Will looked down at me over the rim of his cup. “Who says they can’t be both?”
I shook my head at him but grinned.
“Ludolf might be more easily tempted to come out for a big event like that—but again, he’s going to be suspicious. And we’d need to plan some sort of party and include other corrupt cronies that Ludolf wants to rub elbows with. And the longer we wait and the more people we involve, the greater the chance that someone tells him what we’re up to and he bolts.”
“I like it, I like it.” The little flame bobbed his fiery head. “So we can’t nab him in the sewers, and we also can’t nab him out of the sewers. So many good options; let’s keep it going.”
The princess shot him a flat look, then smiled and thanked the smocked and gloved healer who handed her a cup of tea.
Prince Harry lifted a palm. “Horace said that he and Ludolf had crossed paths before—maybe he knows of a way.”
The princess nodded. “It’s a good thought. I just have no idea where Horace is at the moment.” She turned to me and shrugged. “He’s mysterious, and we never know what he’s up to.”
Iggy scoffed. “But isn’t that his charm?”
I folded my arms and tapped my toe. Think, Jolene, think. We needed to get Ludolf out of the sewers without tipping him off to our plans or igniting a battle between cops and shifters. Ludolf had the upper hand down there… what could we use against him?
I glanced up as the princess took a sip of her tea, then lowered the flower-patterned cup from her lips. Bright red lipstick that nearly matched her hair stained the rim of the cup. Lipstick. Just like Polly Pierre’s cup. I blinked, pieces sliding into place in my mind. Tonya’s purse—the evidence locker!
I whirled to face Peter. “I’ve got it!”
I beamed up at him as he raised his brows. “Yeah?”
Prince Harry raised his brows. “You know how to catch Ludolf Caterwaul?”
I turned to him and winced. “Uh—not so much. Sorry.” I turned back to Peter. “I think I know how Polly Pierre was murdered… and who did it, too.”
His eyes lit up. “What do you need?”
I squeezed his hand. “We need to go back to the evidence locker. There’s something I need to check.” I whirled to face Will, Heidi, the royals, and their friends. “Sorry, guys—the murder investigation calls.”
Wiley, with Cat still scampering over his shoulders, grinned at me. “See if you can get inspiration to strike about this whole Ludolf predicament.”
I grinned back. “I’ll try.”
Peter whistled. “C’mon, Daisy! C’mere, girl.”
On her back again, with Maple rubbing her belly, Daisy turned her head to face Peter. She blinked at him, upside down, her long tongue hanging out of her mouth, and whined. Do I have to? Just a couple more minutes.
I let out a woof. Quit acting like we never feed you or give you pets.
She huffed, but rolled over, gave Maple a quick kiss on the cheek and then trotted over, grumbling to herself. Fine—what’s the emergency?
I barked at her as Peter and I waved goodbye to the others and strode down the long aisle between beds to leave the healing wing. We’re about to solve a murder—you might even get to bite someone.
Daisy’s ears perked up, and she picked up the pace.
32
THE TEACUP
Peter, Daisy, and I rushed across the royal grounds, through the bramble patch and under the portcullis, back into the police precinct that had once been a medieval fortress. We waved hello to the swamped Edna and headed straight back to the evidence locker.
The mustached older cop was back at his post as we signed in. Peter found the box of evidence that contained Tonya Pierre’s red purse. We then got the teacup Polly had sipped from back from the lab. After we gloved up and gently removed the items, we arranged them on a metal table in the evidence locker. A rush of excitement coursed through me—I was sure I was onto something.
I pointed at the lipstick marks on the blue teacup. “Okay, we know that Polly died after drinking tea, right?”
Peter shook his head. “That’s what we thought, but I talked to the guys in the lab just now. They said there weren’t any traces of poison found in the tea or the cup.”
I nodded, my heart pounding in my chest. “Good.”
“Good?” Peter raised a brow as he stood across the table from me, metal shelves full of evidence rising to the ceiling behind him. “That was the only evidence we had. Polly didn’t eat or drink anything else besides the tea.”
Daisy sat on the stone floor beside him and peered over the edge of the table, sniffing at the evidence.
I nodded, grinning. “And that’s true—Polly didn’t eat or drink anything besides the tea—which wasn’t poisoned.”
Peter folded his arms, a glint in his eyes. “I’m listening.”
I splayed my palms. “But the poison was found on Polly’s lips and inside her mouth, right? It was fast-acting.”
Peter nodded.
I pointed at the coral-pink lipstick mark on the rim of the teacup. “When Polly drank from that cup, she left behind these marks.”
That thinking crease appeared between Peter’s brows. “Okay…”
I nodded, and with my gloved hands pulled the black tube of lipstick out of Tonya’s purse. I pulled the cap off and twisted the base, raising the lipstick up. “But when we found Polly’s body, she was wearing dark purple lipstick—a shade matching the one her daughter Tonya was wearing.” I held up the tube of lipstick. “This shade.”
Peter’s frown deepened, and he began pacing behind the table. “Okay… so after Polly drank from the teacup, wearing that pink lipstick, she put on her daughter’s dark lipstick?”
I nodded, grinning—I was on the right track here, I could feel it. “Polly took a sip of the tea—which was not poisoned—and while doing so, rubbed off a lot of her lipstick.
