Page 75 of A Poisonous Plot

“That was me,” Lily said sheepishly.

“Told you.” PC Hill got out of a second police car and eyed Lily with amusement. “I knew you’d be involved somehow.”

“What happened?” the sergeant asked, looking over Lily’s head at the greenhouse.

“We found another of the plants that cut Gordon. Flynn cut his hand on it.”

Sergeant Proctor shook his head. “I suppose it didn’t occur to him not to touch the plant that can knock you unconscious.”

“He didn’t do it on purpose,” Lily snapped. “He was helping me find evidence of the poisonings.”

“Funny that because he told me he was out on patrol.”

Anger coursed through Lily’s veins. “Hewaspatrolling,” she growled. “And while doing so, he found a bunch of poisonous plants that account for all the poisoning over the last few weeks. There’s also a box with dried herbs and teas, like the ones in the welcome baskets.” She drew in a breath. “And now he’s bleeding and unconscious, so maybe you could be a little more compassionate.”

“Did you say it’s the same plant that poisoned Gordon?” PC Hill asked, his voice much softer than the sergeant’s. Lily nodded in reply. “So it’ll just knock him out for a while and then he’ll be groggy, but fine, right?”

“Yes,” Arthur said. “There won’t be any lasting damage.”

The sergeant turned to Arthur. “And why exactly do you have poisonous plants in your greenhouse?”

“He didn’t do anything,” Lily said, narrowing her eyes. “Someone is trying to set him up, so there’s no need for you to start swinging your handcuffs and trying to look heroic.” She kept her gaze on the greenhouse as the paramedics brought Flynn out on a stretcher. “Sorry,” she mumbled when it occurred to her that taking her anger out on the sergeant wouldn’t help her figure out who’d done this.

“I’m not the enemy here, Miss Larkin,” he said, but the sergeant’s eyes were on Flynn and his features softened as he took a step forwards. “Is he going to be okay?” he asked the paramedics.

The taller of the two men had also been at the garden centre, treating Gordon. He shrugged. “His vitals are stable. It looks the same as with the other guy.”

“I’ll follow you to the hospital once I’ve dealt with things here,” the sergeant said.

“Can I come in the ambulance?” Lily asked.

“No, you can’t,” the sergeant replied. “You’re not going anywhere until you’ve explained everything properly.”

They watched as the paramedics loaded Flynn into the ambulance and set off for the hospital, then the sergeant walked over to the greenhouse. The rest of them followed.

“Whoever has been poisoning people tried to make it look as though it was Arthur,” Lily said, remaining at the entrance to the glass house while the sergeant and PC Hill ventured inside. “But it wasn’t him. When Arthur arrived, he thought it was me who’d hurt Flynn and he called the police.” She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head. “You.He calledyou.Arthur had no idea what was going on. He doesn’t know anything about the plants.”

“Actually, I know everything about the plants,” Arthur said unhelpfully.

Lily almost laughed at his serious expression. “But you didn’t know they were in your greenhouse, or how they got there.”

“No.” He looked at Sergeant Proctor who’d put a glove on to sift through the packages of herbs in the cardboard box. “I didn’t know that. And I would never hurt anyone.”

The sergeant scanned the greenhouse until he spotted the sleeping beauty plant. He pointed an accusing finger at it. “That thing needs to be destroyed before it does any more damage.”

PC Hill lifted an eyebrow. “Shouldn’t we hang on to it as evidence?”

“Possibly.” Sergeant Proctor straightened up. “Sod it. I don’t want to risk anyone else. Burn the plant, but take photos first.” He waved his hand in the air. “Take photos of everything. Then bring everything that could be evidence back to the station.”

PC Hill nodded. “Will do.”

“I’m going to head to the hospital and make sure PC Grainger is all right. Lily, Arthur, you’ll need to go to the station with PC Hill and tell him exactly what happened.”

“I’m going to the hospital,” Lily said, then grimaced under Sergeant Proctor’s icy stare. “I’ll give you a statement later, when we know Flynn is okay. It doesn’t matter if I tell you what happened now or later, does it?”

“I suppose not.”

“I can help PC Hill with the plants,” Arthur said amiably.

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