DC Walker turned to her. “Uhm, we do, boss?”
“That’s a nasty rash you have there on your hands,” Helen continued.
Nicholas York stopped scratching his hands and instead looked down on the reddened skin.
“I’ve had it for a couple of days now,” he said, “It’s probably just an allergic reaction. No idea against what — I’m not normally allergy prone. But for some reason, I can’t seem to get rid of the itching and the rash.”
“You really should have listened to your aunt,” Helen said, “She would have told you to wear gloves, when handling autumn crocus, because the toxin tends to cause a skin rash. A rash very much like the one you have on your hands.”
For a second or so, Nicholas York stared at his reddened hands in horror. Then he stuffed them between his clenched knees as if hiding the evidence would erase it.
“I didn’t mean to kill her,” he said tonelessly, “I merely wanted her to get sick, so she would move into a care home. It wasn’t even all autumn crocus, some of it really was wild garlic.”
He lowered his eyes.
“Normally, she only took a little bit of that wild garlic tincture every night. How was I to know that she’d take more that evening?”
“You aunt used the surplus leaves to make herself a salad,” Helen said, “It was the salad that contained the lethal dose of colchicine.”
“How the hell was I supposed to know that?” Nicholas York exclaimed, “I even made an extra stop at Aunt Eudora’s place that morning, so I could take her to the doctor, if she got too sick.” He buried his face in his rash-covered hands. “It was an accident.”
“You deliberately gave a plant you knew to be toxic to your aunt and passed it off as harmless,” Helen pointed out, “That’s no accident, whether you intended to kill your aunt or only to make her ill.”
“I didn’t mean to kill Aunt Eudora,” Nicholas York repeated, “I only wanted her to move out of her house, so we could sell it. Do you know what a house like that in Hampstead is worth?”
“Actually I do, Mr. York,” Helen said, “But you would never have inherited the house anyway. For you see, your aunt changed her will three months ago. She disinherited you and named Tara Willows, the woman from whose shop she bought her herbs, as the beneficiary instead.”
“What?” Nicholas York exploded, “She can’t do that. I’ll contest that will. I’ll…”
“From prison? That’s rather unlikely. Never mind that the law explicitly forbids criminals from profiting from their crimes.”
Helen turned to DC Walker. “Cuff him and take him away.”
Two days later, once Nicholas York had repeated his confession at the police station, all the paperwork was done and the killer safely in custody, Helen and DC Walker met with Tara Willows in front of the house of the late Eudora Pembroke, while Tara’s cat explored the garden.
“And all this is really mine now?” Tara asked, as Helen handed her the keys.
“As soon as the formalities regarding the will have been handled”, Helen said, “Which might take a few weeks.”
“Oh, I’m no hurry. I actually like my little flat at Alexandra Road, though it can’t compare to something like this.” Tara spun around. “And of course Alistair will love having a real garden to prowl.” She cast a glance at her cat which was currently rubbing its flank against Eudora Pembroke’s little garden altar.
Tara’s face sank. “I still can’t believe that Eudora is dead,” she whispered, “And that her nephew would kill her just for a house, even one as lovely as this.”
“Sadly, greed is always a common motive,” Helen said, “Probably the most common one.”
“But luckily, we caught the killer red-handed,” DC Walker added, “Literally.”
Helen shot him a sideways glance. “For how long have you been waiting to make that particular pun?”
“Ever since we arrested Nicholas York.” DC Walker grinned. “Come on, boss, it was too good to resist.”
The End
About the Author
Cora Buhlert was born and bred in North Germany, where she still lives today — after time spent in London, Singapore, Rotterdam and Mississippi. Cora holds an MA degree in English from the University of Bremen and is currently working towards her PhD. Cora has been writing, since she was a teenager, and has published stories, articles and poetry in various international magazines. When she is not writing, she works as a translator and teacher. Visit her on the web at www.corabuhlert.com or follow her on Twitter under @CoraBuhlert.
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Other Books by Cora Buhlert
In English
1. Series
Shattered Empire
Conspirators
Mercy Mission
Seedlings
History Lesson
Debts to Pay
Partners in Crime
In Love and War
Dreaming of the Stars
The Unity Incident
Courting Trouble
Bullet Holes
Dead World
The Silencer
Countdown to Death
Flying Bombs
The Spiked Death
Elevator of Doom
The Great Fraud
Mean Streets and Dead Alleys
Fact or Fiction
St. Nicholas of Hell’s Kitchen
The Helen Shepherd Mysteries
The Cork and the Bottle
Overdose
Bank Job
Open Season
A Bullet for Father Christmas
Paris Green
Dead Drop
Egg Hunt
Mightier than the Sword
Kitchen Witch
Chamber Play
Bloody Bananas
The Day The Saucers Came
Acacia Crescent
Lovers’ Lane
Double Feature
Azalea Avenue
Zane Smith and Shoushan Kariyan
The Dark Lily
The Other Side of the Curtain
Hallowind Cove
The Revenant of Wrecker’s Dock
The Cursed Arm of Driftwood Beach
Alfred and Bertha’s Marvellous Twenty-First Century Life
The Four and a Half Minute Boiled Egg
The Faulty Television Receiver
The Tinsel-Free Christmas Tree
The Three Quarters Eaten Dessert
2. Standalones
A History of the New Ice Age
After the End
Albrecht, the Nightmare
Boardwalk Baby
Bug-Eyed Monsters and the Women Who Love Them
Cartoony Justice
Children of the Stone Gods
Christmas Eve at the Purple Owl Café
Christmas Gifts
Christmas Shopping with a Broken Heart
Courier Duty
Demolition
Dream Job
Family Car
Flights of Madness
Four Minute Warning
Hanging Day
Hangman’s Wages
”He has come back to me…”
He never brings me Flowers…
Heartache
Honeypot
Hostage to Passion
Insomnia
Kiss of Ice
Letters from the Dark Side
Liquid Muse
Loot
Love in the Times of the Macrobiotic Müsli
Murder in the Family
Muse and Crisis
New York City’s Finest
Old Mommark’s Tale
Operation Rubber Ducky
Our Lady of the Burning Heart
Outlaw Love
Payback Time
Pissed
Rites of Passage
Seeing Red
Seraglio
Southern Monsters
Spiked Tea
The Apocalypse Protocol
The Butcher of Spain
The Death of the American Dream
The Hidden Castle
The Hybrids
The Iron Border
The Kiss of the Executioner’s Blade
The Sheriff of Deadshot Creek
Thirty Years to Life
Under the Knout
Valentine’s Day on Iago Prime
Whaler
In German
Auf der anderen Seite
Der Kuss des Richtschwertes
Die Liebe in den Zeiten des Frischkornmüslis
Familienkutsche
Gesetzlose Liebe
Heiligabend im Café zum Lila Kakadu
Honigtopf
Kurierdienst
Last-Minute-Geschenke
Reiche Beute
Unter dem Galgen
Unter der Knute
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