Sweet Ginger Poison

“She had a brain tumor. She had been having these awful headaches. I finally talked her into going to the doctor. Two weeks later she died.”

“I’m so sorry, Silvy.”

“It’s no excuse for what I’ve done. I know that. But I had to do it.”

“The thing I don’t understand is why you killed Danny.”

“I didn’t kill Danny.” Silvy rolled up her window.

Ginger saw Silvy reach into her pocket and take out a handful of small, multi-colored jelly beans. She threw them into her mouth and began to chew.

Wait—those weren’t jelly bean, thought Ginger.

Silvy drove away.

“No,” yelled Ginger, “don’t do it, Silvy! Come back!” But she knew it was probably already too late.

Silvy drove out of the alley and onto the road.

Ginger took out her cell phone and called the chief.

Chapter 25

As Ginger was walking up to Coreyville Coffee Cakes, her cell phone rang. It was the chief.

“She’s dead.”

“From the poison?”

“What poison? She drove straight into the back of an 18-wheeler that was parked on the side of the highway. She must have been doing at least eighty.”

She felt sad about Silvy. Ginger was probably the only person in the entire world who cared that Silvy was dead. She wished the poor girl could have been helped before she went off the deep end. “Thanks for letting me know, Chief.”

“No problem. And, by the way, we were able to trace Danny’s pistol back to a gun dealer in Longview. It wasn’t Danny’s gun. And now I’m pretty sure I know who killed him.”

“Who?”

“I don’t want to say until after we pick him up. I’ll let you know.”

“Thanks.”

When Ginger walked into her bakery she saw only two customers, sitting at a table. Lacey was behind the counter. Ginger motioned for Lacey to follow her into the kitchen.

“Where have youbeen this morning?” said Addie.

“I slept in. But then I got busy and figured out who killed Navy.”

“Who?” Lacey and Addie said it in unison.

“Silvy Knox.”

“Who’s that?” said Addie.

“Yeah,” said Lacey, “I don’t know who that is either.”

Ginger looked at Lacey. “You might remember her as Molly Castorside from high school.”

“Oh, yeah—they called her Castor Oil.”

“Right,” said Ginger.

“I never called her that,” said Lacey. “But I wantedto after she tricked Navy into having sex with her.”

“What?” said Addie.

“She fixed herself up real pretty for Navy’s graduation party,” said Ginger. “The kids didn’t even recognize her. And Navy liked her new look so much that he took her up to his bedroom. Where were you that night, Lacey?”

“My stupid, mean parents wouldn’t let me go.”

“Anyway, Molly came up pregnant,” said Ginger.

“You’re kidding?” said Lacey. “I didn’t know about that.”

“Yeah,” said Ginger. “And Navy wouldn’t even talk to her. She ended up losing the baby.”

“So, after all these years she killed him for it?” said Addie.

“I think she would have been okay if her mother hadn’t died. After that she just kind of went over the edge. She moved here and got a job working for Cash Crawley. And she had some kind of relationship with Bull Crawley as well.”

“How did she get the fish oil into the coffee cake?” said Lacey.

“With a syringe,” said Ginger. “She knew about Navy’s allergy and the Epi-Pen. She did it while Navy was delivering my stolen recipe book to Cash Crawley.”

“So, she’s on her way to jail?” said Addie.

“No,” said Ginger. “She’s on her way to the morgue. She drove her truck into the back of a tractor-trailer rig.”

“Well, I hate to say it,” said Lacey, “but it’s what she deserved.”

“She may have already been dead when she crashed,” said Ginger. “Right before she drove away from me, she ate a handful of Castor beans.”

“What’s that?” said Addie.

“They’re seeds that are produced by the Castor plant. But they call them beans, because that’s what they look like. If you squeeze the beans you get Castor oil. It’s used in a lot of different kinds of products.”

“My momma used to give us kids Castor oil when we needed a laxative,” said Addie.

“Yeah,” said Ginger. “That’s one of the uses. But Castor beans also produce something else: ricin.”

“Ricin?” said Addie. “Isn’t that the stuff that terrorists use?”

“Yes.”

“How did you know all this?” said Lacey.

“I looked it up at the library,” said Ginger. “Silvy gave both Cash and Bull a Castor plant. She grew them at the nursery in Gilmer where she had been working. The Crawley brothers didn’t even know what it was or how dangerous it was. They didn’t know how dangerous she .”

“So, she was planning to kill the Crawley brother too?” said Addie.

“No. She just wanted to let them know that she couldhave killed them. Although she did spike their coffee with some kind of very strong laxative. They’re not feeling too well at the moment. But they’ll survive.”

“What about Danny?” said Lacey.

“No,” said Ginger, “she didn’t kill him.”

“Who did?”said Addie.

“Well, I—”

Ginger’s phone rang.

“Excuse me. It’s the chief.”

“Hello?…So, you picked him up?…Good…Thanks, Chief.”

“Lacey, you can relax now,” said Ginger. “I thoughtit was him.”

“Who?” said Lacey.

“Manny Monet,” said Ginger. “The gun you gave me to hold onto—it was not Danny’s gun. It belonged to Manny.”

“I knew Danny wasn’t a killer,” said Lacey.

“Well, I’m afraid he triedto be one,” said Ginger. “The chief thinks that Manny had hired him to shoot Navy, but Danny got cold feet. And then when Navy died, Danny tried to take credit for the murder so he could still get paid. Apparently that’s what got him killed. I’m sorry to have to tell you that, Sweetie.” Ginger hugged Lacey.

Lacey was clearly better off without Navy or Danny in her life. But it might take her a while to fully realize it. In the future, Ginger would try to steer her toward more promising husband material.

**********

Jane poured the box of dominos out on the table. “Well, you’ve had quite a week, Ginger.”

“I can’t believe it’s only been a week,” said Ginger.