Poison in the Pansies Read online

  She picked up the phone, called Nan. “Mack’s back out to another meeting, job, crime scene, I don’t know what. Have you heard anything about a poisoning down there?”

  Nan’s voice was super-excited as she replied, “Oh my. After you left,” she cried out, “I went to Richie, and Richie went over to Annie, and Annie went over to Laura. And, boy, oh boy, we have somebody who knows the man who died.”

  She bolted upright. So, yes, she should be upset that Nan couldn’t keep a secret, as asked. Yet Doreen wanted to know what Nan had found out. “Tell me. Tell me.”

  Nan replied in a smug voice, “Nope. It’ll have to wait until morning.”

  “Why?” Doreen cried out.

  “Because I’m heading off to my salsa lesson.”

  Doreen stopped and stared down at her phone. “What?”

  “We’ll talk in the morning, dear.” And, with that, Nan hung up.

  Chapter 3

  Tuesday Morning

  The next morning, Doreen, coffee at her side, was on the internet, looking for any information about the poisoning in town. When her phone rang, she smiled at her Caller ID screen and answered, “Hey, Nan. How are you?”

  “I’m fine, a little tired. That salsa last night was deadly.”

  “I can’t believe that you’re taking dancing lessons.”

  “Why not?” she asked. “It’s good exercise, and it’s lots of fun. The men are seriously active here.” She laughed. “At least this way I have fun.”

  Doreen didn’t even want to think about what her grandmother had just said. “So now are you prepared to tell me about the information you found out last night?” she asked, with exaggerated patience.

  “Uh-oh,” Nan replied. “And I guess that one upset you. Did it?”

  “Well, of course. I’ve been sitting here the whole night, trying to figure out just what it was that you’d found out,” she whined. “There’s nothing like not knowing.”

  “Why don’t you come down and have breakfast?” Nan offered. “I’ve got fresh croissants here.”

  Doreen’s stomach rumbled.

  Nan laughed. “I heard that. Even over the phone. Come on down.” And, with that, she hung up.

  Doreen stared down at her phone. So many people were hanging up on her these days. She almost expected it now. She tossed back the last of her coffee and turned to the animals gathered in the kitchen. “Let’s go down to Nan’s, guys.”

  Immediately Thaddeus woke up from the living room roost and cried out, “Nan’s, Nan’s, Nan’s.”

  Mugs was already dancing at the back door and even Goliath regally stood there, waiting for her. She opened the door, let them all out, and then followed behind them, as they walked toward the river. Mugs raced ahead, and she called him back with a warning. “Stay close,” she said.

  But he wasn’t having anything to do with it. They were heading to see Nan, and Mugs knew exactly where they were going. Doreen was hard-pressed to keep up. Even Goliath appeared to be in a hurry. Doreen groaned. “It’s almost like you guys know that we have a new case.”

  At that, Mugs woofed several times, and Thaddeus cried out, from his perch on her shoulder, “Off to Nan’s. Off to Nan’s.”

  Wow. He’d strung those words together all on his own. She twisted her head to look at him. “Hey, buddy,” she asked, “how are you so adept at talking now?”

  Thaddeus chuckled at her shoulder. Not only was he adept but getting better at talking on a regular basis too. Which she found pretty amazing, considering the limited number of people that her animals interacted with.

  Before she realized it, they were already turning the corner and heading toward Nan’s patio. Mugs picked up the pace, with Goliath at his side, as they both raced toward Nan, who stood on her patio, looking for them. She clapped her hands and cried out in joy. And Mugs ran right toward her.

  Doreen reached them, breathing hard, and coming in second in this impromptu race. “They were just insane this morning,” she told Nan. “It’s almost as if they know you’ve got information.”

  “Of course they know,” she replied comfortably, as she cuddled Goliath and Mugs. And Thaddeus, not to be outdone, hopped onto the table and walked over toward her, right up her arm and onto her shoulder, where he snuggled against her neck.

  At that, Doreen smiled. “It does my heart good to see how much they love you.”

  “It does my heart good too.” Nan had tears in her eyes as she cuddled Thaddeus. “They’ve always been very special, but they’re certainly having a better life with you.”

  “Maybe,” she said. “It’s just so hard to know what they want sometimes.”

  “Nope, they want you, that’s all.” Nan laughed. “And so they should. You guys have a great life.”

  “I think so,” she muttered. “Sometimes I worry that I’m not giving them enough.”

  Nan looked at her. “Enough what?” she asked. “These guys are completely spoiled.”

  “Are they though?” she asked. “I’m not sure about that.”

  But then Mugs woofed at her and sat down and looked up at the croissants. “But they’re certainly working on getting more spoiled,” Doreen noted, with an eye roll. “He really wants part of that croissant.”

  “And he can have a part,” Nan agreed. “The tea’s ready.”

  They poured tea and proceeded to dig into a plateful of fresh croissants.

  “Where did you get the croissants from?”

  “Here, in the kitchen.”

  Doreen stopped and looked at her grandmother. “So, since I’m not a resident of Rosemoor, I’m not supposed to have any of these, am I?”

  “Sure you are. I took four. I’m allowed four,” she replied. “Besides, who’ll say anything?”

  At that, Doreen wasn’t so sure. Somebody was always around to say something about whatever. Still, right now, Doreen saw no point in wasting the croissants before her, and she dug in quite nicely. By the time she’d had two, Nan had only eaten one.

  Nan pushed her second one toward Doreen. “You know that I only eat one.”

  She eyed her suspiciously. “Lots of times you eat two.”

  “Not today,” she replied. “I’m too tired.”

  And, sure enough, Nan did look tired. “Too much salsaing?”

  At that, Nan laughed. “Not even sure that’s a word, my dear, but the dancing was definitely fun.”

  “I’m glad to hear that,” she replied warmly. “I always thought old age would be, you know, sitting in a wheelchair, broken down, waiting for life to end.”

  “Oh, I don’t think so.” Nan shook her head. “At least not for most of us at the center. A few sticks-in-the-mud are just waiting for life to end for them,” she noted, “but I never did see the sense of that. There’s so much still to live for.”

  Doreen smiled. “So now will you tell me about this new information of yours?”

  “I already told you where the information came from,” she noted. “But Laura’s granddaughter works at the little grocery store up in Rutland. And that’s where Alan lived. And he worked there too.”

  “Alan?”

  “He’s the guy who died,” she clarified. “And apparently the day before he died, he wasn’t feeling very good and so people were trying to send him home, but they were short-staffed so he refused to go.”

  “Okay.”

  “And then as the day went on, he started to get a little crazier, a little more stomach pain, quite bad. And then somebody made a comment about something, and she didn’t know what the comments were, but he got quite agitated. And then he started telling people that he thought he’d been poisoned.”

  “So you think somebody put the suggestion in his mind?”

  “Maybe. I don’t know.”

  “So you know I’ll have to go talk to these people?”

  “I know.” She nodded. “That’s why I brought you up here, so I could give you the details of what we do know and what we don’t know and who you can talk to.”
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  “Have the cops talked to them?”

  “No.” She shook her head. “Because nobody knows anything about it, as far as I know.”

  Doreen groaned. “And that just means I’ll have to talk to Mack.”

  “Yep.” Nan smiled. “You will. But, once you talk to Mack, then you’ll get kicked off the case.”

  She sighed. “I know. But, if it’s an active case and if he needs this information …”

  “Which is why I wanted you to come, so we could talk to you about it.”

  “We?” Then she heard a voice at the doorway. And there was Richie. “Hi, Richie.” Doreen jumped up. “Did you want to sit down?”

  He took the seat, with a nod. “Normally I’d let a beautiful lady have the seat,” he explained. “But I am a little shaky today.”

  “No problem,” Doreen said, grabbing a kitchen chair to add to the patio set.

  Richie looked over at Nan, a twinkle in his eye. “We danced too much last night.”

  Nan nodded. “My legs are shaky too.” She chuckled. “I was just telling Doreen what we know.”

  Richie nodded. “I would call my grandson, but he gave me a lecture last week.” Richie sniffed. “So I don’t really feel like talking to him today.”

  Doreen laughed at that. “I’ll contact Mack then,” she muttered. “You guys don’t happen to know any old cases around town that involved poisoning?”

  The two shared a glance, then looked at her and asked, “Why?”

  “Well, if there’s a cold case,” she explained, “I could get involved in it, and I could work it without having Mack getting upset at me.”

  “Right, right.” Nan nodded, as she turned to Richie. “Richie, what do you think? Do we know anyone who may have been poisoned to death?”

  “Well, there was Chrissy, who died recently, who swore to everybody who would listen that she was being poisoned,” he snorted. “But I don’t know that we believed her.”

  “Where is she? I should talk to her,” Doreen noted.

  “Well, she died.” Richie frowned at Doreen. “I just said that, didn’t I?”

  Doreen frowned too. “Okay, so if she died, why wouldn’t there have been an investigation already?”

  “Because she was old for one,” he noted. “And I know the family didn’t want an autopsy.”

  “Which would also have been maybe suspicious.”

  “Not at our age,” Nan replied. “You have to remember that when it comes to being old already, there’s no budget money. I mean, there has to be a reason for that expenditure. We’re all ready to die anyway.”

  Doreen frowned at Nan. “I don’t want to hear that talk from you, from either of you.” She stared at both and got noncommittal nods. “But did she not tell anybody that she was being poisoned?”

  “I just said she did.” Richie frowned. “Are you feeling all right, dear?”

  She stared at Richie, nonplussed. “I’m feeling fine.” She then faced Nan. “Did she tell anybody in law enforcement?” she asked.

  “Ah,” Richie replied. “No, I don’t know if she did or not. She’d been spouting off about being poisoned for a long time, so I’m not sure anybody would have cared.”

  “When did she die?” she asked.

  “I think it was this year, maybe January?” He turned to Nan. She just nodded.

  “I don’t know how old a case has to be in order to be considered a cold case,” she muttered.

  “Well, it wouldn’t be a cold case anyway,” Nan replied logically. “Her death was deemed to be by natural causes.”

  “Right, so in which case, it’s not a cold case. It would just be a no case.” That even confused her. She sighed. “But, of course, if that were the case, then Mack couldn’t get upset with me, could he?”

  “Nope, sure couldn’t.” Richie rubbed his hands together. “So how do we start?”

  Chapter 4

  Doreen walked back inside her home through the kitchen door and dropped her notepad on the kitchen table, feeling the surge of excitement that kept her feet racing all the way home. Getting Richie and Nan to understand that they couldn’t get too involved but could dig for any information that they could from people in the know was one thing, but she couldn’t afford to have them on the same case.

  Only as she sat here, replaying those words, did she realize just how much she sounded like Mack. She winced. “Sorry, guys. It’s too dangerous.”

  And, of course, Mack would have immediately said that same thing to her. And he was right to a certain extent, but not in any way that she wanted to listen to or to abide by. Which was exactly what Nan and Richie would say too. She sighed and looked down at Mugs and Goliath. “How about we go out exploring?”

  Goliath wove between her legs, as Mugs jumped up and down on his back legs, almost like a dancing bear.

  She laughed at his antics. “I’ll take that as a yes.” She studied the names on her notepad that she had in front of her. She really should do some of the work on the internet first. It would help to get the lay of the land and to see what the general area looked like, from the perspective of the Rutland grocery store, where this guy worked, the one who had died recently.

  The woman who had died at Rosemoor earlier this year, now that was an entirely different story. Doreen knew she could rely on Nan and Richie to get that information or at least to get a start on it. Doreen would do the rest as soon as she got home again. And, with that action planned, she and her animals walked out to her car, hopped into the seat, securing all the animals, and then reversed down her driveway. She would much rather have a place where she could turn around without coming down the driveway, but the cul-de-sac here was a pretty empty area as far as traffic went, so, in theory, it was all good.

  As she drove past her neighbor Richard’s place, she thought she saw the curtain twitch. She honked the horn just in case. That would be enough to probably drive Richard crazy, but, hey, just something about him was odd and made her want to poke at him. Which wasn’t very nice of her, she admitted. Yet, at the same time, something was off with Richard.

  She didn’t know whether he lived with a partner in that house or had murdered her and was keeping a social security check or some other godforsaken thing. It was hard to know. She’d certainly heard a weird voice every once in a while, which could be the supposed partner, yet Richard seemed to be a little bit friendlier now. Well, no, not really, not since their street ended up on the Japanese tour bus route. She had to admit that was pretty funny at the time, but now it was just irritating.

  Having solved yet another case, Doreen’s notoriety was getting to be pretty silly. And hiding wasn’t the priority in her world. Some people would have said that she should have just moved, and then nobody could find her, but this was her home. This was Nan’s home. This was the home that Doreen had been given to start all over again, and she couldn’t just walk away from it.

  And the river was absolutely special. She loved being here in Kelowna, with her totally different lifestyle living here. Just so many good things could be said about her move here.

  She pulled into traffic and headed toward Springfield Road and then on toward Rutland. As she got up to the little mall, where the grocery store was, she parked, got out, looked at the animals, and froze. Not too brilliant to bring them with her here.

  If she had left them at home, she could have gone into the store and could have taken her time talking to the employees and the customers. Now that she had them with her, and she couldn’t take them inside, so she was relegated to just walking around the area outside. With Mugs on a leash—even Goliath with a leash on again, something he was giving her a lot of dirty looks over—Doreen decided to just wander the area and to get a feel for the place. Not that that would help necessarily, but it seemed like the thing to do since she was here already. Or rather it was the thing nudging at her to do this now.

  Maybe there was something to this thing called instinct. She didn’t know. It felt like an odd scenario, but, hey,
she was working with it. With the animals on leashes and Thaddeus on her shoulder, she wandered around the small parking lot, looking into the grocery store, and then headed up and around several blocks. By the time she slowly meandered her way back to the mall parking lot, she hadn’t seen anything suspicious or anything to make her eyes go wide in any way.

  Some of the streets had interesting names. Some of the names were odd, but that’s okay. She was interested in all of them. Apparently the river wasn’t very far away. If she looked on her map, Peck Road led to the Greenway, which was one of the big walking paths that went up and down Mission Creek. Other roads in that area didn’t make a whole lot of sense, like Hollywood Road North and Hollywood Road South.

  She shrugged at that. Why wouldn’t you just have Hollywood for one and go with something else for the other? But, in her world, city planners never seemed to make a whole lot of sense. The fact that these guys got paid to name stuff just blew her away. She figured something else had to be involved in their job—there had to be because they did such a terrible job at the naming part.

  This city had actual streets that were one name on one side of an intersection and a different name on another side. How confusing was that? Had they really not expected the city to grow? Would new streets need a new name, when really just the continuation of an existing street? It just didn’t make any sense to her.

  But as she stood here and looked around at the parking lot, an old lady walked up to her. “Oh my, isn’t that a beautiful dog?” Then she looked at the cat, and her eyes widened. “Oh my,” she cried out, “you have a cat on a leash too.”

  “This is Goliath,” Doreen said, with a smile. “He likes to come out for walks, and this way I don’t have to worry about losing him.”

  The old lady asked, “May I pet him?” She bent a hand down to Mugs, who acted up for his adoring audience. The old lady was seriously charmed. She looked over at Doreen. “Do you live here, dearie?”

  “No, I just came up to visit.” Doreen smiled. “I’ve never been to Rutland. I’m relatively new to the area, so I’m still trying to get my bearings on places and what happens in each place.”