Death Among the Dahlias
“That’s a job for the police.” I said it with all the
conviction I could muster, but Marta brushed my objection aside.
“The police in this town haven’t solved a case in years. And
they aren’t going to start with this one.”
I’d known she’d argue, of course. Marta always has an answer
to my efforts at sanity. We’ve been best friends since about 10 minutes after I
came to this town six years ago, and she’s talked me into more crazy stunts
than I managed in the whole 45 years before that. But this one took the cake.
“Why on earth wouldn’t they investigate a murder? And how am
I supposed to do it? I don’t know thing
one about police technique or chains of evidence or any of that!”
“How hard can it be? Chief Roberts solved a case once,” she said, undercutting her earlier argument. “Remember? That time when someone
stole his car?”
The police chief’s ’51 Chevy received quite a bit more love
and attention than his wife, who had turned to gardening for her comfort. But
for all that—
“He bungled the evidence and the perp got off.”
“Of course he did. It was the Mayor’s son, and they’ve been
playing golf together for decades.”
I nodded, because she was right.
“And you’ve solved other mysteries around here,” Marta drove
home her argument.
“Locating a missing purse and a runaway dog aren’t quite the
same as solving a murder.” I was already planning how to approach it, though.
“So who’s been killed?” I hadn’t heard, and even though I’m usually the last to
know things, that seemed odd. Word of a murder should have been all over town
in about 3 minutes.
“Mrs. McGillicuddy.”
“Who?” I didn’t know anyone by that name. Then, “Oh!” I
glared at Marta. “Isn’t that your neighbor’s cat? You can’t murder a cat!”
She had the grace to blush, but protested, “Someone killed
the poor thing, and Karl is very
upset.”
I could believe that. Karl Haalverson grew prize daffodils,
dahlias, and delphiniums. And he doted on his cat, though he didn’t talk much
to his neighbors. Leave it to Marta to be the exception.
“It probably got hit by a car. Or died of natural causes.”
“Someone laid it out on his porch on a bed of cut flowers.”
“Probably they found the animal dead and were trying to be
nice about it.”
“I don’t think so. They used his best dahlias. The ones he
was cultivating for the flower show.”
I was running out of protests. Even if the cat died of
natural causes, someone was using it to threaten poor Karl, who was harmless despite
a tendency to think his reluctance to talk meant he wasn’t all there.
“He thinks it’s Mrs. Patel,” Marta added.
“Just because she’s Indian,” I began. Marta knows how to
yank my chain, and the small-town narrow-mindedness of this place sometimes
gets to me. She let me run on a minute about prejudice and hate.
“She’s his main rival for the flower show.”
I shut up. That made sense. I still didn’t believe she’d
done it. Mrs. Patel was an inoffensive widow of about 75 years, and her own
flowers were remarkable. She treated them much the same way Karl Haalverson
treated his cat—lavished love and good food on them, and talked to them more
than to her neighbors.
“What about Kathy
Fields? She’s been trying to unseat those two for years.”
After ten minutes, we had a list of seven people who might
have a grudge against Karl. It made me wonder who all might resent me or Marta,
given how very much more involved we were in town activities. I turned my mind
away from that thought.
Marta led me down the street—she lived a block over from me,
which is to say, halfway across town—to see the scene of the crime.
“Karl’s locked himself in his kitchen and won’t come out. I
said I’d take care of things.”
I didn’t answer. I was staring down at the still form of
what had been a magnificent marmalade cat, and to my surprise I was crying.
It was only when I worked up the courage to touch the corpse
that I got myself under control and began to see clearly again, literally and
figuratively. I examined the injuries thoroughly before gently lifting the
animal and laying her in the basket Marta had brought for the purpose. We’d see
later where Karl wanted her buried. Then I looked at Marta.
“I’m pretty sure she was hit by a car. So it’s not murder.”
“Thank heavens for that. But who laid her out here, and
why?”
“It might have been meant to make Karl feel better?” I
didn’t really believe it. I bent over again and picked something out of the
nest of flowers. A few were stained with blood, and I shuddered despite myself.
Marta studied the button I was holding out. “That’s from
Agnes McDonald’s sweater. She drops buttons wherever she goes.” We looked at
each other, confused. Marta said it. “Why would Agnes hurt Karl? She grows
tomatoes, not flowers.” And won first prize every year, too.
“Maybe she really was being helpful?” Somehow I couldn’t
believe it. Agnes wouldn’t cut Karl’s best flowers even for this. I stared at
the pile of flowers a while longer. Some had been ripped up by the roots, destroying
the whole plant. I ran over the list of suspects in my mind, until I found the
answer. Someone who would destroy the flowers and leave the false clue.
“I know who did it,” I said.
“Who?”
“Oh, come on. Who stands to benefit from ruining Karl’s
flowers and turning people against
Agnes?”
We both gazed down the street at the one house where flowers
and vegetables competed for space in the painfully neat garden.
Mrs. Roberts' garden.
No, the police would never solve this crime.
###
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I don't have any pictures of dahlias, but here are some lupine, alpine daisies, and a columbine in the background. |
©Rebecca M. Douglass, 2016
As always, please ask permission to use any photos or text. Link-backs appreciated!
As always, please ask permission to use any photos or text. Link-backs appreciated!
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