“You need to arrest these two women for the murder of Isabelle Lamonte as well as stealing from her,” Peggy told him. “I heard them talking. They’re responsible for what happened here.”
“And who are you? Don’t tell me you’re a private investigator?” The officer stared down at her.
“I’m Dr. Margaret Lee from Queens University. I’m here on behalf of the family.”
“Are they teaching crime solving at Queens now?” the officer half smiled at her. “If they are, maybe I need to go there and brush up on my basic skills.” The other officers laughed with him.
Peggy glanced back at the two women, who had stopped fighting. They were both sitting on the floor, nursing their wounds, breathing hard, probably wondering how they were going to get out of this mess. “I teach botany,” she declared proudly. “But I can testify against these two women.”
The officer looked past her at Steve, whose clothes were dirty and ripped, his hair standing almost straight up on his head and covered with spiderwebs. “And where do you fit into this? Are you a student or a murder suspect?”
“I’m a vet,” he answered. “And I was just trying to keep these women from killing each other until you got here! What took so long?”
“What’s going on here, Officers?” Al’s booming voice broke through the sarcasm and explanations.
“We got a call about a possible homicide here, Detective,” the lead officer explained.
“I know that, son. That’s why I’m here.” Al saw Peggy’s face and put his hands over his eyes. But his voice was calm. “Okay. I can handle this from here.”
The officer looked at the two women on the floor. “I don’t know. This is a pretty rowdy crowd, sir. Maybe we should call in SWAT.”
Alice started crying and rocking her body back and forth. “I didn’t do anything anyone else wouldn’t have done. Do you know what she gave me every year for Christmas, the rotten old miser? A plate of cookies. That’s it. Twenty years of service. I was there for her when no one else would bother with her. She gave me cookies. I deserve the head on that cane. I deserve some compensation.”
The foyer was suddenly silent after her outburst. No one was expecting her to confess to what happened while they were standing there.
Al nodded. “I guess I was wrong about not needing your help, Officer. Would you please take both of these women to the precinct? I think I might have some questions for them.”
“What about them?” The officer inclined his head toward Peggy and Steve.
“I’d like to take them in, too, but they probably weren’t doing anything wrong except snooping around where they don’t belong. I don’t think the DA would prosecute them for being annoying, much as he’d like to. Although if it keeps happening, that might be another story.”
Steve straightened his shirt and hair as he got to his feet. Peggy cleared her throat and tried not to look smug as Cindy and Alice were escorted from the house.
Al turned on them. “What are you doing here? Didn’t we agree you’d stay out of this?”
Peggy held her head up high despite the dust and spiderwebs covering it. “I knew the ivory dragon’s head had to be part of this. You wouldn’t even have known it was gone if it wasn’t for me.”
“I see,” Al replied. “I guess that clears both women of murder then, right? If they’ve had the top of the walking stick all this time, they wouldn’t have bothered looking through your house, would they? You did say the killer looked through your house?”
Peggy opened her mouth to argue, then stopped abruptly. What he said made sense. Why hadn’t she seen it? Too emotionally involved, she supposed. Too eager to find any different conclusion that would clear Beth that she didn’t realize she had the wrong one.
“Or the break-in at your house wasn’t involved.” Al chuckled, seeing her at a loss for words. “That’s why they pay us the big bucks to find out how these things happen. Go home, Peggy. Steve, I’m surprised at you getting involved in something like this.”
“Me, too.” Steve was sure he looked as ridiculous as he felt. “I’ll take her home, Al. Thanks.”
“I shouldn’t tell you this, but you did help with figuring out the whole poisoned honey thing,” Al gave Peggy a bone. “We picked up Fletcher Davis this morning and took him in for questioning. The Philly police found his fingerprints all over the rooms Mr. Lamonte and Mr. Hollings stayed in. Security cameras picked him up going in and out of the rooms. I think we’ve got that part dead to rights. He poisoned the lawyers who were involved in the estuary case to stop the oil company.”
“What about Beth?” Peggy wondered.
“I’ll let you know.” Al shrugged. “This looks bad for the housekeeper. Maybe it will get your friend off the hook for that killing, too. Maybe we were wrong about the two killings being linked. Maybe it was just coincidence.”
“Thanks, Al.” Peggy followed him out of the house. “Were all of the men who were poisoned working for the same company as Park? Were they all poisoned by horse chestnut honey?”
“Three of them, all staying at the same hotel as Park. The fourth man we’re not sure about yet. We’re still waiting for more information.” He put his arm around her shoulders. “You’ve done your part now, Peggy. You pointed us in the right direction. Please stay out of it. Read the papers or watch TV news like everyone else.”
Peggy’s glance snapped up to his broad face. “Shouldn’t I be getting some sort of stipend for helping out instead of threats? You know, the next time you can’t figure something out, I might not be so willing to help.”
Al took a deep breath and rolled his eyes. “Get her out of here, Steve. I don’t think I can take any more.”
“Yes, sir.” Steve hurried Peggy toward his SUV. “I think now might be a good time to make a strategic retreat.”
“AND THIS IS LIVE footage from Queens University this morning as the leader of a left-wing conservation group known only as Tomorrow’s Children, is shown being put in a van by local law enforcement. He’s being identified as twenty-five-year-old Fletcher Davis, a graduate student at Yale who was working at Queens on a sabbatical assignment. Mr. Davis is a suspect in an apparent murder in the death of Park Lamonte, the attorney killed when his car went off the Interstate 485 ramp. There will be more on this as events unfold. This is Mark Shipton in uptown Charlotte. Back to you, Marvin.”
David and Hunter sat in the Potting Shed with Sam and Peggy as they watched the news at noon on television. “It looks like that part is over anyway,” Sam said as he finished his turkey sandwich.
“I was right about Park being poisoned in Philadelphia. I can’t believe I helped that man escape the police.” Peggy anguished. “It might have saved Park’s life if they’d picked him up then.”
Hunter swallowed the last of her diet Pepsi. “Sometimes you can’t see all the puzzle pieces until you get them together.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Sam demanded. “Peggy did the best she could in the situation.”
“I’m not saying she didn’t.” Hunter shrugged and looked at David for backup. “I’m just saying things aren’t always the way they appear.”
“That’s true.” David rose to the occasion. “But even though this might solve what happened to Park, it doesn’t explain what happened to his mother.”
“You weren’t here when Peggy first came in,” Sam said. He explained about the two women who were in Isabelle’s house that morning. “I think the chances are pretty good one or both of them did it for the money.”