He adjusted the lens on the microscope. “Yes. Isn’t that part of the plant?”
Peggy smiled at Mai. “No. It’s a tiny part of a seed.” She picked up one of the sample bags. “Here’s another. I thought it was unusual at the time, since we aren’t growing cotton in the garden.”
Ramsey cleared his throat. “Cotton? What are you saying, Dr. Lee?”
“This is part of a cottonseed. Whoever picked the hyacinth may also have been in the Community Garden.”
“How is that helpful?”
“There was a cottonseed where Luther’s body was found. Whoever gave him the hyacinth may have had cottonseeds on his clothes or shoes. There is probably only one way to get cottonseeds like that—raising or harvesting cotton.”
Ramsey looked at the hyacinth again. “Interesting. Are you sure?”
“Yes.” Peggy wasn’t sure if she’d just helped or hurt Darmus. She could only look at the facts. “Maybe it would be possible to get a search warrant for this.”
“Perhaps.” He ruminated over the word like it was a cup of cold coffee. “We’ll see. But there’s no way for us to know it was the same person spreading the cottonseeds at the garden and picking the hyacinth.”
“True,” she considered. “Unless we find a DNA link between the seeds and match them to another we find somewhere else.”
“Possibly. Anything else you’d like to add?”
She was a little miffed that finding the cottonseed link wasn’t enough for him. But she was even more disappointed when they took it to Jonas. He didn’t act like her discovery was anything to go on. Everyone thanked her and told her to turn her time sheet in for her work.
“If they weren’t going to use my findings, why bother?” Peggy asked Mai as the girl showed her how to fill out her expense sheet. It was almost eight, and she was exhausted.
“You did what they wanted you to do,” Mai explained. “They weren’t looking for a
“Of course! So I gave them what they needed to charge Darmus with Luther’s murder.”
“I’m afraid so.”
“But he’s innocent, Mai.”
“Maybe. But he looks guilty. Especially now that they think he grew the flower and have proof he knew how to use the poisonous scent.”
It made Peggy too angry to speak. She left the lab, vowing to herself that she would never return, and drove home in a terrible frame of mind.
She walked into her quiet kitchen and sat down. It was spotless, much cleaner than she ever left it. She knew Aunt Mayfield and Cousin Melvin didn’t leave it that way. It had to be her mother. Peggy cringed as she imagined what her mother probably found behind the flour canister or on top of the refrigerator.
“Steve went home a little while ago. Said he had an early morning.” Her father pulled up a chair opposite her. “Would you like something to eat? I think there’s some salad left from supper.”
“No thanks, Dad.”
“How did things go?”
Peggy told him what she’d discovered and that the police didn’t care. “I guess I shouldn’t have gone. They would’ve had to wait for the state forensic botanist to confirm what they found. Or if I wouldn’t have opened my mouth in the first place, they still wouldn’t know about the hyacinth, since I’m the one who told them about that, too. Some friend.”
“I’m sure Darmus wouldn’t blame you for using what you know to help solve the crime. If he’s innocent, Margaret Anne, he’ll want to know what happened to his brother just like you wanted to know how John was killed. It’s human nature to be curious and want answers.”
“Maybe so.” She slumped down in her chair and stared at the ceiling.
“You’re tired. You should go to bed.”
“I should. I just can’t get up enough energy to go upstairs.”
“I’d offer to carry you like I used to.” He chuckled. “But you’re a mite big, and I’m a mite old and puny.”
She looked at him in the dim light from above the sink. In her mind’s eye, he would always be the daddy who showed her how to ride a pony and let her jump into the hay before it was baled. But he looked tired and old now, worn out by the hard, physical life he’d always led. Though she knew he was in good health, a tingle of fear slid up her spine at the thought of living without him.
“I have to go to bed.” She got slowly to her feet. “I have the garden club tomorrow, and then I have to go to the Potting Shed. It was bad enough I left Selena, Keeley, and Sam alone with it all day.” She slid her arms around his neck and hugged him tight. “I love you, Daddy.”
He patted her arm and smiled. “I love you, too, sweet pea. Go on upstairs now and get some rest. I’m reading this new mystery I found on your shelf. It’s good. This fella, Daniel Bailey, knows what he’s talking about.”
“He should. He’s the chief deputy for Mecklenburg County. He’s been a sheriff for more than thirty years.”
“Well, nobody’s perfect,” her father joked, reminding her of his ongoing feud with the sheriff ’s department in Charleston County over a fence he put up. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
