Pretty Poison

Jonas closed the office door and took a chair close to hers. “I thought I asked you not to interfere in this investigation.”

“I haven’t interfered,” she replied. “I’ve exercised my right as a citizen to help solve a murder and put the killer behind bars.”

“I think you watch too much Court TV.” He looked at Al, and they both laughed.

“If you’d be willing to hear me out and take a look at this video, it might make more sense to you.”

“Listen, I know your friend is in trouble.” Jonas attempted to sound sympathetic. “But trying to blame this on someone else won’t help. We’ve worked up a good case against her. I’m expecting the arrest warrant any time.”

Peggy got to her feet and smiled at both men. “That’s fine. I’m going to take this over to the DA’s office. He and I go way back. He went to school with John, you know.”

Jonas shuffled uncomfortably in his chair. He obviously didn’t want to hear what she had to say, but he didn’t want the DA to hear it either. Finally, he made up his mind. “Okay. Let’s take a look at the tape, and you tell me what you know.”

“Lieutenant!” Al was hoping for a good setdown that would make Peggy leave it alone.

“We’ll listen to what she has to say and view the tape, Detective,” Jonas said again, sotto voce. “Then we’ll talk about it. What can it hurt?”

Half an hour later, Jonas and Al sat back in their chairs. Neither man spoke for several minutes.

Peggy collected the tape and put it in her backpack. “Well?”

“It’s enough to question Mrs. Warner, Lieutenant.” The words sounded painful coming from Al’s throat.

“And you’re sure about the rest of this, Peggy?” Jonas asked as he reached for the phone.

“As sure as I’m standing here.”

He shrugged and called his assistant. “Call Mrs. Warner’s lawyer and set up a meeting. I think we have a few questions we need to ask the widow.”

THE REST OF IT HAPPENED quickly. Julie didn’t resist the summons. She met Park Lamont at the precinct, and the two of them were locked in the conference room with Al and Jonas. During that time, the press waited outside, and the police commissioner paced the uneven floors.

Peggy didn’t try to hide. She was convinced Julie killed her husband. She didn’t care if she knew who accused her. Julie stared at her a moment when she first arrived but turned away as her lawyer took her elbow to guide her into the conference room.

But when Julie and Park walked out about an hour later, the look on Al’s face told her it was all for nothing.

“Well, she’s smarter than us.” Al leaned against the door-frame. “Her alibi is airtight. She was delivering his prescription for asthma. That’s why she went in with the bag but didn’t come out with it. We already checked out that prescription bottle. It was clean. We talked to the pharmacist who filled it. She picked it up and dropped it off. That’s all. Rimer is gonna blame me for this. Especially now, when we were set to arrest Ms. Prinz.”

“He was the one who decided it sounded worthwhile,” she reminded him. “What do we do now?”

“We don’t do anything. For God’s sake, Peggy, lay off! We’re having enough trouble with this case. Mrs. Warner probably knows the mayor and the DA personally. The police look stupid and incompetent. Doesn’t that make you feel bad? Your son is still on the job. John must be rolling over in his grave about now. Doesn’t any of that matter to you?”

“I’m sorry,” Peggy said when Jonas joined them.

“It was my fault for listening to you. I made the call. The DA already left me three voice mails on my cell phone. Mrs. Warner didn’t waste any time complaining.”

“I still think there’s something wrong about it,” Peggy replied, not feeling bad about her part in the fiasco.

Jonas frowned at her. “Go home, Peggy, please. Let us get some real work done.”

Al drove Peggy to the Potting Shed. “Looks like everybody is getting ready for Christmas,” he observed, stopping the car outside Brevard Court.

“That’s what I’m going to do,” she told him. “But I have some time. I could buy you lunch.”

“Sorry. Can I take a rain check?” He smiled at her. “I kind of feel responsible for getting Rimer into this. I didn’t think he’d take you seriously. Hell, I didn’t think I’d take you seriously. You had some good ideas, Peggy. And you might be right about Mrs. Warner. But without proof, you might as well forget it.”

“Does this mean you’ll still be serving the arrest warrant on Keeley?”

“Probably. We don’t have anything else that makes sense. We can’t afford to screw up, but we can’t let it hang there either.”

“I understand.” She opened the door and got out of the car.

Al popped the trunk. “Need any help with that bike?”

“No, I’m fine. I tote it all over Charlotte. I’ll talk to you later.”

Keeley, Hunter, Sam, and Selena were waiting impatiently to hear what happened. They pounced on her when she walked in the shop.

“Nothing happened.” She pushed her bike against the wall and braced herself for Shakespeare’s happy lunge