Prologue
Her pearlescent blue eyes looked down at the pool’s clear water. The flower petals rippled in the gentle waves dissipating from the earlier struggle.
A sense of peace and satisfaction settled over her.
The body of Tommy Hemmings was face down, half-floating at the surface. He would soon sink to the bottom as the air from his lungs was displaced by the chlorinated water; settling under his liquid blanket.
.
She knew what the coroner would find: asphyxiation by drowning. Her blue wild flowers, aconite, had done their job effectively. The residual neurotoxins would never be found in the typical autopsy of a drowning.
It was her mother’s birthday, April third. It was hard for her to believe her mother had been gone for twenty-six years. She had waited far too long to assuage her pain, her loss. But 2014 was a good year to begin the healing.
What a nice present for mother.
She regretted she couldn’t linger and watch Tommy sink to the depths of his pool, but she needed to move on. Mrs. Hemmings might happen onto the scene or some unsuspecting neighbor out for an early morning run could stop in for a coffee.
She approached the flowerbed at the edge of the pool’s landscaping. Picking a few petals from the red carnations, white roses and blue violets, she then returned to the pool’s edge. These little beauties provided just what she was looking for. She scattered them among the aconite already there; just enough to appear a gust had transported the flowers’ remains to the pool. Not so much to garner suspicion. The petals floated to the water below. Satisfied with the random appearance of the potpourri near Tommy’s body, she exited across the concrete patio to a side-entry gate. Unlatching it, she stepped onto the path leading to the street and her waiting car parked around the corner. About a half block away, she heard a distant scream coming from where she’d been. The edges of her mouth turned up in a cold half smile. “There, there Mrs. Hemmings. He really wasn’t much of a prize.”
