by Rose Pressey
“Some guy said that I could find you back here.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked.
“The guy at the front door said he would give you the flowers, but I told him I had to do it. Then he said I could find you back here. I thought maybe he was just trying to get rid of me.”
This was weird.
“I was inside my office and came out to see who had knocked. I never saw a man.”
“The dark-haired man said that Maggie Thomas was behind the building.”
That made no sense. Nevertheless, I pulled out crumpled dollars from my pocket and gave him a tip.
“Thanks,” I said.
Who had sent flowers? It had to be Jake. Who else would send me flowers?
I carried the box of flowers back to the front door of my office. There was no other sign of another man around either. Why would someone tell the delivery guy that I was at the back? The delivery guy had thought the man was trying to get rid of him. Maybe that was true. That was the weirdest thing. Nevertheless, I just chalked it up to one of those weird things that always happened to me. Since I hadn’t taken my keys, I knocked on the door so that Dorothy would open it for me. That didn’t happen though. I knocked again and called out to her. No response. What was she doing in there? I went over to the window and knocked.
Now I started to panic. What if that man that the flower delivery guy talked about had gotten to Dorothy? But I’d told her to lock the door. Of course that didn’t mean she hadn’t unlocked it afterward. Why was the door locked now? I raced back over and twisted the knob. It was still locked. I had left my keys inside too. I knocked on the door again. What would I do if she didn’t answer? I’d have to break the door down. I glanced around and spotted Dorothy’s car in the lot. I moved away from the door and back around the building again. Maybe I’d spot the man with Dorothy. He could be kidnapping her.
When I turned the corner of the building, I saw Dorothy. She was peeking around the other side of the building. I didn’t want to scare her, so I didn’t call out to her. I couldn’t grab her from behind because I had scolded her for doing the same thing to me. I eased up to her so that I wouldn’t scare her. At least that was my plan. When I finally got behind her, I didn’t know what to do.
“Dorothy,” I whispered.
The plan not to scare her didn’t work because she jumped and clutched her chest.
“What in blue blazes? Don’t sneak up on me like that, Maggie,” she said when she realized it was me.
“I just did the exact thing that you did to me. Plus, I didn’t even touch you,” I said.
“Well, nevertheless, it was scary.”
“What are you doing out here?” I asked. “I told you to wait inside for me.”
“Well, it took too long and I got nervous. I saw that guy was lurking around.”
“The flower delivery guy?” I asked, showing her the box in my hands.
“I don’t know about that. He didn’t have that box when I saw him.”
“What did he look like?” I asked.
Had she seen the mystery man that the flower delivery guy had described?
“He was tall and had dark hair.”
That didn’t sound like the guy who had handed over the flowers.
“What was he doing?” I asked.
“Just sneaking around the building.”
“Come on, Dorothy, I think we should go back inside,” I said.
“Who sent you flowers?” she asked as we walked around the side of the building.
“I don’t know. I haven’t had a chance to look yet. I guess they’re from Jake.”
“How romantic,” she said.
Chapter 21
Thank goodness Dorothy had thought to take the keys with her when she came out to look for this strange man.
“I’m just glad you’re okay,” she said as we walked back toward the office door. “Now open up that box of flowers. I can’t wait to see.”
“Let’s go inside first. I’m hoping they don’t wilt before I can get them in water. Do we have a vase?”
Dorothy raised an eyebrow. “Are you kidding me? I do have a glass.”
“That’ll work,” I said.
Dorothy unlocked the door and I rushed over to my desk and placed the box of flowers down.
“I hope it’s roses, I love roses,” Dorothy said excitedly.
She should be used to receiving flowers. Morty sent her deliveries all the time. I never received flowers. Had Jake done something he wanted to apologize for?
I hurriedly pulled the red ribbon from the box. Dorothy grabbed it and tossed it on to the floor. If I didn’t hurry up and get this box open soon, she would grab it from my hands and do it for me. I couldn’t get the top of the box off. It was on there pretty tight.
“Oh, the suspense is killing me,” she said.
It wasn’t like I was about to unwrap a million dollars or anything. But I appreciated her enthusiasm. Finally I got the top of the box off.
Dorothy gasped. “Oh, they are red roses. I just knew it. He is so romantic. You should keep him.”
“I think I might,” I said with a smile. I held the box up to my face and sniffed. “They smell fantastic.”
Dorothy sniffed the box too. “Oh, I love roses.”
I found the card tucked into the greenery and pulled it out. Dorothy was so close that she was practically attached to me as she leaned close and waited for me to take the card from the envelope.
I knew by Dorothy’s fidgeting hand that she wanted to take the card from me. I pulled the card from the envelope and read the text. I was confused now. The flowers weren’t from Jake.
“What does it say?” Dorothy asked. “How much he loves you?”
The red roses are the color of blood. Your blood that will be spilled if you don’t back off. Signed, your secret admirer.
Dorothy’s eyes widened and she wobbled a bit. I grabbed her since I thought she might faint right there on the floor.
“Dorothy, are you all right?” I fanned her with my hand.
“Oh, I’m fine, but it’s you I’m worried about,” she said.
“Don’t worry about me, Dorothy. We’ll figure this out. Someone’s just playing a very cruel practical joke.”
“I don’t think so, Maggie,” Dorothy said. “I wish I could make you feel better and agree with you, but I don’t think it’s a joke. You have to find out who sent the flowers.”
I tossed the card down on top of the roses and grabbed my phone. “I have to call the florist and ask them who sent the flowers.”
My hand shook as I dialed the florist’s number. My stomach twisted into a knot as I waited for someone to pick up.
“Beach Floral,” the woman said with a happy tone.
“I just received some flowers.”
“Oh, no, did the delivery guy mess it up again?”
“He was great,” I said. “But I just want to find out who sent them.”
“Is there a card?” she asked.
“It says ‘secret admirer,’” I said.
She giggled. “Oh, how cute.”
“It’s not cute at all,” I said with panic in my voice.
“I’m sorry?” she asked.
“I need to know who sent the flowers. Can you give me a name?”
“Well, I can try to look it up for you. What’s your name?”
“Maggie Thomas,” I said.
“All right, hold on one moment, please.”
Dorothy tugged on my shirt. “What did she say?”
“She’s looking it up,” I said.
“Oh, good. I’m so nervous.” Dorothy paced across the floor.
A few moments later the woman came back to the phone. “I’m sorry, but there’s no name and the person paid cash.”
“I was afraid of that,” I said. “Do you happen to know what the person looked like?”
“I can let you speak with the woman who took the order,” she said.
“That would be per
fect, thank you,” I said.
After speaking with the woman who took the order, I realized that the description she gave matched the man Dorothy had seen walking around the building. Also the description the delivery guy gave of the man he’d seen that led him behind the building. Whoever sent these had been here. That didn’t shock me much though. If the person had enough nerve to send flowers, then he had enough nerve to show up here. But wouldn’t he be surprised? When I found him I’d let him have it. I wasn’t going to go down without a fight.
“How are we going to find this guy?” Dorothy asked.
I snapped a photo of the flowers and the card for evidence. “I’m not sure but I don’t want to continue to look at these flowers.” I marched over to the trash can and tossed the flowers inside.
“Maybe you should give those to Jake so that he can look for fingerprints.”
“I highly doubt that he’ll find any on the box, because the guy who ordered them likely never touched it,” I said.
Dorothy sighed. “I guess you’re right about that. Okay, we just need to think about this,” she said as she paced across the floor again.
“It’s such a strange way to send a threatening message,” I said. “I wonder if there’s some kind of significance to the flowers, other than the color being red like blood.”
“The person obviously has a sick mind,” Dorothy said.
“What about the building across from us? We could ask to see the surveillance video. Maybe they captured the man who was lurking around the building,” I said.
“Good thinking,” Dorothy said with a point of her finger. “Are they there yet?”
“I’m not sure,” I said. “But there’s one way to find out. We’ll go over there.”
“Let’s go,” Dorothy said. “We’ll show that dirtbag that he’s messing with the wrong women.”
“You got that right.”
Dorothy and I marched out the door. After locking it behind us, we headed across the way to the other building. I wasn’t sure if the hair salon would be open yet. I looked at the time on my phone. Ten AM. Maybe the staff were already there.
“I just hope they’re nice,” Dorothy said. “I don’t want to have to go through another spa experience just to get info.”
“You didn’t enjoy yourself last time?” I asked.
“Oh, don’t get me wrong, it was nice and all, but I’m just not into all that froufrou stuff. I’d rather just give myself a pedicure at home and call it a day.”
“I suppose I can understand that,” I said.
A few cars were parked out front. I hoped one of them belonged to the owner. She would be the one most likely to release information to us. This building was small. Certainly nothing like Vivian’s place. When I twisted the doorknob, thank goodness it was unlocked. Dorothy stepped in first and I followed.
A woman sat in a salon chair in front of a mirror. She had foil wrapped in her chestnut-colored hair.
“Dorothy? Is that you?” the woman asked.
“Oh, no,” Dorothy whispered.
“Who is that?” I asked.
“That’s Melanie. She lives at Sunny Acres. She is always flirting with Morty.”
Uh-oh. I hoped this didn’t cause conflict here in the salon. Dorothy waved.
“Does Morty flirt back?” I asked.
“Not if he knows what’s best for him,” she said with a smile plastered on her face.
I sensed trouble brewing. Of all the luck to run into someone Dorothy knew.
“Guess, I should go talk to her.”
Before I had a chance to stop her, Dorothy walked over to the woman.
“Well, Melanie Applebaum what are you doing here?” Dorothy asked in a cheery voice as if she was talking to one of her best friends.
“Oh, just getting a little bit of maintenance on the roots.” The woman pointed at her head.
“Yes, I can see where it was time,” Dorothy said,
The woman frowned. “What are you doing here, Dorothy? Getting a much-needed trim? Perhaps an eyebrow wax?” The woman looked at Dorothy’s brows with a frown.
Uh-oh. I sensed where this was going, and it wasn’t to a friendly place.
Based on Dorothy’s stance. I knew she was getting angry. Wanting to step between the women, I moved forward. However, as usual, my clumsy self tripped over my own feet and crashed right into a display shelf full of shampoo and conditioner bottles. All the bottles tumbled to the floor with a thunderous crash.
Dorothy spun around. “What in heaven’s name?”
Quickly I started picking up the bottles. I’d hoped to come off as self-assured and in control. Now I had achieved the exact opposite. Melanie stared in shock. Now I had embarrassed Dorothy in front of her frenemy. Way to go, Maggie.
Dorothy rushed over. At least I had delayed the women getting into an argument right there. Maybe we should get us out of here before things got worse.
“What in the world are you doing, Maggie?” Dorothy asked as she picked up a couple of the bottles and placed them on the shelf.
“Trying to stop you from getting into a fist-fight,” I said.
“What?” Dorothy frowned. “I’m not going to fight here. Well, unless she tries to steal Morty. We just talk to each other that way.”
“Good to know,” I said, finally setting the last bottle back on the shelf. It looked a little wobbly, but otherwise okay.
Soon an auburn-haired woman popped up from around the corner.
“May I help you?” she asked.
“I was wondering if I could speak with the owner,” I said.
She raised an eyebrow. “I’m Liz Murphy the owner.”
“Oh,” I said, surprised to find her so quickly. “I’m Maggie Thomas from across the street… the private investigator.”
“Yes,” Liz said. “What can I do for you?”
I didn’t want to go into the entire story with her, so instead, I said, “I’m looking for video of someone who may have been outside my building. I wondered if I could take a look at your surveillance.”
She stared at me for a long moment and then said, “Oh, I’m terribly sorry but I don’t have cameras.”
I’d thought for sure I’d seen a van for a local security business outside her shop about six months ago. The man had looked like he was working in the shop. Maybe he had been there for some other reason though.
“That’s all right,” I said. “Thanks anyway.”
Dorothy stood there and stared at the woman instead of turning to walk away with me.
After a few more seconds, I tugged on Dorothy’s arm. “Let’s go, Dorothy.”
Still Dorothy stared at Liz for a moment before finally moving away with me.
Once out on the sidewalk, Dorothy said, “There’s something about that woman that rubs me the wrong way. I can’t put my finger on it.”
“Have you seen her before?” I asked.
“I’m not sure, but I get the sense that I have. I don’t think she’s being honest. I think she’s hiding something.”
“I’m not sure why she would do that,” I said.
I had to admit I thought maybe she wasn’t being honest either, since I had specifically seen that van outside her shop six months ago. I glanced over my shoulder and saw that Liz was still watching us. Her stare sent a chill down my spine.
Chapter 22
Dorothy and I were lost in thought, sitting at our desks. Nothing much was going on at the moment. I was trying to think of what to do next. It seemed like I was always trying to think of what to do next. Soon Dorothy broke the silence.
“You know, Maggie, I’ve been thinking about what you said.”
“What’s that, Dorothy?” I asked.
“About feeding the seagulls,” she said.
I raised an eyebrow. Now I was curious. “Are you playing a trick on me?”
“Of course not,” she said.
“What changed your mind?”
“A story I read on the internet.”
/> “On the internet, huh? What did this story say? Because you know everything you read on the internet is true.”
“I’m serious. A man was bitten by a seagull on his… you know.”
I stared at Dorothy. “You know?”
“Down there.” She pointed toward her lap. “You know, Maggie, his woo-woo.”
I bit back laughter. “Oh, Dorothy.”
“I’m completely serious. That’s what the story said. So maybe we shouldn’t feed them when they might come after us.”
“I’ve been trying to tell you that for quite some time now.”
“You never told me they could bite your nether region,” Dorothy said.
“I’m not sure I believe that story,” I said. “So you say that the bird bit his… you know?”
“Well, somewhere around that region.” She raised an eyebrow.
“All right, I don’t even want to know,” I said with a wave of my hand.
“You asked,” she said with a shrug.
When a knock came at the door, we both paused and exchanged a look. It was funny how the slightest little thing like that made us suspicious. For all I knew it was a customer. I was in business after all.
“I’ll get it,” I said, motioning for Dorothy to stay put.
“Fine by me,” she said.
I stepped over to the window and spotted the person standing in front of the door. I walked over to the door and opened it up.
“Who is it?” Dorothy asked.
I opened the door wider so that she could see Morty’s smiling face.
“Morty,” she yelled out with enthusiasm, jumping up from the desk and heading over to him. “I wasn’t expecting to see you here.”
“I just came by to see my favorite gal.” He gave her a hug then looked at me. “And my favorite private investigator.”
I laughed. “Nice to see you too, Morty,”
“Well, there probably was another reason for me showing up,” he said.
“What’s that?” I asked.
“I want to help you with this situation. You helped me so much with my incident recently, so I feel like I owe you.”
“Oh, Morty, you don’t owe me anything. I was just doing my job.”
