PUSHING UP DAISIES a charming small-town cozy murder mystery by Annie Adams

Author:Annie Adams [Adams, Annie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Joffe Books crime thriller and cozy mystery
Published: 2024-11-11T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

After finishing with K.C., I drove to the Shaws’ flower shop. It was in a quaint, pretty town, but a business in such a small, out-of-the-way place was unlikely to be providing a full income for the Shaws. I hoped they had some money saved to live on.

I walked in the front door to find no one in sight, just as before. I knocked on the front counter. “Hello, LaDonna, are you here?” I called out.

“Hello?” a man answered, with a sharpness to his tone.

“Irwin, is that you? It’s Quincy McKay.”

Irwin came out of the office and peered up to the front of the store. “Oh, Quincy. LaDonna’s not here, I’m afraid. She’s gone to the chiropractor.”

“Oh, well I was just going to help finish putting the office together. I suppose I could do it without her.”

“Uh, I don’t know if that’s such a good idea. You know Mother will be the one using the computer, and I — well, this just isn’t a good time. You’ll have to come back later.”

Irwin glanced at his watch, then turned his body to look back into the office. He returned his attention to me and sighed, his mouth wrenched into a crooked line.

“Okay, no problem, I can come back,” I said. I moved toward the front door. No, no, no, I didn’t want to come back. I wanted information now. Since I had been connected to the unsolved murder of Derrick Gibbons, I needed to gather the information that would clear me of any involvement. I wasn’t sure Irwin would be of any help to me, but that switch-grass pamphlet was too much of a coincidence. It could also be a clue. I wasn’t sure about what, but it was something.

I turned back and said, “I’ll have to call LaDonna before I come next time. I’m sorry to have interrupted. I’ll see you later.”

“Okay, yes, goodbye.” He walked toward me wearing a patronizing half-smile and nodding his head. He held his arms out to the sides, shepherding me toward the door.

I watched him over my shoulder as I moved. Before he reached me to shoo me out, I spun around abruptly to face him. “Irwin, I just had one question; maybe you could answer it.”

“Oh, okay, what is it?” He took another glance back into the office, then dropped his arms to his sides.

“Well, the other day I was talking to JoAnne from JoAnne’s Flower Basket and—”

“Awful woman,” he mumbled.

“Yes, well,” I continued, “she was talking to me about a business opportunity, and I wanted to get your advice about it.”

“Oh?” His bushy eyebrows rose. I had piqued his interest.

“It’s about farming a certain type of plant. It’s a type of foliage that I’ve used in the shop before, but apparently it can be used as an alternate type of fuel. It’s called switch grass.”

I watched Irwin carefully for his response. It didn’t take long for his nostrils to flare, his eyes to grow large, and his face and neck to turn as crimson as a red anemone.

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