tools he used to trim flowers,' Phillip explained.
Elly turned back to watch the stretcher being loaded into the back of the ambulance. She did not speak.
He touched her arm. 'Let's go home.'
'Yes. Good idea.' She spun toward him, clearly relieved to have an excuse to leave.
He bundled her into the car. As soon as she was settled Rose elevated out of the tote and drifted up onto her favored perch on the back of the seat.
Cooper got in on the driver's side, rezzed the engine, and pulled away from the curb.
'You okay?' he asked.
'Yes. What about you? Did you find the drugs? I've been worried sick all afternoon.'
'I found the stash. I also had a conversation with Ormond Ripley.'
'The owner of the casino?'
'He's a former member of the local Guild Council. I can't rule out the possibility that he's the dealer, but I'm inclined to agree with Wyatt that it's very unlikely. I'll tell you all about it later. What exactly happened back there? I'm getting the feeling I haven't heard the whole story yet.'
'Very perceptive of you.' She cleared her throat. 'It's a little more complicated than it appears.'
'How much more complicated?'
'Do you remember me telling you that there had been an attempted burglary in the neighborhood about ten days ago?'
He found a parking place in front of St. Clair's Herbal Emporium. 'I remember.'
'Yes, well, I left out one tiny little detail.'
He de-rezzed the engine and turned in the seat. '
'The shop that was broken into was mine.'
His insides clenched. 'You never said anything about a break-in to your folks. Your dad would have mentioned it to me.'
'I'm sure he would have,' she said dryly. 'And he and Mom would have gone bonkers. I could just see my father picking up the phone and calling Mercer Wyatt, himself, to demand a full-time bodyguard for me. Mom would have started in again, pressuring me to return to Aurora Springs. I'd be getting lectures from my brothers on the dangers of the big city.'
He closed his eyes and scrubbed his face with one hand. 'Okay, I get the picture. You didn't tell your family because you didn't want to deal with the fallout.'
'Do you blame me?'
'Hell, yes. But that's another issue. Much as I hate to say it, I think we'd better stay focused here.'
'Cooper—'
'Tell me why you're bringing up the subject now.'
She drew a deep breath. 'You're not going to like this.'
'I already don't like it.'
'Brace yourself. Rose and I were home when the burglar broke into my shop.'
He felt as if he'd been kicked in the gut.
'Neither of us was hurt,' she added hastily. 'Rose scared the guy off.'
'She sensed him the instant he was inside the shop, of course. I woke up when she did, realized something was wrong, and jumped out of bed to lock my bedroom door. But before I could stop her, Rose went flying out of the bedroom, teeth and eyes blazing. She shot down the hall to the top of the stairs. The next thing I know, the burglar's screaming green murder. He sounded panic-stricken. He ran back down the stairs and out into the alley.'
'What about the cops?'
'I called them, of course. But by the time they got there, he was long gone.'
'Naturally,' Cooper muttered.
'I filled out a report, but they made it clear that in cases of that sort there wasn't much hope of turning up a suspect.'
'So you went out and bought new locks.'
'I also alerted my neighbors, and we set up the block watch program.'
'Nothing like a good block watch program, I always say.' He ran his fingers through his hair. 'Damn. All right, let's keep on track. You're bringing this up now because…?'
She cleared her throat. 'When the burglar ran out, I caught a glimpse of him from the top of the stairs. I couldn't see his face. He was all wrapped up in a heavy, dark coat and some sort of stocking cap pulled down very low. But when he ran through a shaft of moonlight, I could see one thing very plainly.'
'What?'
She reached up to touch Rose. 'He was clutching his left arm. Later, when I turned on the lights, I found blood on the stairs. I'm sure Rose bit him quite badly.'
Comprehension settled on him like an icy mist.
'On the left arm?'
She looked at him with big, serious eyes. 'Right about where Stuart Griggs had a wide bandage covering a recently healed wound.'
Chapter 26
'LET'S TAKE THIS FROM THE TOP,' COOPER SAID, HALTING in front of the kitchen window. 'Why would Stuart Griggs have tried to break into your shop? What was he looking for?'
Seated at the table, Elly watched him across the top of her mug. The first thing she had done when they had returned to her apartment was brew up a pot of Balance Tea to soothe her edgy nerves.
'I suppose,' she said slowly, 'that he might have been looking for money, but somehow, it doesn't seem likely, does it?'
'Given the really big coincidence we're dealing with here, no.'
'Coincidence?'
'He's the owner of the shop next door to Bertha Newell's business, and he turns up dead only a couple of days after someone tries to murder Bertha.'
She shuddered. 'I see what you mean. I hadn't thought about that connection.'
'When did Griggs open his shop on Ruin Lane?'
'I'm not sure. My friend, Doreen, across the street, mentioned that the floral shop has been around forever. But Griggs was a dour sort and very much a loner. None of us knew him well. He never got involved in any of the neighborhood activities.'
'Looks like he may have had his reasons.' Cooper shifted his attention back to the foggy alley below the window. 'Did he buy herbal products from you?'
'He came in a few times and bought some moonseed tisane. But the only time I had what you might call an extended conversation with him was the day I took one of Rose's flowers to his shop to ask him if he recognized it.'
She looked at the green flower on the windowsill.
Cooper followed her gaze. 'When was that?'
'Just a couple of weeks ago,' she said quietly. 'As I told you, I'd had no luck researching the blossoms in my herbals. I'd hesitated to ask anyone else about the flowers because I was afraid that Rose was snatching them out of some local gardener's hothouse. But I finally got so curious I decided to take one to Griggs.'
'You told him that Rose had brought it to you?'
'Yes.' She winced. 'And immediately regretted it.'
'Why?'
'Just a feeling. I had Rose in my tote that day and I didn't like the way Griggs looked at her. I could tell that Rose didn't like him very much, either.'
