Page 35 of Craving Vengeance
“Enlighten us.”
“Remember the fish from Rosso’s apartment?”
“Yeah.”
“Those were Resplendent Angelfish,” Marsh stated with confidence.
“Okay?”
Marsh sucked in a breath of annoyance. “Resplendent Angelfish are hardy fish that adapt well to aquarium life; however, they’re semi-aggressive and tend to form groups comprised of one male and several females. Who else would be ‘Angelfish’ other than Rosso?”
Walker nodded. “It all seems to make sense, between this and what we found out at Sonny’s.”
Spinelli filled Marsh in on the conversation they had with Sonny and Judy. “But we still have a few missing links. How does Meyers tie in? Who contracted with Rosso’s service to kill four cupids? Furthermore, only cupids Shannon once dated.” Spinelli’s gaze shifted to the wings, bow, and quiver full of arrows on his desk. “And who in the hell had enough control of the situation to get me to dress as cupid as well?”
“Don’t forget about Lady Lily,” Marsh added.
“Who?” Spinelli questioned.
“Lady Lily. The person Williams emailed and agreed to meet with at the Morgan Bank building this morning.”
Walker nodded. “Oh yes, the flower of death person.” His comment conceded that his earlier recollection of the orchid being the flower of death was incorrect.
“Actually, as it turns out, not only are lilies the flowers of death but they are also known well for their use in aquariums,” Marsh added.
“And how is that pertinent?” Spinelli cut in, wanting to kick himself the second the question came out of his mouth because he knew, rather than just cutting to the chase, Marsh would probably embark on some sort of long, drawn-out useless explanation as usual.
“Well, you see, the lily’s broad leaves produce shaded areas in the aquarium which encourage shy or reclusive fish species to actively forage in open view. But the problem with planting lilies in aquariums is that if they are left unattended, their leaves will grow large and block all the light from the understory and kill those plants. One of the most common lilies offered for aquarium use is the dwarf lily. Go figure. Dwarf.”
They all just stared at Marsh.
The silence encouraged him to continue. “You know, dwarf lily and dwarf angelfish. And think about it. She sucks the men out into the open, then wham kills off everything in her path.”
“But who is Lady Lily?” Spinelli asked, unable to hide the frustration from his tone.
Marsh leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest. “I didn’t get that far yet. I’m just...just showing the connection.”
Spinelli inhaled deeply and slowly then emptied his lungs. “Okay, thank you for that, Marsh, there’s two minutes of my life I can’t have back.” Spinelli shifted his gaze to Shannon. “When was the last time Meyers was in the states?”
“I can’t say for sure. All I know is that it’s been a couple of years since I’ve seen him. He’d send a postcard periodically, but even those came less often as time went by.”
Walker flipped open a file folder and studied its contents. “Hmm.”
Spinelli craned his neck to look in the folder as well. “Did you find something?”
“No, not really. I was just looking at the vics’ ages trying to link them somehow. But it’s not working. Rosso was 35, Williams was 36, Carter was 28, and Meyers was just shy of 33.” Walker looked up from the file and glanced at Shannon. “So, Meyers was in his last year of medical school when you dated him?”
She nodded.
“What school did he go to?”
Shannon cocked her head to the side. “The University of Madison.”
Walker shifted his gaze to Spinelli. “Didn’t Bethany go to Madison?”
“I’m not sure.”
Walker squinted and stared at the crime board. He ran his hand over his five o’clock shadow and then held his chin. “You know, I think it says Madison on the diploma hanging behind her desk.” His gaze shifted back to Spinelli. “How old is Bethany?”
