She Smells the Dead by E.J. Stevens Read Free Book Online Page A

murderer?
    Emma and Grace were talking about pollination, and I was about to give up my search, when a black and yellow butterfly landed on one of the plants in Grace’s herb garden. Black and yellow butterfly .
    “Mrs. Green,” I said startling them both by finally speaking, “What kind of plant is this one here?”
    For a moment a look of horror crossed her face but then she answered, “Oh that silly thing? You don’t want to touch that one dear. It’s for constipation.”
    I pulled my hand back, but thoughts were racing though my head. I was also overwhelmed with the smell of vinegar. Emma seemed to get the drift that things had just gone in a weird direction and asked if we could see the hives before leaving. Grace looked relieved to have us out of her garden and on our way. Before walking away though, I bent down pretending to tie my boot laces. I snapped a few photos of the plant with my cell phone and ran to catch up with Emma and a woman who I was beginning to suspect of murder.
     

Chapter 17
     
     
    Emma and I walked casually back to her car trying not to burst with excitement.
    “Ohmygosh!” Emma blurted as soon as we pulled onto the highway ramp.
    “I second that emotion,” I said trying to calm my rapid heartbeat and shaking hands.
    “I think I just scored the best story for the school paper,” Emma exclaimed.
    “Wait a sec. What?” I asked suddenly wondering if we were on the same page.
    “That woman is the queen bee overlord. It will make the best headline for the school paper,” Emma said obviously excited.
    “So what you’re saying is that you’re just psyched to have scored an interview with a mastermind of bee oppression?” I asked incredulously.
    “Well duh, what were you talking about,” Emma shot back.
    Patience Yuki .
    “I was talking about finding out Grace Green is probably a murderer,” I blurted out defensively. So much for patience .
    “Yeah girl, a murderer of defenseless bees,” Emma said.
    I couldn’t tell if she was teasing me or serious. Probably serious .
    “Emma, do you know much about plants?” I asked hoping she might be able to help me identify the plant from my photos.
    “I know I like to eat them if they’re chemical free,” she said with an evil laugh.
    I sighed in exasperation.
    “What?” asked Emma. “I’m hungry.” Right then Emma’s stomach growled out loud and we couldn’t help but laugh.
    “I’m hiding my African violets when we get to my house,” I said and we laughed again.
    We were silent the rest of the way home. Well, except for Emma’s stomach .
    When we reached my house Emma had decided to go home where her mom already had a dinner ready. I told her I had research to do and would see her tomorrow at school. I went up to my room and downloaded the pictures from the Green farm off my phone onto my laptop. Zooming in I could tell they didn’t look like the herbs I was familiar with like rosemary, oregano, mint, sage, and thyme. My next step was to try searching for the plant on the Internet. I tried “green oval leaves,” “bell shaped purple flowers,” and “poison” for a search. After a few useless searches, I found pictures of a plant that matched the one in Grace Green’s herb garden. It had the same dark, dingy purple bell shaped flowers and deeply veined green oval leaves. Son of a dung beetle . The plant was listed as Atropa Belladonna, what is commonly known as Deadly Nightshade.
     

Chapter 18
     
     
    I went to bed that night feeling spooked. I knew it was probably silly to worry about Grace Green coming after me in my sleep, but I still felt uneasy. I pulled a box down from the top of my closet and pushed things around until I found the sleigh bells I had used to decorate my room last Christmas. Better than nothing . I grabbed a hair ribbon off my vanity and strung a few of the bells across the ribbon then tied the ribbon across my windows. I grabbed the largest bell and with a piece of string and a bent