Purloined Poinsettia by Dahlia Donovan

Author:Dahlia Donovan
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781922679277
Publisher: Tangled Tree Publishing

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

“The elephant in the room” had always been a turn of phrase Motts found fascinating. The pachyderm lounging around the cosy fire in her parents’ den happened to be where they’d all swanned off to at half-six in the morning. No one had asked.

Not directly.

A lot of pointed looks had been sent around.

Dempsey had thankfully chosen to stick with them. His presence had mollified her mum. And he’d likely also been the reason her normally nosy family had kept their peace about the morning’s misadventure.

Granted, only five of them knew it had been a misadventure. So while everyone ate the sweet sticky buns her gran had made for breakfast and sipped coffee or tea, Motts had hugged her mug and tried to push away thoughts of the shrine in the woods.

Shining shrine sounds sordid soliloquies.

Not my best work.

Never is when everything stresses me out.

“Is no one going to explain where you all were this morning?” Her mum spoke up, forcing the issue after everyone had spent their entire breakfast not mentioning it. “The five of you head out, then return with a police escort.”

“We went into Dulwich Woods for a walk.” Her granddad was the one to respond when no one else seemed to know what to say. “Earlier than our usual, eh poppet?”

“Much earlier.” Motts glared at her cousin, who beamed at her before shoving the last of his breakfast into his mouth. “I’ll be in the garden. Cactus needs a break.”

I need one as well.

Adjusting Cactus’s cardigan, Motts grabbed a random coat from the rack by the front door and made her way through the house into the garden. It was too cold to be there for long. She just wanted a second to herself.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket. Motts found a message from Dannel, hoping she’d fully recovered from her shutdown. She had to laugh, given the events of the morning.

Sitting in one of the garden chairs, Motts typed up a summarised version of what had happened while Cactus darted around. Osian quickly joined in their group chat, wanting all the details. The couple invited her to share the story on an upcoming podcast episode.

She sent them one of the videos of the shrine. They both agreed it was a disturbing find. They also thought she had quite possibly the worst luck.

Worse than theirs, and given the stories they’d shared, that was saying something.

“Is this where you hid as a child?” Dempsey sat in the seat beside hers, the one her dad usually took. Cactus immediately raced over to him. “In the garden?”

“Despite having the worst allergies to the flowers Mum insisted on planting, the garden was a safe haven for me.” Motts finished up her message to Osian and Dannel, then put her phone away. “Why do you think the killer had the shrine near their old home?”

“Why do you think they did?” Dempsey turned the question around on her.

Motts had been thinking about it ever since they walked out of the woods. Why?

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