A Poisonous Plot (Lily Larkin Mysteries #3)

Chapter 34

Chapter Thirty-Four

Neither of them spoke again until they were halfway to the hospital.

“What made you go snooping around Arthur’s place?” Sergeant Proctor finally asked.

“I wasn’t intending to snoop.” Not this time, anyway. “I wanted to talk to him because Gordon was throwing accusations around and Sally was worried that her dad might fire Arthur. I wanted to help clear his name.”

“Instead, you found incriminating evidence.” He gripped the wheel harder. “I’ve always maintained that this couldn’t have had anything to do with Arthur but I’m slightly concerned my judgement might have been clouded. Are you sure we haven’t left PC Hill with a dangerous criminal?”

“Arthur isn’t dangerous,” Lily mused. As the fields rushed by outside, her thoughts drifted back to Flynn looking so lifeless. She swallowed hard and forced her mind away from the unproductive train of thought.

“If it wasn’t Arthur, then who was it?” she pondered aloud. “Not Denzel…”

“How did you rule him out?”

Lily winced. “I ruled him out based on his alibi for the time the welcome gifts were delivered, and through an abundance of glowing character references. It’s not him. Which means if it’s someone from the garden centre, it’s either Gordon Pengelly, or his daughter, Sally.”

The sergeant snickered. “You think Gordon Pengelly poisoned himself?”

“No.” Lily tapped on the dashboard. “I’d ruled him out of my investigations because he was poisoned, but now I wonder…”

The sergeant loosened his grip on the steering wheel. “What?”

“What if he did poison himself?”

“Why would he do that?”

“So no one would suspect him?”

“It seems drastic, if you ask me.”

“Whoever did this will be looking at prison time, won’t they?”

“I’d say so.”

“When you weigh it against going to prison – and the entire community finding out you’ve been poisoning people – a night in hospital probably doesn’t feel that drastic.”

“It still seems like a stretch.”

“It could be Sally,” Lily suggested.

“I feel a but coming…”

Lily tried to come up with some rational explanation for her gut feeling that it wasn’t Sally. “My instincts say it’s not.” That was the best she could come up with.

“So there’s nothing to say it wasn’t Sally?”

“No, but…” She rarely had to defend her gut feelings since Flynn pretty much treated them as fact. Apparently, Sergeant Proctor needed more than that. “She seems to have a soft spot for Arthur. I find it hard to believe she’d try to pin everything on him.”

“Maybe that’s exactly what she wants you to think,” the sergeant said. “Or maybe you’ve got your sights set on the wrong people entirely. Perhaps it wasn’t someone connected to the garden centre at all.” He pulled up in front of the hospital and looked suddenly sombre. “I’ll have to call Flynn’s dad, I suppose. Just what I need – explaining to my old friend that his son is in hospital.” He huffed out a breath. “I’ll get an update from the doctor first.”

Lily opened her mouth to speak, but the sergeant was already getting out of the car, so she waited until they were heading into the building.

“You know Flynn’s dad?” she asked.

He nodded. “I used to. We worked together back when we were both starting out.”

“Did you know Flynn when he was a kid?”

“No.” He paused and gave her an odd look. “Michael wasn’t together with Flynn’s mother. I’m not sure I even knew he had a kid back then. He must have already had Flynn though.” He looked vaguely confused as he pulled at the door.

“Is that why Flynn ended up on St Mary’s?” Lily asked. “Because of his dad’s connection to you?”

“Hasn’t he told you about this?”

“Only bits. He doesn’t talk much about his dad. What’s he like?”

“I don’t really know him any more. Not personally. Only by reputation.” His attention went to the woman on the reception desk. “I believe you have PC Grainger?”

“He’s down in room four,” she said, pointing. “Just along the hall. You can wait in the hallway and the doctor will fill you in when she’s finished examining him.”

“He’s all right though?” Lily asked.

“As far as I know,” she said with a sympathetic smile.

Striding along the hallway, Lily found room four and knocked quietly.

“We’re supposed to wait out here,” Sergeant Proctor said, pointing at the orange plastic chairs.

“I’m not great at following directions.”

“I’ve noticed that,” he said, a warmth to his voice, which sounded almost like amusement.

Slowly, Lily pushed the door open. A nurse was sticking a needle into Flynn’s arm while the doctor stood over him with a stethoscope to his chest. In a hospital gown, he looked even worse than he had done before.

Doctor Redwood straightened up and smiled at Lily. “He’s been asking for you.”

“Is he awake?” Moving closer to the bed, Lily searched his face, but he seemed completely out of it.

“Not really. He was just muttering a bit.” She tipped her chin at Sergeant Proctor. “Hi, Graham.”

“Hi. How’s he doing?”

“Seems to be okay. It’s fascinating. Whatever this plant is, the poison acts like anaesthetic. It’s incredible.”

“Scary, more like,” the sergeant said, while Lily perched beside Flynn and slipped her hand into his, being careful of his freshly bandaged cut. She didn’t know if he’d be aware of her, but if it was the other way around, she’d want to know there was someone there with her. That he was there.

“PC Hill is disposing of the plant as we speak,” the sergeant continued.

“Shame.” The doctor stared down at Flynn. “It would be interesting to study it.”

“What’s that? ” Lily asked, looking at the drip which the nurse was attaching to the line in Flynn’s arm.

“Just fluids,” the doctor told her. “We’ll keep him hydrated and monitor him. I’ve patched up the gash on his hand. That’s all we can do for now. Hopefully, he’ll wake up before too long.”

“Thanks,” Lily whispered.

Sergeant Proctor approached the bed and put a hand on Flynn’s shoulder in a manner that made Lily feel bad for complaining about his lack of compassion. “I need to go and call his dad, let him know what’s going on. That’s going to be a weird one to explain.”

“If any family members want to speak to me, I’m happy to chat with them,” Doctor Redwood said.

The sergeant thanked her and offered Lily a thin smile before he left.

The nurse pressed buttons on the machine beside the bed, then addressed the doctor. “Mr Pengelly is also waiting for you to check his wound.”

“Oh.” The doctor grimaced. “I didn’t need to change the dressing today. I only said that this morning to encourage him to stay longer.”

“Should I ask him to come back another time?”

“No. I’ll talk to him. Can’t hurt to check him over again. Keep a close eye on PC Grainger and let me know if there’s any change.”

“Gordon is here?” Lily asked.

The doctor nodded as she left.

“I can get you a chair,” the nurse said, and returned a moment later with one of the orange plastic seats from the corridor. “Not the comfiest, I’m afraid.”

“It’s fine. Thank you.” She didn’t sit, but hovered over Flynn and clung to his hand.

“I’ll be back in a few minutes,” the nurse said. “Press that red button if there are any problems.”

“Thanks,” Lily murmured, happy to get a moment alone with Flynn. As soon as the nurse left, she moved and ran her fingers through his hair. “Flynn?” She whispered, but got no response. After trying again, she pulled the chair closer and lowered herself onto it, then sat trailing her fingers over the back of his hand.

“I have a funny feeling about Gordon,” she said. “I know it seems unlikely because he got poisoned too, but I just think it’s him. Which isn’t helpful, I know. You police always want proof.” She smiled sadly. “If you’d like to wake up and help me figure this out, I’d appreciate it.” She waited, but he didn’t stir.

“PC Hill is collecting all the evidence from the greenhouse,” she mused quietly. “Maybe there’ll be fingerprints or something.” She looked over at Flynn and smiled, imagining what he’d say. She could hear his voice in her head telling her that someone trying to pin a crime on someone else probably wouldn’t be stupid enough to leave evidence. Then he’d frown and tell her there were a lot of stupid criminals, so they couldn’t rule it out entirely.

“I guess it’ll take a while for the forensic team to do their thing,” she said aloud. “In the meantime, Arthur is going to be under the spotlight. I told him I’d figure it out.” The chair squeaked as she leaned back. “You’d know what to do,” she said sulkily.

Her gaze was fixed on Flynn’s peaceful features, but her mind was somewhere else entirely. Calmly and methodically, she pondered everything she knew about the poisonings.

Eventually, she went back to the day she’d met with Gordon and drank the awful green smoothie. He’d been the one to pour it for her from the jug in the fridge, but as far as she could remember the rest of the staff had been there too. Gordon had introduced her to them.

Since she hadn’t heard of anyone else getting ill after consuming anything at the cafe, it can only have been her drink which was tampered with. Whoever wanted to poison her must have done it right under her nose.

She growled in frustration, certain she was missing something. If she couldn’t figure it out, whoever was responsible might just get away with it.

“Wake up and help me out here,” she whispered to Flynn, giving his hand a squeeze.

Once, he’d joked that she’d never been able to solve a mystery without him. She had a sinking feeling that he might have been right.