Fruit of the Poisoned Tree

18

Amaryllis

Botanical: Hippeastrum

Family: Amaryllidaceae

The amaryllis is a relative of the daffodil. It is native to the Andes mountains of Chile and Peru. It was discovered in the eighteen hundreds by Dr. Eduard Poeppig. This showy plant is one of the greatest treasures of the gardening world. It can be grown indoors or out with great success and minimal effort.

STEVE WASN’T SURE IF he should be offended or glad he had to be excluded. “What are you planning to do?”

“I’m going to take a look around Cindy’s condo.”

“You’re going to ask her first, right?”

She glanced at him, eyebrows raised.

“Never mind.” He started the Vue’s engine. “I don’t want to know. But you can’t go in alone.”

“I have to. It’s the only way.” Peggy outlined her plan. “I know where she lives. We’ve done work there. I think I can get the doorman to let me in.”

“I could be there with you, taking Sam’s place,” Steve volunteered. “I won’t let you go in alone.”

“All right. You wait downstairs. If you see Cindy, call me on the cell phone, and I’ll get out.”

“I don’t like it,” he maintained. Shakespeare barked to agree. Or disagree. It was hard to tell. “What are you hoping to find?”

“The link Al told me has to exist. Cindy can’t get her hands on the money and probably isn’t doing this for herself. She’s always had bad taste in men. If I’m right, she’s involved with Gary Rusch. He could access Park’s money. It would be easy for him to ‘take care of’ the estate and the insurance. And Beth’s suicide attempt came on the heels of her telling me she said something to him about it. I’m betting he gave her the Nembutol when she was with him.”

“I can’t believe I’m going to say this.” Steve shook his head as they stopped at a light. “But if you actually suspect Gary of being the killer and Cindy of being his accomplice, wouldn’t it make more sense to go through Gary’s place? He might still have some of the poisoned honey. Or something else incriminating.”

Peggy leaned over and kissed him. “That’s why I love you!”

The light changed, but Steve didn’t move the Vue forward. “You do?”

She cleared her throat and rearranged the folds of her scarf, carefully not looking at his handsome face. “Yes, I suppose I do. It happened so fast that I—”

He took her in his arms and kissed her while car horns blared and drivers either laughed or cursed as they went around them. “I love you, too, Peggy. For different reasons, probably. I’ve wanted to tell you for a long time.”

“You mean all three months we’ve known each other?”

He grinned. “Every minute since you crashed into the side of my car.”

She stared into his wonderful eyes, almost forgetting her plan to find Park’s killer. She never thought she’d see that look in another man’s eyes. “Well! I don’t really know what to say.”

“Don’t worry.” He started the Vue off again down College Street. “I’m not asking to go house hunting or hit the bridal registry at Belk. What we have right now is enough for me as long as it’s enough for you.”

“It is.” She smiled and squeezed his hand. “Thank you.”

He squeezed back, then sobered, his eyes glued on the road. “So where does Gary Rusch live?”

Peggy didn’t know. “But it should be easy to find out.” She used her Internet connection on her cell phone to access the Charlotte Yellow Pages. “Well, that’s cozy!”

“What?”

“Gary lives in the same condo complex as Cindy. What a coincidence!” She glanced at Steve. “So Plan A still works, except I get into Gary’s condo instead of Cindy’s, and you keep watch downstairs for either of them.”

“Why don’t you let me go and you keep watch?” Steve suggested as they pulled into her driveway.

“As you’ve said before, I have a talent for this. Jonas might call me a busybody, but I prefer to think of it as research.”

“All right.” He gave in as he let Shakespeare out of the Vue. The dog whined and pulled at the leash, trying to reach Peggy.

“Let’s get him settled in and take care of it.” She patted Shakespeare’s head. “With any luck, we’ll have our answers and still be done in time for dinner.”

PEGGY GRABBED A THRIVING red amaryllis from her kitchen before they left and put a Potting Shed tag on it as they drove back downtown. It was as simple getting into the condo as she thought it would be. The doorman knew Sam and the Potting Shed name. He was glad to finally meet Peggy.

“I’m glad to meet you, too.” She endured his hearty handshake after she put the amaryllis on the bench near the door at the entrance to the plush, expensive condos.

“You know, I’ve heard rumors the owner here is going to hire a new landscaping service, inside and out,” Tommy, the doorman, confided. “I was wondering if you might be interested. I was planning on giving Sam a call.”

“That would be great.” She smiled, thinking how life worked in strange ways. “Should I get in touch with the owner or give you my card?”

“Let me give you the owner’s number.” He wrote it out on a piece of paper and gave it to her. “I think he’ll be interested.”

“Thanks!” She tucked it away. “I’ll give him a call.”

“Nothin’ at all. I hope you get it.”

Peggy walked quickly to the elevators after a peek at Steve waiting outside the building. She called Tommy when she reached number 17 on the seventh floor. He buzzed her into the luxury condo unit.

Inside the elegant condo, nothing was out of place. Not even a smell of any kind. It was more like a high- dollar hotel room than a home. She put the amaryllis down on a table, not planning to leave it behind. With all the glare protection on the windows, there wouldn’t be enough light to grow a shade plant. Amaryllis loved sun. In this environment, it would shrivel and die. She couldn’t imagine anything living there anyway.

What was she looking for? Contrary to her confident manner with Steve, she wasn’t really sure. She searched the kitchen for any sign of honey. There wasn’t anything edible in the room, poisoned or not. But it was very shiny and glamorous. Lots of chrome and beautiful inlaid black marble on the countertops. Like a kitchen from a magazine. She wondered if Gary had ever been in there. He didn’t seem like the type who cooks.

She tackled the bedroom next. The bed was huge, with a large portrait of Gary on the wall behind it. There were mirrors everywhere. The black carpet muffled any sound as she walked into the room. She accidentally touched a switch by the door, and a cascade of light and sound streamed into the room. Multicolored strobe lights flashed across the bed.

“So this is the way the other half lives,” she mumbled to herself with a wry smile.

Peggy checked through the closet carefully. There was no sign of women’s clothing or shoes. There were no personal photos on the bedside tables. Nothing that could tell her if Cindy had been there. The immense bathroom with the black marble tub was the same story. It was like no one lived there.

“I love you, Steve,” she said as she dialed Tommy’s number at the front desk, “but you’re not a great detective.”

Tommy was totally understanding of the fact that she forgot to mention she had something for Cindy Walker