Pretty Poison (23 page)

The dog sat and looked at her with his head cocked to one side. When she finished speaking, he barked once, then padded toward the kitchen. Peggy shook her head. Of course he didn’t understand a word she said. But at least he didn’t jump up on her or drag the china cabinet into the kitchen with him. Maybe everything would work out. Maybe having a dog wouldn’t be so bad after all.

She listened to her messages while she changed clothes. There was a sweet phone call from Steve who asked her how Shakespeare was doing. Paul called to see how she was doing. The other two messages were telemarketers. She pressed Erase, then finished dressing.

The taxi driver who brought her from the downtown precinct was the same one who came to pick her up when she called. He was relieved that she left her dog at home. There was an overturned truck that was blocking College Street. The driver swore and honked his horn. Peggy suggested an alternate route . . . and some Saint-John’s-wort. Really, people were too tense.

Selena was ready to go when she reached the Potting Shed. “I have to run, Peggy. I hope you can handle closing up. If not, Sam says to call him. He said he’ll be here to pick you up.”

“Thanks. Late class?”

“Nope. Date!”

“Good luck. I hope he’s Mr. Right.”

Customers walked through the shop fitfully, looking but not buying. Peggy kept a close eye on a toddler whose mother was too absorbed in a catalog to notice what he was doing. He finally managed to pull a bag of fertilizer over on himself and started howling. That got his mother’s attention. She muttered something about stores not being childproofed and dragged the child out.

A distinguished-looking gentleman with a sheaf of flowers on his arm approached her. “Peggy Lee?”

“Yes.”

He handed her the flowers. “These are for you. I hope you enjoy them.”

She smelled the heather. “Where did they come from?”

“I’m just the delivery boy. There’s a card attached.”

Peggy waited until she was alone to sit down and read the card. She looked at the heather, pink, white, and purple, wrapped in green tissue paper. Heather like this would be difficult to get. The card read:
“Pink heather for good luck. White heather to protect you from danger. Purple heather to express my admiration for you. Nightflyer
.
”

The lights were coming on in the courtyard. It was so quiet she could hear the big clock on the wall ticking. The scent of heather wafted sweetly around her. She had to admit that he knew his flowers. He’d given some thought to his gift. In a way, that made it even more frightening. It was like he
knew
her. She didn’t want to think how that was possible.

“Ready to go?” Sam asked as he bounced in from the back around 9 p.M., after a late delivery. “Nice flowers. Going to a funeral?”

“No. The flowers are from an admirer.”

He grinned. “That Steve knows his way around, doesn’t he? I wonder if he has a brother?”

“No. They aren’t from Steve.” She told him a little about her cyber stalker. “It sounds silly, but the idea that he’s looking over my shoulder gives me a chill.”

“It’s probably nothing. You know, it’s not easy to meet someone face-to-face nowadays. You have to worry about how your hair looks and whether or not your teeth are as white as Tom Cruise’s. Then there’s the whole smell dilemma. Do you wear Giorgio or go natural with some good soap and deodorant? Who knows what people are looking for?”

She smiled at him. “It sounds terrible. How do you survive?”

“By coming up with great ideas like these flowers.” He sniffed the heather. “You meet someone on-line. Talk to him a little bit. Get a feel for what he’s into. Check him out with the police and FBI to make sure he isn’t a terrorist. Then you send him something pretty. That way, when you meet in the real world, if you’re lucky, he won’t notice that your hair never lays down smooth on top because you have a double crown.”

“So you’ve done this before?”

“No. But it sounds like a good idea. I might try it.” He grabbed a Coke from the minifridge behind the counter. “I’m starving! Have you eaten? What’s with the black clothes? Do you have ninja class or something tonight?”

“Let’s grab some food.” She explained her plan to him. “Then you could drop me at the uptown precinct. I can go with Mai from there.”

He whistled through teeth that made Tom Cruise’s look dingy. “That sounds wild. Need any help?”

“You’re my most experienced assistant,” she told him. “I can’t afford for both of us to be in jail.”

Sam couldn’t argue with that logic. He didn’t seem eager to try. They locked up the shop, and went for pizza before he drove her to meet Mai.

“Can I leave the heather in your truck?” Peggy asked him.

“Sure. Want me to take it to your house?”

She looked at the flowers, thinking about what they meant. “No, that’s okay.”

“So much for
that
way of meeting someone. Guess I won’t try it,” he quipped. “Call me when you’re done spying. I’d like to hear all about it.”

Mai was waiting nervously in the parking lot by her car. She crouched down when she saw the truck’s headlights. “Maybe we shouldn’t do this, Peggy.”

“How else will we know what really happened to Mark and who was responsible?”

“I don’t know. But I’m feeling kind of queasy. I might be coming down with something. I think I should go home.”

“You’ll be fine. Have some chewable zinc. This won’t take long. Where do we go from here?”

Mai drove them to the medical examiner’s office on College Street. She used her police pass to park in the lot next to the building. She turned off the car but didn’t move. “Are you
sure
we should do this?”

“I’ve only seen a few dead bodies in my life, sweetie,” Peggy told her. “I’m not anxious to see any more. But I know this might be the only way to prove what really happened. We can’t let the opportunity go by, can we?”

“No. I suppose not.” Mai straightened her spine, then got out of the car. “Let’s go.”

It wasn’t exactly stealthy. Mai had to show her ID and tell the security guard that Peggy was there to identify her dead uncle. Once they got past the front desk, they followed the spotless corridor to a set of double doors that opened into the morgue.

“Put these on.” Mai gave Peggy a mask and a pair of latex gloves. “You never know what could be up here. And for goodness sake, don’t touch
anything
.”

They walked into an area where the walls were lined with handles. They almost looked like recessed file cabinets. Then Mai picked a drawer with a case number on it. It slid open with a little squeak. The body was covered by a paper sheet. Peggy felt the blood drain from her face.

“Are you okay?” Mai asked her.

“I’m fine, thanks. I told you I haven’t seen many of these.”

“We’ll all be one someday.” Mai took out a syringe. “I just don’t want you to faint. I don’t want to do anything to draw attention to us. We’ve been lucky so far. Getting out could be more difficult.”

Peggy watched carefully as Mai filled three syringes with blood from Mark’s body. She didn’t think she’d be able to. Her plan had been to get Mai in there, then look away. But she found that she couldn’t. Mark looked far worse than when she found him in her shop. Deterioration was starting to set in. His gray skin looked like rubber. She couldn’t see his face and thought she should probably be glad.

“Almost through. I might need a tissue sample. This is definitely our last chance to get it.” Mai replaced the cap on the syringe and took out a plastic bottle. She unscrewed the lid and handed the bottle to Peggy. “Hold this.”

Peggy held it out for Mai’s sample. She noticed the other woman’s hands were shaking. “Are you all right?”

“Just nervous. I like my job. I plan to be chief medical officer someday. I don’t want to end up in that little office forever.”

“I can understand that. And just think of the top marks the medical examiner will give you when you prove my theory.”

Mai laughed. “Or when my landlord throws me out because I’ve lost my job. I don’t think the ME will be too pleased if I prove he was wrong. People are funny that way.”

“You must think there’s some merit in what I told you,” Peggy reasoned, “or you wouldn’t be here risking so much to help me.”

“You must be right.” She put the top back on the bottle. “Or I’m crazy. There we go. Now all we have to do is get out of here without getting caught.”

No sooner were the words out of her mouth than they heard voices coming toward them.

“Quick! Behind this door!” Mai closed the body drawer, then shoved Peggy and herself into the next room through a set of swinging metal doors.

Peggy put her hand out to stop the motion of the doors after they were out of the way. The two women stood quietly together in the dark room. The two men were still talking as they entered the room. One of the body drawers slid open and closed. The techs talked about the Panthers’ game and getting season tickets for the Bobcats, the new basketball team.

The drawer the techs opened didn’t squeak. Peggy hoped that meant it wasn’t the one Mark was in. There wasn’t time to put the paper sheet back across him. Maybe they wouldn’t notice.

“I forgot to fix the sheet,” Mai whispered, echoing her companion’s thoughts.

“Different drawer, I think.” Peggy glanced at her lighted watch. It was almost one A.M.

After a few minutes, they heard another drawer open and close again. The voices moved toward the door that led to the hallway, and the light clicked off.

Mai took a deep, shaky breath. “That was close.”

“Let’s take care of that sheet and get out of here.” Peggy pushed open the door.

It seemed so simple. They had what they needed. Even if someone noticed they signed in, no one would ever know what they were doing there. If Peggy’s theory was correct, even Jonas would have to admit they’d done a good thing. If not, no one would be the wiser. They didn’t talk about how Mai would present the evidence. There was no point in debating that until they knew if what they had made a difference.

She and Mai hurried down the corridor toward the front desk to sign out. They were only a few steps away from walking out of the building.

Paul pushed open the front door and walked in. “Mom?” He swiveled his gaze to the right. “Mai? What are you doing here?”

“We’re working, of course.” Mai’s gaze narrowed, and her pointed chin came up defiantly. “What are
you
doing here?”

“I came for some documents the captain wants. That’s not the point. What’s my mother doing here? Last time I checked, she didn’t work for the city or the county.”

Mai glanced at Peggy. “She’s helping me do some research.”

“With
what?
What are either one of you doing here at this time of the night?”

“I don’t think that concerns you, Officer Lee. Your mother and I had business here. Now we’re leaving. Good-bye.”

Paul put one hand on Mai’s shoulder as she started to move away. “Hold on a minute—”

“I’m a thirty-second-degree black belt,” she warned with a laser glance at his hand. “Don’t invade my personal space unless you want to lose a hand.”

Paul’s green gaze clashed with Mai’s infuriated brown eyes. “Yeah?”

“Is there a problem, Officer?” a short security guard with bulldog features asked him.

“No problem.” Paul took his hand away from Mai’s shoulder. He waited for the security guard to walk away, then turned back to the two women. “Unless you want me to mention this to Lieutenant Rimer, the two of you better wait outside for me. I’ll only be a minute.”

Mai ignored him and walked outside. Peggy smiled and followed her. Paul shook his head and went to the front desk.

“Do you think he means it?” Mai asked his mother when they were alone.

“I think we should tell him what we’re doing. The best way to keep someone quiet is to make them an accomplice.”

“You’re pretty sharp, Peggy. Paul can’t report us if he’s guilty, too.” Mai shivered. “But I think we should wait in the car. It’s freezing out here.”

When Paul came out, he told them his shift was over. “Let’s not draw any more attention to this, whatever it is. I’ll meet you at your house, Mom.”

“I’ll put some coffee on,” Peggy agreed before he went back to his squad car.

Mai shifted the small freezer chest she was using to protect and transport the blood and tissue sample they collected. “I suppose he means me, too.”

“I’m sure he does. But don’t worry, we’ll talk to him, and everything will be fine.” Peggy looked at Mai as she started the car. “Do you really have a black belt?”

“No. But everyone thinks I do because I’m Asian. It comes in handy sometimes. Bruce Lee made all of us masters of the martial arts.”

Paul followed them back to Queens Road. With the cold and the light drizzle, the streets were nearly deserted. It was unusual for Peggy to be out in the city late at night. She admired the lights and the shimmering lines of glossy black pavement. Especially because it gave her something to think about instead of what they’d just done.

Mai slapped her hand on the steering wheel. “I can’t believe he’s escorting us to your house! What does he think we are? Incompetent teenagers?”

Peggy didn’t comment. There was enough friction between those two to light up a house. Someday they’d realize what it was all about. It would be nice to have grandchildren before she was too old to appreciate them. Or before she went to jail for all the laws she’d broken tonight.

She was pleased not to find anything damaged in her house. Shakespeare galloped to the door, letting out long, low woofs as he came. He wagged his tail so hard that it contorted his body left and right. Then he licked Mai and Peggy, grinning at them.

“It’s a good thing you have such a big place,” Mai remarked, her eyes following up the side of the blue spruce. “You couldn’t keep a dog this big in my apartment.”