by Joyce
“Yes, as far as I can tell. We’re still waiting on the ME.”
The black van marked Medical Examiner pulled up behind the news truck. A young man Peggy recognized from the office got out with his jacket over his head. He came back after an officer pointed to the news van. It was obvious from the sign language that the reporters were going to have to move.
Peggy saw Dorothy sitting in the passenger side of the black van. Dorothy had a puzzled look on her face, as though she was trying to figure out how Peggy had arrived before her.
The news van pulled out to allow the medical examiner access to the crime scene, but afterward, the driver pulled right back into the alley between buildings. The reporters weren’t backing down from their story.
As the rain slacked off, Peggy and Al got out of his car. Dorothy and her driver met them.
“I see the news traveled quickly on this,” Dorothy remarked with a less than pleasant look at Al. “Lieutenant McDonald—my office is priority on homicides. Everyone else comes after me.”
Al didn’t try to explain why he’d called Peggy. He nodded and walked down with Dorothy to the victim. Two of the four police officers kept the reporters from following them. They couldn’t stop their camera lenses from filming the scene.
“Are you okay?” Paul asked Peggy.
“I’m fine.” She glanced up at him. He was soaked. She bit her tongue to keep herself from telling him that he needed to dry off and change clothes. “How about you?”
He shrugged. “I looked it up once when I was in high school. There were one hundred and eighty five men named Paul Lee living in Charlotte. I’m sure that number has grown since then.”
“There maybe more to it than that,” she said.
Dorothy turned around and called her name. Telling Paul the whole story would have to wait.
The young man from the medical examiner’s office that Peggy had recognized put down a mat on the wet concrete for Peggy to kneel. It was right next to the one he’d put down for Dorothy. It seemed to be his job doing whatever she needed him to do.
“Looks like another poisoning,” Dorothy commented when Peggy was beside her. She moved the victim’s head so that the right side of his neck was exposed. “Same place to inject the toxin. Get pictures of this, Morgan. Also get the flowers.”
“Cyclamen,” Peggy added.
Dorothy looked at her. “Why were you here before me?”
“It’s a long story.”
“Give me the Cliff’s Notes.”
Peggy explained briefly about the man’s name and the other aspects of the case that were beginning to make sense.
“So the first two victims may have been stand-ins for your already deceased husband and this one is for your still living son. Is that the theory?”
“I can only speak for myself,” Peggy said. “It’s beginning to look that way to me.”
“There’s a random kind of logic in that, I suppose.” Dorothy nodded at Al who was speaking to Detectives Dan Rodriguez, Tanner Edwards, and Molly Bryson who’d just arrived at the scene. “You and Lieutenant McDonald go back a’ways, I take it?”
“He was my husband’s partner. They went to college and the police academy together.”
“I see.”
Peggy looked carefully at the victim. This man was younger—probably in his late twenties or early thirties. His coloring was the same as Paul’s, except that his eyes were blue, not green.
She watched as Morgan bagged the cyclamen flowers, taking them carefully from the dead man’s fingers. She noticed the digits were still pliable. The man probably hadn’t been dead very long. She’d know after she read Dorothy’s report.
“What do you think?” Dorothy asked her. “Do you see anything unusual?”
“It looks very similar to the man in the park,” Peggy told her. “And he’s disturbingly like my son.”
“If you are being targeted in some way, we have to assume that the person doing this knows you well. He knows where you live. He knows about your family. He’s sending you a message.”
“I think he’s daring me to catch him.”
Dorothy nodded, her eyes still on the victim. It had started raining again. Morgan held a large umbrella over her. “What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to keep working. He’s not killing my family, but he’s destroying other people’s lives. We have to catch him.”
“I was hoping you’d say that.” Dorothy smiled at her. “Would you like to ride back with us to the office?”
“Yes. Thanks.”
Al thought this was a bad idea when she told him. “Peggy, maybe you should consider going home until we figure out what’s happening. I’m thinking about telling Paul he should do the same.”
“The killer could’ve made Paul his victim,” Peggy reminded him. “He’s choosing effigies instead. I don’t think either one of us is in any immediate danger.”
“You’re as stubborn as a mule, you know that?” Al shook his head. “All right. Do it your way. You always do. Let me know if you come up with anything.”
“Thanks. I’ll talk to you later.”
Peggy called Steve when she was in the van heading back to the office. She didn’t want him to hear the news and not understand what had happened. Sam called her because Selena had already seen the incident on the Internet. Peggy assured him that everything was all right.
When Peggy and Dorothy got back to the medical examiner’s office, Mai greeted them at the door. Her pretty face was set in a worried frown. She grabbed Peggy’s arm and drew her away from her boss.
“You didn’t tell me this could involve Paul,” Mai accused her.
“I didn’t know until today.” Peggy was getting concerned about Mai’s irrational behavior and pale face. She didn’t look well.
“Paul called me and told me everything. I can’t believe you’d endanger his life this way.”
Peggy wasn’t sure what to say to that accusation. She wanted to hug Mai but that seemed out of place for what was happening between them.
“Anyway,” Mai continued. “I checked your note for fingerprints. There were none, except for yours. There was a dog hair on it. It belonged to a Great Dane so I think that must be Shakespeare.”
Dorothy approached them. “Anything I should know?”
Mai glared at her. “No.” She walked away without another word.
“I don’t know what to say about her,” Dorothy confided to Peggy. “She’s brilliant. I would hate to lose her.”
Peggy watched her go back to her office. She knew a warning when she heard one. She wasn’t sure how to convey that message to Mai when she had become the enemy as well.
With a sigh, she went to her workstation.
She looked at the note again. Clearly, this had been written by the killer. He was taunting her. She wished she could get in touch with Nightflyer. He’d probably have some ideas on how to end this. She seemed to be fresh out of that commodity.
Peggy went back over all the notes and histories of the men who had died. There wasn’t much compiled on the latest victim, as yet.
She closed her eyes. It sent a shaft of fear through her spine when she saw that name again. The killer was close to her. It could’ve been Paul, her Paul, who’d been lying there dead.
She made some phone calls to people she knew in the area who might know botanists besides herself who were involved in creating toxins. No one had heard of anyone working locally in that field. They promised to keep her updated if there was any news.
Peggy and Mai went back over all the victims’ clothing to search for any leads that might have been missed earlier.
“The killer was very thorough,” Mai said. “I’m betting on someone with medical knowledge as well as an understanding of forensics. Besides being a psychopath, of course.”
“A psychopath who wants to play games with me,” Peggy added.
“True. I tried to talk Paul into taking time off until this is over.” Mai sat down wearil
y at a table in the examiner’s room. “He won’t. I don’t know what it is with your family. Isn’t anyone afraid of dying?”
“I think everyone is afraid of dying, to one degree or another,” Peggy said. “Why do you say that?”
“Maybe it’s just stubbornness then. You’re still working. Paul won’t go home. He told me his father could’ve stayed home the night he was killed. He could’ve let someone else handle it. He didn’t. Obviously a family trait.”
“You’re probably right about that.” Peggy smiled. “Mai, I don’t know how else to ask this question—are you well? You look so pale. And you don’t seem yourself.”
“It’s Dr. Beck and the whole thing with being passed over,” Mai answered. “I can’t shake it. I’m angry and I’m not sleeping or eating right. All I want to do is eat jelly donuts. I think I’m obsessed with them.”
“Everyone handles stress differently.” Peggy carefully scrutinized her face. “Maybe you should consider going to the doctor. There might be something else that’s causing more stress than you realize over Dr. Beck’s hiring.”
“Thanks but I’m going to hang tough like the rest of the Lee family. I’ll keep eating jelly donuts until I feel better.”
“Well, there doesn’t appear to be anything else I can do here for now and I have a lecture to give in about an hour. I’ll be back after that.”
Mai unexpectedly stood up and hugged her. Peggy couldn’t remember another time that she had done so. “Be careful,” Mai said. “Don’t take any unnecessary chances.”
“I won’t. Please reconsider what I said about that doctor visit. I’ll see you later.”
Peggy went to her workstation, took off her white lab coat and picked up her pocketbook. Steve had texted her that he’d had a call from a farmer friend of his outside the county. One of the farmer’s cows was having a hard time with delivering a calf. Steve told her to expect him to be gone most of the day.
She checked in with Dorothy before she left. “I wish I had something useful to report. It’s got me flummoxed for now.”
“Sometimes it helps to get away from it for a while. Clears the brain,” Dorothy replied. “No matter how much we want to make progress in this case, we can’t until the evidence comes together.”
“I don’t know if giving a lecture to my first year botany students will clear my brain or wipe it.” Peggy grinned. “Sometimes when I talk to them, I can feel brain cells dying.”
Dorothy laughed. “It wouldn’t be my first choice for de-stressing either. I close my eyes, put on my headphones, and zone out to Bach when I get stumped.”
“Sounds like a good idea.”
“This case has everyone baffled right now,” Dorothy confided. “They might decide to call in the FBI. Whoever the killer is, he seems to know what he’s doing. Now with the media following every move and coming up with some ideas of their own, there’s no telling where this will end.”
“I hope it ends soon,” Peggy said. “I don’t like thinking that someone else might die for this person to get my attention.”
Dorothy agreed and the two of them parted company.
Peggy planned to grab lunch on her way to Queen’s University. There was a very good yogurt shop close to the campus.
Outside, the weather had cleared somewhat. The heavy rain had stopped, leaving mist and a watery sunshine. Cooler breezes blew threw the trees.
Her bicycle was wet but it dried quickly with a paper towel. She was taking off the lock when a police car pulled up to the front of the office beside her.
“Professor Lee.” Detective Tanner Edwards leaned out of the window. “Can I give you a lift somewhere? Lieutenant McDonald sent me over when he heard you were leaving.”
“Is he spying on me?”
“No, ma’am. Keeping tabs. He’s worried about you. Dr. Beck told him you were on your way to Queen’s. It’s my job to take you there.”
“That’s silly.” She took the bike from the stall.
“Maybe,” Tanner agreed as he got out of the police car and opened the trunk. “He wants to make sure you’re safe. That’s my job today. Please don’t make me look bad. I only passed the detective’s exam right before these murders started. I don’t need any black marks on my record.”
“I guess if that’s what you’re supposed to do.” Peggy shrugged. “Have you had lunch yet?”
Tanner told her he hadn’t eaten yet. She explained her plan to eat at the yogurt shop. He was happy to oblige.
“I feel terrible taking you away from the investigation.” The yogurt shop was deserted when they arrived. It only took a few minutes before both of them were eating strawberry yogurt with protein powder. “You shouldn’t have to babysit me.”
“You’re at the center of all this. Maybe the killer will change his tactics and come after you. Taking down a serial killer would look good on my record.”
He explained to Peggy that Molly and Dan were looking up stores and manufacturers that could have the equipment the killer would need to create the poisons he was using.
“Those things are available on the Internet too,” she reminded him. “It probably won’t be enough to look around Charlotte. The Internet is more anonymous too. That’s what I’d do if I were trying to avoid being caught.”
He nodded. “The Internet has definitely changed things. I’ll be sure to suggest that to Lieutenant McDonald. Thanks.”
Peggy looked up—directly into a pair of hostile eyes in an unhappy face.
“Excuse me a moment, Tanner. I see someone I know.”
“Not the killer, right?” He grinned and looked around the yogurt shop.
“No. Just someone annoying.”
She walked right up to Mr. Bellows who was seated at one of the white and red tables. “Are you looking for me?”
“Not exactly. This is a public place. I didn’t know you’d be here.”
“I teach at Queen’s,” she explained. His popping up at strange times was beginning to unnerve her. Maybe it was because of the killer. Maybe it was something more.
“And I’m here for a lecture.” He took out a piece of paper and showed her. “The ABCs of Botanical Poison. Are you giving that lecture?”
Chapter Seven
Goldenseal – Hydrastis – Used popularly as a healing herb in teas for generations. Diminishing stands grown in the wild due to demand and over collection. Identified by dark yellow root. Contains alkaloids which can be poisonous in large quantities.
Peggy’s name was clearly listed on the free lecture. She’d done this particular subject so many times, she thought she could do it in her sleep. It was why she’d almost forgotten the lecture in the first place. She hadn’t prepared for this topic in years. She could speak on it almost without thought.
The title—ABCs of Botanical Poisons—hit her suddenly. Wasn’t that exactly what was going on?
This was the format the killer was using. Her mind raced with the knowledge. The plants in the lecture were different but the idea was the same.
She had no doubt the killer was mocking her. He’d probably heard the lecture before.
Peggy stared at Mr. Bellows. Surely it wasn’t him.
Yes, he was irritating and seemed to want to get rid of her. That was quite a leap from pretending to kill members of her family.
On the other hand, he was at the park and it would’ve been easy for him to put the note into her front door after setting off the alarm.
She realized she knew nothing about Mr. Bellows besides him being her neighbor. He liked peace and quiet. He probably had some money since he’d offered to buy her house and garden shop to try and convince her to move away.
That didn’t make him a killer, she reminded herself.
“I think you know the answer to that question,” she finally replied. “I didn’t realize you were interested in botany.”
“Oh yes. I have a degree in botany from UCLA. I have studied poisonous plants for many years. I didn’t know you were interested in the sa
me field.”
All right. That might change things. That information, added to the other facts, could make him a killer.
Peggy glanced back at Tanner who was still eating his strawberry-protein added yogurt. Should she say something to him? Was this the career-enhancing event he was looking for—his opportunity to save her life and nab a killer?
She needed more evidence. It might be risky, but if Al arrested Mr. Bellows too soon, he wouldn’t be able to make his case.
“Well, I hope you enjoy the lecture,” Peggy said, forcing herself to smile.
“I’m sure I will.”
A possible way of catching him occurred to her. “Afterward, you should stop by my house. I’d love to show you my experiments. We could have tea and talk about our careers.”
His expression brightened. “I would enjoy that very much, Mrs. Lee. Thank you.”
To make her case clearer, she added, “It’s actually Dr. Lee. I would enjoy that as well.”
He looked even more pleased. “Dr. Lee it is then. And I am Dr. Walter Bellows.”
Peggy left him there. She knew scientists almost too well. There was nothing they liked better than to talk about themselves and their careers.
She was glad now that Tanner had been assigned to protect her. Al was much smarter about these things than she was. She might need his help at the house if Dr. Bellows decided to make his move.
On the way across the rain-drenched campus, Peggy explained to Tanner about her next door neighbor.
Tanner took it all in. “It might be better not to try this, Professor. I’m supposed to keep you safe, not further endanger your life.”
“I realize that. Maybe you could call for backup but keep them at a distance until we need them. I believe I’m on to something here. At least I’d like to think so.”
“I know what you mean. I’m tired of this man making fools of all of us too. Let’s be smart and careful about taking him to your house. I’ll call for backup in case we need it. Get information from him but don’t provoke him. Okay?”
She agreed. “I have to run up to my office for my laptop if I want to use my visual aids. You can’t have a lecture without pictures or everyone falls asleep.”
