5 Buried By Buttercups Read Online Free Page A

said. “I don’t even want to speculate on that right now.”
    “What can you tell us about this?” Al asked. “As of this morning, you’re officially my forensic botanist.”
    “Thanks.” She organized her thoughts on the subject. “The poison would have to be extremely strong to produce these effects. I can’t imagine this would be something you could buy, even on the black market. I’d guess that the killer distilled the poison himself. Once it was administered, the ME is right. Death would have come very quickly.”
    “So he’d need a lab or something to do this,” Dan suggested.
    “Yes,” Peggy agreed. “But nothing special. The poison could be created in someone’s home. I could do it in my basement. The knowledge of creating the poisons is more important. Not everyone would realize these plants were poisonous. Even fewer would know how to take advantage of that.”
    “Great.” Al looked at his notes. “So the killer could be anyone. Anywhere. That doesn’t make me feel any better.”
    “Have they found any other botanical evidence on either body?” Peggy asked.
    “Nothing besides dog hair and grass stains,” Tanner said. “And the dog belonged to the victim. That was a dead end.”
    “Maybe you could pay a visit to the ME’s office and take a look at what they’ve got,” Al suggested. “We have to find this killer before he strikes again. If that happens, everyone will be calling it a serial killing. No one wants that.”
    Peggy agreed, but she had to go to The Potting Shed. She wanted to help—God knew she didn’t want another death. However, she had to work with Sam and keep her garden shop going too.
    “I’ll make arrangements to go later today,” she promised. “That’s the best I can do on the spur of the moment or Sam will have my head. Unless you want to send an officer to unload mulch from a truck?”
    Al smiled. “I think this afternoon will be fine.”
    He instructed his detectives on what their next moves should be. There were witnesses to question, interviews with the victims’ families. They could only hope something would turn up.
    Peggy was about to leave and head to The Potting Shed when a call came in on her cell phone. It was her security company. Someone had attempted to break into her house.
     

Chapter Three
     
    Cyclamen - Primrose family  - A European perennial plant considered a good gift at Christmas. Seeds ripen under the protection of the leaves. Long used as a purgative by healers. Poison from the plant was used for centuries on arrowheads. Even small doses are poisonous to humans.

    The police had been called by the security company. Two uniformed officers were already at Peggy’s house when she arrived.
    Al had driven her home—after stashing her bike in the trunk of his car. He’d wanted to make sure everything was all right and save her some time getting there.
    Peggy had assured him that her alarm sometimes went off and nothing was wrong. She didn’t want him to waste his time driving her home when there was a killer to find. How would that look on his new lieutenant’s record?
    “Dr. Margaret Lee?” the older of the two officers asked when she got out of the car.
    “Yes.” Al answered for her and showed the officers his ID. “Dr. Lee is a consultant with the Charlotte PD. What happened here, Officer Kopacka?”
    “Nothing so far as we know,” the young officer answered. “We walked around the perimeter of the house. Everything looks fine. The doors are still locked. There are no broken windows. It must’ve been a glitch in the system.”
    Peggy wanted to hurry this along. The noise from the alarm was irritating. She would certainly hear about it from Mr. Bellows. She opened the kitchen door and turned the alarm off, heaving a sigh of relief when it was quiet. 
    It was good to know nothing was wrong. These false alarms happened occasionally. The city fined people if it happened too often. It was a waste of resources to bring