulk of a building that squatted in place, letting everyone know that once you got there, you weren’t leaving until it was time. It wasn’t gray and dismal like the North Carolina state prison in Raleigh. Instead it was more cold and aloof, like a bad hospital.

  Peggy had visited the prison with other police wives years ago. She’d been in the county jail recently trying to help another friend. She’d been sure he was innocent, too, and she’d been right. She hoped it would end up the same way with Darmus. The process to get inside for a visit was more complicated now than it had been when she’d been there twenty years before. She showed her pass, and the guard waved her through after she stepped through the scanner and had her pocketbook X-rayed.

  Last time she visited, she had sneaked in as Hunter’s paralegal, and that put her in a slightly better position. This time, she was directed to the general visitation area. There was no private place to sit and talk. A guard brought Darmus into the large room where several other people were already talking to their loved ones. Darmus shuffled in with his head low and no spark of life in his usually vibrant body, now housed in the orange jumpsuit.

  Peggy picked up the phone as Darmus took his seat. She gestured to him, but he made no attempt to pick up the phone on his side of the Plexiglas partition. Darmus, she mouthed as she pointed. Talk to me!

  He finally relented just long enough to tell her to go away.

  She’d had more than enough people telling her that for one day! Darmus, she mouthed. I know the truth about Rosie.

  That brought him around. Hands shaking, face haggard, he stared at her as he picked up the phone. “Don’t say anything !”

  “Did you give Rosie money for Abekeni? How long have you known about him?”

  “Peggy, I don’t want you to interfere. Do you understand? I’m here for a reason. I want things to be the way they are right now.”

  “No. I won’t leave it like this. You wouldn’t leave me like this, either.”

  “I would if you told me to.” He shook his head that looked so much grayer than it had a few weeks ago. “Let it alone. This is important to me. I’m doing the right thing for once.”

  He didn’t look or sound drugged or out of his head. Just lost and alone. Maybe his life would never be what it was before this incident, but she wouldn’t leave him here to be punished for crimes he didn’t commit.

  “I can’t bear to see you this way. I won’t be able to go home and sleep at night knowing you’re in here for the rest of your life and I didn’t help. Who are you protecting?”

  “I’ll never forgive you if you do anything to hurt them!”

  She put down her phone, stood up, and mouthed to him, I’ll never forgive myself if I don’t.

  He pounded on the Plexiglas as she turned to go. She knew the guards would restrain him. She didn’t look back. Even if she had, she wouldn’t have been able to see him for the tears in her eyes.

  PEGGY DIDN’T STOP, BARELY BREATHED, before she got to the hotel where Rosie was staying. It wasn’t hard finding her old friend. Peggy simply called the most expensive hotels until she found Rosie. She didn’t bother with artificial courtesies when several hotel clerks saw her and tried to ask if they could help. She brushed by them until she reached the room, then pounded on the door.

  Rosie opened the door, a smile coming over her face when she saw Peggy. “I’m so glad to see you!”

  Peggy launched herself through the doorway, a frazzled bundle of anger and barely suppressed frustration. “How could you do it?”

  “What are you saying?”

  “How could you destroy Darmus? What happened between you two was a long time ago. How much pleasure can you get from ruining him?”

  A sly smile came over Rosie’s face. “I am getting a great deal of pleasure actually. I don’t care how many people he saved down through the years. He deserted me when I needed him. He ruined my life. Why shouldn’t I ruin his?”

  Peggy almost growled, she was so angry. “What have you done? Did you kill Luther? Did you drug Darmus? Was it your idea for him to pretend to die so you could destroy his reputation and his life’s work?”

  Rosie’s face distorted. “I didn’t kill anyone or do anything except ask him for money to support Abekeni. Who are you to challenge me? You’
ve always had everything! I had nothing and no one, not even you! I was alone when I was pregnant. I was alone when my Abekeni was born. No one ever offered to babysit so I could have a night out. When I was sick, there was no one to take care of me!”

  Peggy felt sorry for her. Or at least she would if she weren’t so angry. “Darmus is in jail to protect you, isn’t he? He’s afraid the police will find out the truth if they investigate too closely. Did you think he was going to leave Feed America to you? When he didn’t, did you kill Luther?”

  “Get out!” Rosie finally ran to the door and flung it open. “Don’t ever come back!”

  Peggy wanted to say more, but she knew it was time to leave and tell Al what she suspected. There was nothing more to say anyway. No idle threats would help this situation. She stalked out of the hotel suite without another word. Her cell phone rang as she walked through the lobby.

  It was Mai. “Could you come over right away? Dr. Ramsey says something large has happened.”

  “Large?”

  “I’m not sure what it is, but he’s running through the lab shouting your name. Can you come over?”

  “I’ll be there in a few minutes.” Peggy noticed there were other calls on her cell phone. She’d had it turned down and didn’t hear it. Paul had called. Steve had called. Sam had called. Her father had called. There wasn’t enough time to call them all back, so she decided to wait and call them later.

  It was noon by the time she reached the lab. Ramsey greeted her at the lab door on the second floor, foot tapping impatiently. “And now she comes!”

  “I’m sorry I didn’t know something large happened.”

  “And now she’s making fun of it!”

  “You’re scaring me,” she responded. “You sound like the crazy man in Silence of the Lambs.”

  “Crazy! Ha!” Ramsey closed the door behind her.

  “Could you fill me in on why I’m here and what happened?” Peggy checked her watch. Selena was going to go through another lunch crowd by herself. With a chuckle, Peggy realized it could get really expensive sending Selena out with her friends every time Peggy needed to ease her own guilt.

  “Sato!” he shouted.

  Mai appeared with her large glasses perched on the end of her nose. “Sir?”

  “Fill her in!”

  “It was another anonymous tip,” Mai explained without preamble. “Someone called in to tell us Holles Harwood killed Reverend Appleby. The person said there was evidence left at the scene and at Mr. Harwood’s home.”

  “Cottonseeds!” Ramsey shouted. “They found cottonseeds and want us to match them! Like we can do that. That’s why I called you here.”

  “I don’t have what you need to match that DNA.” Peggy’s brain was working overtime on what was happening. An anonymous tip? Who else knew about the cottonseeds besides Mai and Paul? And her family and Judge Turnbrell. And God knew who else. She gave up trying to figure that out.

  But no one from that group would call in an anonymous tip. Given where she had just been, it was only natural that Peggy would think Rosie might have been involved with the call. But what would Rosie gain from blaming Holles? Would she set Darmus up, only to pull him back at the last minute?

  Peggy closed her eyes, feeling a headache coming on. Would any of it ever make sense?

  “What do you need?” Ramsey picked up a Pizza Hut menu to write on.

  “Merton Dillard.”

  “Is that some type of machine?” He glanced at Mai, who shrugged.

  “Not exactly. He’s a geneticist for a seed company. He checks to make sure no one steals their prize seeds.”

  “And he lives here in Charlotte?”

  “On Central Avenue, by the library.”

  “What are we waiting for?” Ramsey took out his car keys. “Let’s go!”

  Merton, Dr. Merton Dillard, was the great-great-grandson of one of the signers of the Mecklenburg County Declaration of Independence that was actually penned before the national version. He lived in a small house near the old country club off Central Avenue and worked out of his basement like Peggy. He rarely went out and always wore pajamas.

  “Peggy!” He greeted her with a hug, then sprayed himself with disinfectant. “Sorry. Can’t be too careful with bird flu wandering around out there. I see you brought friends.”

  Peggy introduced Mai and Ramsey. Merton eyed them both suspiciously before asking, “You don’t keep live chickens, do you?”

  “Of course not,” Peggy responded, a tad impatient. “Merton, I need a DNA test on a couple of seeds.”

  “Why didn’t you say so?” He rubbed his hands together. “Come on down!”

  Peggy had warned Mai and Ramsey that Merton might get technical about his work, but she didn’t think it would be as bad as it was.

  “You know,” Merton said, preparing for the test. “Police use plant DNA to track down grain thieves, too. Yes sir! We have to be careful, you know. We make a disease-immune breed of rye, and then everyone has to have it.”

  “Police use it for real crimes, too.” Ramsey stifled a yawn.

  “True,” Merton agreed. “And while it might be difficult to track down an individual crop variety just by looking at the seeds, we can pinpoint exact plant traits and clearly identify seed variety with DNA.”

  “There are computer analysis programs to identify the DNA fingerprint,” Peggy explained as they watched Merton work. “Specific genes carried in the seed of an individual plant can be found.”

  “You have the sample?” Merton held out his gloved hand.

  Mai took out two samples. “With what we had to go on, a judge issued a search warrant for Mr. Harwood’s home. We found a sample of cottonseed on one of his shoes.”

  Peggy nodded. They hadn’t wasted any time on that. Surprising, since they already had Darmus in jail for the crime. And how did this fit in with what she knew about Rosie?

  “I treat the sample with chemicals to extract DNA from the cells,” Merton told them as he moved through the process.

  “What sort of chemicals?” Ramsey adjusted his glasses.

  “That’s for me to know and you to find out.” Merton huffed, glancing at Peggy. “Does he think I’m going to give away trade secrets?”

  “I’m sure he doesn’t,” Peggy consoled as she watched him. “He’s adding enzymes now. They promote chemical reactions that will cut the DNA into different lengths.”

  Merton went up to get some tea, offering them some of his homemade brew. Peggy asked for a cup, but Ramsey and Mai shook their heads.

  “I know he’s your friend, Peggy,” Mai whispered when Merton was gone, “but he’s weird.”

  Peggy smiled. “Most of the people I know are weird, sweetie. Merton is a little eccentric, but he’s good at what he does.”

  Ramsey nodded. “People like myself, at above genius level, are likely to be perceived as strange or odd.”

  “Really?” Peggy winked at Mai. “You’ve always seemed very normal to me.”

  He cleared his throat. “I assure you, I’m very weird.”

  When Merton returned with their cups of tea, he placed the DNA strand fragments on a bed of gel, then applied an electrical current to them. “The current sorts the fragments and organizes them into a pattern.”

  “Why is that necessary?” Mai jotted down what he did in a notebook.

  “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 the
n 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!”