Laina Turner - Presley Thurman 06 - Tiaras & Texans Read online

  “You’re in luck, I can help you with that. Follow me,” he said walking out of his office and down the hall. We walked out of the administration offices and went down the hall, made a left, and went through a door that said employees only. It was the staff break room. Bill pointed to a wall filled with photos with names below.

  “This is our employee wall. We have all the maintenance and housekeeping staff’s pictures up here. Because we operate on three shifts, and not everyone has a chance to meet each other, we started putting pictures up so when shifts get rotated there is a little bit of recognition among the staff.”

  “That’s a good idea.” I nodded, scanning the rows of pictures for a familiar face. On the first pass I didn’t see the man I was looking for but went through them again. Just as I thought. Nothing. “He’s not here.”

  “That’s a problem. Having someone posing as an employee could cause all sorts of issues on a normal day, much less with what is going on now. I’m going to have to alert security and the police.”

  “You should, Bill. Chances are this is nothing and he’s just a guy sneaking in to spy on the beautiful women, but you don’t want to take a chance. Let me know if you find him, will ya?”

  “Sure thing, and if you have time, feel free to stop in. We can catch up over coffee.”

  “Thanks, Bill.” I needed to tell Cooper someone may have made their way through his security setup. I rang his cell and got his voicemail. I left a message and then took the elevator down to the lobby, thinking a Starbucks fix might just help my inability to figure out how all these singular instances were related. I had barely stepped out of the elevator when I heard someone calling my name. I turned to find it was Elaine. And Linda. They were both waving me over to them. I quickly walked over to find them hunched over a box of flowers.

  “What’s going on?” I asked, looking over their shoulders curiously.

  “Look what just came for us! Well, technically for Pageants Unlimited,” Elaine said.

  “Flowers?” I asked. Then it dawned on me. “These aren’t tassel flowers, are they?”

  “Yes! The flowers that killed Hollie!” said Elaine.

  “Do you think the killer sent these?” Linda asked. “Should we call the police?”

  “Yes. Linda, call the police, and I’ll call Cooper.” As I was once again waiting for him to pick up, I turned to Elaine. “Who brought these?”

  “Some delivery company. The front desk called up to Linda to sign for them when I was in the office. I wanted a Starbucks, so I came down with her.”

  Cooper’s voicemail kicked in and I held up my finger to silence Elaine while I left a message. Pressing END, I tossed the phone back into my purse and hoped he would soon get my message and call back. “Is the delivery person still here?”

  “No, the box was waiting at the desk.”

  “Police are on their way. They said not to touch the box.” Linda shuddered. “As if I want to.”

  “I don’t think they’re poisonous to touch,” Elaine said.

  Wait a minute, I thought. How did Elaine know that it was a tassel flower that killed Hollie? As far as I knew, Cooper hadn’t even told Harvey.

  “How do you know?” I asked.

  “I guess I don’t for sure. I’m just assuming. You know, since Hollie drank the stuff. I guess I thought if it was poisonous to touch, the killer would have just touched her with it.”

  “How did you know it was a tassel flower that killed her, though?”

  Elaine looked at me and shrugged. “I guess I heard it from someone?”

  Hmmm. Just then the police arrived with Cooper right on their heels, preventing me from asking any more questions, but she had definitely raised my suspicions.

  “I was with the police when you called, so I followed them over. What happened?”

  I explained what had just transpired and he made a quick call to the guy he had stationed to watch the lobby. Linda, Elaine, and I stood over to the side and watched the police do their thing, sealing up the box to take it with them. They had a few questions for us, and then Detective Miller started talking to Cooper.

  Linda and Elaine started to walk back to the elevator when I remembered I needed to ask her about Woody.

  “Hey, Elaine!”

  They stopped and Elaine turned. “Did you need something?”

  “Why did you give Hollie’s boyfriend my cell number?”

  She paused. “He said he had talked to you and you had given it him but he lost it. I didn’t think it was a big deal.”

  “He lied. He gave me his number, but I never gave him mine. Please don’t give it out.”

  She shrugged. “Okay.”

  I turned back to Cooper who walked up to me, having finished with the police.

  “Did the guy see anything?”

  “He remembers a couple different delivery vans pulling up in the service bay and bringing things in. One was from Gordon’s food service and one was a seafood delivery. He said there was a floral delivery van from 1-800 GET FLORAL, but he didn’t see any reason to doubt it was legit. It was the third floral delivery today. I’m assuming that was the van of the person who brought the tassel flowers. I’m going to call them right now.”

  In about a minute he was back off the phone. “The dispatcher is gone for the day, and the person working now said she would call him on his cell and ask him to call back. I gave them your number because I’m getting ready to step into another meeting.

  “Okay. Before you leave, I need to tell you about this fake maintenance man I keep seeing.” I filled him in on what I had seen and my conversation with Bill.

  “You’re right, it may not have anything to do with what’s been happening, but it’s good you followed up anyway. Anything else?”

  “As a matter of fact, yes. Elaine knew the flowers Hollie had ingested were tassel flowers. I didn’t think anyone knew what they were besides the police and us?”

  “I didn’t think so either. I mean, she could have overheard something. She’s already proven she’s good as eavesdropping. Why? Do you think something more sinister is going on?”

  “I don’t really trust her, but it’s more of a feeling than anything else. I guess I was just surprised that she knew, that’s all.”

  “Do you want to fill me in on why she gave out your number to Hollie’s boyfriend?”

  “She claims he said I had given it to him. He just wants information. I can’t blame him.”

  “No, but you can’t give him any either.”

  “I know, I know.”

  “I will call you when I’m done, okay?” he said, leaning over to give me a quick kiss.

  “Sure. Have fun. Maybe tonight we can find time to finish what we started earlier?”

  “If that’s an offer, I’ll try my best to finish early.”

  I winked at him. “Get to work!” I went to Starbucks to get the vanilla latte I had originally come down here for. Then I sat at one of the small tables to write down all the things that had happened or that I had found out. I was much better at thinking through a problem when I was able to get it down on paper. Somehow the act of writing it down helped my brain work.

  My phone vibrated. Again a local number I didn’t recognize. It was probably the dispatcher from 1-800 GET FLORAL.

  “Hello,” I answered.

  “Is this Presley?” a man asked.

  “Yes, it is.”

  “Hi, this is Dan. From 1-800 GET FLORAL. I got a message that I needed to call you about a delivery this afternoon?”

  “Oh, yes. Thanks so much for calling back. Did you send a delivery truck to Rosewood Mansion today?”

  “ I had two deliveries this morning and then this afternoon. All my runs were on the other side of town. I didn’t have anything to Rosewood Mansion. Did we miss something? If so, I’m sorry and would be more than happy to refund your delivery charge.”

  Pretty impressive customer service, which these days seemed hard to come by. “No, you didn’t miss anythin
g. Thanks again for calling back.”

  “No problem. Make sure to call 1-800 GET FLORAL anytime you have a delivery need,” he said before he hung up.

  Well, now we knew someone faked a flower delivery. I didn’t bother calling Cooper to tell him since I knew he was in a meeting. I would catch him up later.

  I turned to a clean sheet of paper and began to list all the events in chronological order, looking for anything that jumped out at me that might be a connection or something that didn’t fit. Besides the pseudo maintenance guy and Elaine knowing about the flowers that no one was supposed to know about, nothing else jumped out. Something with the pranks played on the girls had to relate. I sat there tapping my pen on the table, hoping that action might spark something, but it was a waste of time. I was getting nowhere besides doodly.

  I put my notebook back into my purse and gathered my things to leave when I felt my phone vibrate again. I pulled it out and looked at the display. It was Katy, my friend from back home. We had been friends since second grade, and while we didn’t get a chance to talk all that often these days, she was one of those friends with whom you could go months without contact and then have a three hour conversation as if no time had passed.

  “Hi, Katy. Long time no talk.”

  “Hey, chicky. What have you been up to?”

  “Just trying to stay busy and out of trouble,” I joked. “You know how it is.”

  “Don’t I know it.”

  “How’s the salon?” I asked her. Katy owned a beauty salon in Alkon where we both grew up. I had moved away the first chance I got, whereas she had stayed. We were just different like that.

  “It’s doing great. It keeps growing and I even have some people coming from other towns to get their hair done by some of my girls.”

  “That’s wonderful!” We chatted for a few more minutes, and I sensed Katy had something to tell me, but she just wasn’t coming out and saying it. Finally, I called her out on it. “Katy, I love talking with you, but is there a specific reason you called me? I mean, I’m not trying to rush you or anything; it just seems like there is something bigger on your mind than chitchat.”

  There was a pause on the other end of the line like she was working up the nerve to say something big. It was starting to make me worry. Hopefully, this wasn’t bad news. I started running scenarios through my mind of what it could be.

  “Katy, are you still there?”

  “Chris and I are getting married,” she said in a rush.

  Now it was my turn for the long pause. Katy had a long history with Chris, and it wasn’t all that great. I was shocked, to say the least.

  “I know you don’t approve, but please hear me out,” she said.

  “Katy, it’s not that I don’t approve. I just want you to be happy, and Chris has hurt you so much in the past.” Chris and Katy had been on again off again since middle school, and not so long ago he had been having an affair with a senator’s wife. A senator that was killed in our hometown, which was how I reconnected with Cooper. But I digress.

  “Presley, he’s changed. He really has.”

  Like I hadn’t heard that before.

  “This is what I want, and it makes me so happy you can be happy for me!”

  “So, don’t hold back; tell me the details,” I asked in an effort to be a good friend. This was an idea I would have to get used to.

  “We are getting married July 1st.”

  “Make sure to let me know what I can do to help,” I told her.

  “First, I hope you will help by agreeing to be my maid of honor.”

  “Of course! I would love that,” I said with false excitement. I couldn’t help but think she was making a terrible mistake, but I had to be supportive.

  “Yeah! I’m so excited. This is going to be so much fun. Listen, I need to go rinse out Mrs. Parker’s color, but I will call you later in the week and we can talk more about the details and set a game plan.”

  “Sounds great, Katy. Congratulations. Tell Chris congrats, too, for me.”

  “I will. Talk soon!”

  Cooper wasn’t going to believe this.

  Chapter 12

  Did you hear the news?” I asked Cooper after I had filled him in on all the pageant-related happenings. We were in downtown Dallas at a restaurant across from the police station, waiting to meet a Sam Devon, a chemist Cooper had found to talk to about the poison Hollie ingested. It was information he hadn’t been able to get from Detective Miller. Cooper had asked me to take a taxi down here, thinking that after we were done with Sam Devon we could maybe see a few of the sights. It was hard finding any time for pleasure while working. But we’d come here for work, not play, and I understood that.

  “What news?”

  “Chris asked Katy to marry him.”

  Cooper raised his eyebrows. “Really? Well, I guess congratulations are in order.”

  “Yes. Really,” I sighed.

  “You don’t seem too happy about it.”

  “Why would I be? She’s my best friend and you know how he treats her. How can I be happy about that?”

  “If she’s happy, you should be happy.”

  “You men just don’t get it!”

  Cooper laughed. “No. You women make it so difficult. It’s not your life. You need to let her live hers. Let her make her own mistakes.”

  “Even when I know she’s making what could be the biggest mistake of her life and setting herself up for another heartbreak?”

  “Even then, Pres. You are her friend and you will be there for her if she needs you, but you can’t tell her what to do.”

  “I just don’t…”

  “Hi, Dr. Devon. Thanks for meeting us,” Cooper said, interrupting me and standing up to greet the chemist. “Please. Have a seat.”

  Sam Devon sat down and looked over at me.

  “Hi, Dr. Devon. I’m Presley Thurman, an associate of Cooper’s,” I said, reaching over to shake his hand. He didn’t look like a typical science guy. He had on a short sleeved polo and I could tell by his biceps he must work out a lot. He didn’t look like someone who spent his days in the lab.

  “Nice to meet you, Presley. Please, both of you, call me Sam.”

  Cooper turned to me and explained, “Sam is a chemistry professor at the University of Texas.”

  Sam nodded and looked at Cooper. “When you called, you said you wanted to know about the process of synthesizing the tassel flower into a liquid poison?”

  “Yes,” Cooper said. “We know the victim ingested the poison, and the medical examiner said it had been ingested in liquid form, but I thought maybe if I had a better understanding of how that process happened it might give us a direction to go in.”

  “Sure. It’s a rather simple process, simpler than you might think. You can just use a steam distillation process. In steam distillation, the plant material, which in this case is the tassel flower, is placed on a screen above or away from the water and heat. Steam alone is passed over the petals. The steam process extracts oils from the natural materials and passes it through the top of the distillation dome, into the condenser to liquefy, and into a receiving tank where the essential oil, once cooled, is separated from the water. You bottle that up and, voila, you have the extract. ”

  “But you would have to have a basic knowledge of chemistry and how this works, right? And equipment?” I asked.

  “Yeah, but really anyone who had high school chemistry would be able to figure it out, and a distillery can be cheaply made with parts bought at Home Depot.”

  I had chemistry in high school, and I didn’t see myself being able to do this. Sam noticed the look on my face and started laughing.

  “You have the same look on your face as many of my students. Listen, you can look up the step-by-step process on Google, much like anything these days. If you can follow directions, you can do this. It’s no different from basic perfume making, and people make that in their kitchens all the time. Even easier, since you don’t need to worry about th
e smell. Just the extract. And with a tassel flower it doesn’t take much to create a fast-acting poison.”

  “If you say so,” I said, joking back.

  “Listen, I have to run, but you have my number if you have any more questions,” Sam said, standing up.

  “Thank you for that explanation, Sam,” Cooper said, shaking his hand. “It was helpful.”

  “No problem. Take care.”

  As Sam walked away, I looked at Cooper. “Okay, that helped not at all. Now all we know is your average high school student could do this. Doesn’t exactly narrow the field.”

  “Look at it this way. We know you need a distillation machine to get the poison out of the flower, and it’s fast-acting. Those are both positives.”

  “We also know that I didn’t learn anything in high school chemistry.”

  Cooper laughed. “I could have told you that before we met with Sam.”

  “So, moving on,” I said, not wanting to talk about high school grades, “how do you suppose Hollie was poisoned anyway? Unless Candy did it, and I don’t think she did.”

  “Me, either. We need to retrace all of Hollie’s steps that night.”

  I looked at him and sighed. “I guess seeing some of the city can wait until another day. Let’s go back and figure this out.”

  “I’ll make it up to you. I promise.”

  “I’m going to hold you to that.”

  Back at the hotel, we tracked Candy down and asked her to take us through that night. Cooper had talked to her a few times, but I hadn’t yet. So I was looking forward to what she had to say. We interrupted her pedicure, but she was willing to forgo fresh polish to help find Hollie’s killer. Not something I was sure all the girls would have been willing to do.

  “You finished practice, went back to your rooms and got ready for dinner, and then what?” Cooper asked her.

  “We met at the Salad Connection. It’s not in the hotel, but you can get to it through the garage. So it’s not like you’re really lazy. We just took the elevator down to the garage level and walked across the lot to the back door of the restaurant.”