"A GIFT OF HAPPINESS" CHAPTER 9: SOME FLOWERS ARE VENOMOUS

"A GIFT OF HAPPINESS" 

CHAPTER 9: SOME FLOWERS ARE VENOMOUS 

    It was Sunday September 17th, early in the morning. Like usual, Leslie and I met up while on our way to work. Up to that point we had been texting each other a lot, this on itself was not a rare thing for us. Ever since we started working at Joe's we kind of became best friends. Joan was also a good friend of us, but she mostly minded her own business and would not reply to all of our text messages. 

    That time though, we would text each other a lot because at that point, both Leslie and I were experiencing some novelties in our personal lives. My mom who was and still is a veteran nurse had found a good job at as a head nurse at the John R. Oishei Children's Hospital. She was making good money at the time and as a result, she suggested me to focus all of my energies on my college career. My mother ensured me she could care for me and my two other siblings. Since I did college mostly from home, I could then take care of the kids and I could get some allowance on the side. 

    When it came to Leslie, her prospective was a little more exciting at the time. At the time, Leslie had met an Austrian man and they started corresponding with each other recently. It was not a surprise to anyone; Leslie was a very pretty looking girl and has become a well-formed young woman. 

    It turns out that the guy had asked her to for a trip to Europe with him. This trip though, was not a regular trip, they were going to so a tour of Europe and this meant that the trip would last more than just a week. Because of these novelties going on in our lives, both Leslie and I had decided to put in our two weeks' notice.

    That morning happened to be a very beautiful morning. Very sunny and barely any clouds floating in the sky. The weather was neither cold nor hot so you could wear a sweater if you wanted or not. The ambience at the Maple projects was very lively, the kids were playing in the courtyard again. Even grandma Chidgey was spotted in the courtyard watering flowers and plants which was an extremely rare sight ever since the homeless took over the place. 

    Perhaps, something that has helped this to happen was the police presence around the area at the time. Although not as heavy as before, seeing police officers patrolling the area was a common sight. People most likely felt secured by them being in the area. 

    When we arrived at Joe's and got ourselves ready to work that day. Both Leslie and I asked to talk to Chris since Joe was not there. Chris was busy in the basement preparing and dividing the dough together with Joel. Chris agreed to talk to us after he was done. So that morning we did the routinary. Leslie stood in the front to cover the cash register and I started cleaning the floor and the tables and filling the fridge with more beverages. 

   At about 10:15 am Joel and Chris came up from the basement with the fermented dough into the store. Joel was helping him with the containers.  Upon seeing us Chris told us to wait a minute while he and Joel went to the back.  After a few minutes Joel came to take over the cash register and we went to the back to the small office room to talk to Chris. Upon entering the small office room Chris took off his apron and took a zip from his soda can, and after turning toward us and leaning on the desk a little bit, Chris asks us: 

"What's up? how can I help you gals?" 

    Leslie stepped forward and said: 

"So basically, we uh have some novelties and, well..." 

"We are submitting our two weeks' notice." -I said to Chris. 

    This took Chris out of guard for a second. 

"Why? we aren't good enough to you?" 

"Not at all, working here has been great but both Leslie and I have had some changes happening in our personal lives and can no longer work here." 

"Well, it certainly is a shame to see you girls go. Actually, Joe is scheduled to show up later at around 3:30pm so I can just tell him and let him know that he has to start hiring again." 

"I'm sorry for any inconvenience we've caused you guys."

"Not at all, we've just grown accustomed to you girls and is so sad for us to lose you." 

"I'm sure you guys will be able to find a good replacement for us." 

"I mean finding a replacement is not a problem but I'm sure things won't be the same after you leave, it never is." 

    Certainly, that meeting with Chris made us both feel bad, but we understood that it was a must. People eventually have to spread their wings and seek out better opportunities for themselves. 

    At about 4:30pm after Joe had shown up to the store, the detective, Mr. Hanks and his young assistant came over to our store. The sight of them was a little odd since we are not used to having detectives come into our place. Mr. Hanks came over to the cash register where I was and calmly asked me: 

"Is Joe here?" 

    I did my best not to look nervous nor act nervous. Is not like I had done something wrong or anything but when you're dealing with detectives at-least in my case I feel like i may be suspicious to them.

"Uh yea, he's uh in the back." 

"Can you get him for me?" 

"Sure." 

    I turned toward the back and started calling Joe as I approached the office door. 

"Joe! The detective is here!" 

   Joe didn't appear to hear me so I knocked gently at the door which Joe quickly opened. 

"Hey, what's up?" 

"The detective guy is here looking for you?" 

"Is he?" 

    After I let Joe know that Mr. Hanks was looking for him he let out a deep sigh.  

"Tell him I'll be right there in a minute." 

"Okay." 

    At this point the whole crew was staring at the scene with confusion, none of us knew why the detectives were here, all we knew is that we needed to be polite and provide good customer service to them. Though in the back of our minds we knew that, if the detective was here was because something was up. Leslie was also a bit nervous by the sight of Mr. Hanks. He's a tall and large figure with a very intimidating and penetrating look in his eyes. Anyone with confidence issues like Leslie and I would feel that there are the primary suspects of whatever just by being looked at by him. 

    Mr. Hanks took a seat in one of the tables and started looking at some documents, his young assistant named Zarin went to the cash register and ordered a mushroom slice, she apparently was hungry. Joel helped her out with her order and started having a nice chit-chat with Zarin. At this point the guys just went back to work as well. Leslie and I also started to feel a bit relieved, we upon seeing the officers immediately thought of the worst-case scenario. 

    Joe then walked out of the office and greeted Mr. Hanks. 

"Good afternoon officer, how can I help ya?" 

"Hey good afternoon, seat down, you have a minute to talk?" 

"Yea I have time, but can we talk outside? I don't want to have this type of chat in my business." 

"Understandable sir, let me collect my papers." 

    Joe went to the fridge and grabbed two Cola cans and offered one to Hanks. Mr. Hanks politely refused the beverages by saying:

"I prefer Ginger Ale and Root Beer." 

    So, Joe opened up the fridge again and grabbed a can of Grandpa's Ginger Ale soda and passed it to Mr. Hanks, this time he did not refuse the courtesy. As Joe and Mr. Hanks walked out Joe told Chris to take charge for him as he spoke to the detective. Zarin, Mr. Hank's detective stood inside the restaurant eating happily eating her food. 

    At this time the weather was getting cold and windy but not so much to cause discomfort. Joe and Hank stood outside by the sidewalk away from the door, and close to the window so that customers can still pass. As they both zip from their soda cans Joe proceeds to ask the officer: 

"So how can I be of help for you sir?" 

"Well, before we even get there, I just want to ask you. How's business doing so far?" 

"So far we been doing fairly well detective, sells have increased slowly which has provided us with a steady income so far." 

"That's pretty good to hear, I'm glad things are working out for you." 

"Anyways." 

    Hanks added: 

"As you may be well aware sir, there's been a lot of suspicious deaths among the homeless taking place in these streets for the last three years. Recently culminating in the onslaught that took place on the night of the 6th."

"Yes sir, that is pretty tragic what's been going on with those individuals, I genuinely hope that the justice department of Buffalo is able to solve this crime and bring the person behind these deaths to justice." 

"Yes, indeed, in a matter of fact we are working on that." 

    Upon hearing this Joe's right eyebrow raised with suspicion. 

"You see Mr. Joe, for the vast majority of these three years, all of the diseased being among the homeless of course, have all died of natural causes, which is not suspicious on itself, I mean, people die of natural causes all the time after all." 

"Can you be more specific as of the kind of death though sir?" 

"Yes, of course. There are two main causes, yes some of the victims may have had very specific health conditions which i'm sure contributed to their deaths but the consensus is that pretty much all the victims died of either a heart attack or a stroke caused by high cholesterol in their system." 

"What you trying to say sir?" 

"Wait Mr. Joe be patient." 

"Upon investigating further, we were able to find out that pretty much all of the victims up until September 6th which we will get to in a minute had a high calorie, high sugar diet. We would even find fragments of cheese and flour in their stomachs, consistently." 

"So your saying my food killed them?" 

"Yes but there's a big 'but' in this sentence if you know what I mean." 

    After hearing this from Mr. Hanks, Joe started breathing heavily and sweating. 

"Calm your horses sir. We just want to ask you a few questions that's all." 

"That is outrageous! How can you say that my food is been killing people?!" 

"Listen sir, as I said, calm your horses, I'm not even done explaining my point nor the situation so please, just follow along with me, yes?" 

"Okay, I'll listen." 

"Before I continue, I just want to ask and I will explain to you why in just a bit." 

"Uh huh." 

"What exactly do you do with your spare food items at the end of the day?" 

"Well, it depends. Some of it we freeze and store, some of it we take home and eat it among ourselves and the rest we just throw away." 

"Okay." 

"But even if the homeless people eat from the food we dispose of, that would not be enough for all of them to die that way." 

"Of course not! surely these homeless men and women that have died over these past three years have had this food given to them by someone, someone that obviously you don't know but someone we might." 

"Really?" 

"It can't be one of my employees, isn't it?" 

"It certainly is not you, you have too much to lose, and it would be too obvious." 

"Yeah." 

"If it was one of your employees, it would be too hard for them to do this without anyone else noticing. I mean after all, they are using your food, your money." 

"Of course." 

"Why would you use up your money or let someone else use up your money and your goods to kill people that never done nothing to you?" 

"Yea, that makes no sense." 

"So that rules you out as well as all of your employees. None of them are involved in the killings." 

    Joe now felt very relieved. Obviously, he knew it wasn't him to begin with but for a brief second, he thought that it could have been one of his employees. Knowing that neither of us were the culprits took a weight off his heart. 

"So who exactly is it? If I can ask." 

"Can't tell you that just yet but I do have a favor to ask." 

"Yes, go ahead." 

"Can I speak to the girl in the cash register, I think her name is Joel." 

"Yea, why?" 

"I just have a curiosity, nothing else out of the ordinary." 

"Okay." 

    Joe and Hank both walked into the restaurant, Hank once again greeted Joel and discretely asked her: 

"Hey, got a minute?" 

"Yes of course why?" 

"No worries, your good, I just want to ask you something." 

    Mr. Hank and Joel then walked toward one of the tables and both of them sat down. Joel at this point was looking a bit nervous. Mostly because she didn't know what Mr. Hank was going to ask her about. But deep down she knew that she had nothing to do with the killings.

"How are you feeling right now? Are you okay? Is it a good time to talk?" 

"Just a little nervous, I'm not used to being asked to step aside by a detective." 

    Mr. Hank gave Joel a warm smile to reassure her that everything was okay with her. 

"No worries young lady, I just want to ask you about your past a little bit." 

"Okay, what do you want to know?" 

"I was looking through the records and I found some interesting things. So, you were a victim of an assault about two years ago by one of the homeless, wasn't you?" 

"Yes, he had very evil intentions towards me but thankfully I was saved by one of the homeless." 

"Do you remember his name?" 

"No sir, but I do remember his face." 

"No worries. Who did you talk to about this subject." 

"I've told a few people ever since, the most recent has been my friend Zoe but besides her, the workers here know and also some of the people in the neighborhood as well." 

"To be more specific, who was one of the first people you ever talked about this matter, who were the first to find out about this?" 

"My family of course, Joe and Chris and the people who worked here at the time, Phil was among them." 

"Uh Huh, anyone from the buildings?" 

"Yes, back then I got along very well with Mrs, Chidgey, who is a frequent shopper here." 

"Okay, and why did you stopped talking to her?" 

"I just didn't feel comfortable anymore, she was becoming toxic." 

"Okay. Thank you for your time, I hope you and everyone you care for have a great day today." 

"Thank you." 

    Joel left to the back and met up with Leslie and I, we quickly started asking her questions as we walked to the locker room. Mr. Hank walked towards Joe once again. 

"Hey, I just need one last thing from you and sorry to ask." 

"No worries, you can ask me anything." 

"Can I have a look at your transaction records? How far back do you keep them?" 

"The earliest I have been three years back." 

"Good, can I take a look at those?" 

    Joe at this point was able to discern what were the intentions of Hank. 

"Sure thing. Come with me to the office." 

    As Joe and Hank walked to the back office, Chris ordered us to get back to work and focus on the job. There were not many customers coming in at this point, we had Zarin in the floor as a guest and some locals would come to get slices and leave and would take note of the police presence in the building. But still, we were working after all, and we had to be attentive to our job. After like about half an hour, Mr. Hank came out of the office being followed by Joe. And as he once again greeted all of us and wished us all a good night, he left alongside his assistant. This was the first and last time Mr. Hank and I met in person. I know I sound like a broken record when saying this but is true. 

    About a week passed after Mr. Hank and his assistant came to our store, that day was Sunday the 24th of September. Our last day of work was going to be on the following Wednesday, the 27th of September. 

    At about 1:00pm Mr. Hank arrived alongside his trusty friend, Mr. Hopkins in the premises of the Maple projects. They walked towards the building in the south and went towards the 17th floor, apartment 17L and proceeded to walk on the door. The one opening the door, was grandma Chidgey herself who kindly let the men into her moderate apartment. 

"Good afternoon gentlemen." Said Chidgey, "How can I help you today?" 

"We'll get to that in just a moment, right now we just want to know how you are and how have you been?" 

"So far so good, life is pretty good, and I can't really complain, do you guys want some coffee?" 

"Yes, of course," 

"Please take a seat, I'll be there with you in just a moment." 

    Hanks and Hopkins both took a seat in the large couch. Chidgey's apartment was fairly clean and well decorated. The walls were full of family photos and paintings. She had many plants which she would take care of and kept inside the apartment. The windows were covered with luxurious thick curtains with beautiful plant and flower patterns. The walls were painted ocean blue, and the floor was a carpet floor. A nice navy-blue carpet. 

    Where Hanks and Hopkins were seating there was a small coffee table with a plot of flowers full of roses. There were smaller pots full of incense. These were common throughout the apartment; the apartment was engulfed with nice subtle smells. 

    Among the many photos being displayed throughout the house, there was one featuring a young girl with red hair with who appeared to be her family. Another had a tall young teen with black hair seating in a park. But the one photo that called Hank's attention the most was a picture of a group of nurses in what appeared to be an encampment.  

    Mr. Hopkins briefly asked Mr. Hank: 

"Any updates on the homeless guy that got captured running away from the scene on the 6th?" 

"Yes, he's currently in custody right now, he seems to be a survivor. But he refuses to talk, we will have to deal with him later." 

"Yea, from what I see, he seems to suffer from some kind of mental issue, he probably thinks he's going to go to jail." 

"He's going to be instrumental for us, depending on what he saw that night but more of that later." 

    After a few minutes of being in the kitchen, Mrs. Chidgey came out of the kitchen with a large coffee cup and two demitasse cups for the men. Mrs. Chidgey then gently placed the coffee in the coffee table that was in front of the men and then she proceeded to take a seat in the chair in front of the two detectives. 

    Mr. Hopkins was a bit reluctant to take from the coffee, Mr. Hanks noticed this and as a result, proceeded to pour some of the coffee to his cup, he then took three tablespoons of brown sugar and added it to his coffee, he then introduced the tablespoon into his coffee and started moving it in circle in order to mix the sugar with the coffee. This while both Chidgey and Hopkins stared. Hank then put the tablespoon down and proceeded to take a zip of the coffee. Looking rather pleased by its taste, Mr. Hank said while nodding his head. 

"This is pretty good, one of the best coffees I have tried recently." 

    Mrs. Chidgey politely smiles as Hopkins proceeds to the same with his coffee, now feeling relieved. As Mr. Hank drinks his coffee, Mr. Hank politely asked Chidgey: 

"So, Madam, do you know why we are here for?" 

    Mrs. Chidgey for a slight second seemed to glare at the men but swiftly changed her expression to a polite smile. Even though she was smiling politely, you could tell she was holding something back, her eyes, something evil. 

"No, I don't know why you are here but I always appreciate a visit." 

"That photo over there, with those nurses, was you among them?" 

"Yes, I served as a nurse for some time during the war of Vietnam, those there were my friends at the time." 

    Hank took a look at a younger Chidgey. A beautiful looking young lady with bright eyes. Deep inside he wondered what could of lead someone with such eyes to turn into such an evil heartless killer. 

"Well Mrs. Chidgey as you know, there's been a lot of death among the homeless community for the past three years." 

"Yes, it's rather unfortunate those individuals have been pulling the short stick for a long time." 

"How do you feel about the homeless? I know they have caused you and the locals of this area a lot of trouble, I know you may have strong opinions about them." 

"Well detective, it is quiet unfortunate for them to live the way they do, If I was in their situation at least when it comes to me, I would consider my life to not be worth it." 

"You know, those are people too, yes, they are in a very unfortunate situation. But they are human beings none the less." 

"What are you trying to say detective?" 

"Well Madam, we the police department have reasons to believe that you are the one behind these deaths." 

 "How could this be detective? How could you believe such about me sir, I would never do such a thing, why would a kind person like me decide to harm so many people in such a way?" 

"We are not here to argue in any way, shape or form with you madam, we just here to go over the evidence and then to proceed to take you with us to start the process if you know what I mean." 

"What kind of evidence do you have against me?" 

"These people who are now uh, diseased have a lot of communalities if you know what I'm say Ma'am." 

"Go on." 

"All of these homeless men and women have been dying of pretty much the same cause, that being heart attacks or strokes mainly due to high cholesterol." 

"Uh huh?" 

"For these past three years, these homeless men and women have been dying of exactly the same thing and all due to their diet." 

"And what kind of diet we are talking about here?" 

"These men and women were frequent consumers of fast-food items, mainly Pizzas, Pastas, and high sugary drinks such as sodas." 

"Yeah?" 

"These people are homeless for a reason, that being that they don't have money on them, how exactly are they getting access to these foods?" 

"I don't know. Go ask the owner of the Pizzeria in the front." 

"No need Ma'am, here are the sell records for the past three years ever since 2014 where the first deaths were reported." 

    Hank places a very thick document like about 200 or so pages detailing every transaction involving Madam Chidgey. Chidgey took a quick look at the document but didn't bother to look too much, she knew she had been caught. She lifted a few pages with her hand and then let's go of the paper and put it back on the coffee table. She then locked eyes with the two men in a deep silence. The air in Chidgey's house became tense as Mr. Hank and Madam Chidgey would gaze at each other. Hopkins started to sweat and with no avail wanted to dissipate the waters, but he couldn't, for those brief moments, he could not speak. 

"Obviously someone had been providing these men and women with these food items."

"I only wanted to help them, to feed them." 

"Yes, but you were also aware that these men and women were dying, also you were a nurse for a few years back in the 50's, you obviously now that consuming these food items excessively for a prolonged period of time would cause problems." 

"I didn't kill them; they took the food. I only gave it to them." 

"Of course, they would take it, they no choice. I'm pretty sure you were very well aware of the deaths as they were happening wasn't you madam?"

    Chidgey glared at Hanks for a second, silently. 

"You knew what you were doing." 

"And we even haven't gotten to what happened on the 6th of this month. Tell me Madam, who exactly helped you with these orders and how did you get your hands on the rat poison?" 

"No one did." 

"Lies, you certainly had helpers, we'll find out whether you talk or not, you may as well tell us." 

"I'm not telling you nothing, I'll use my right to remain silent." 

"Great. Guess we don't need to talk any longer. You're coming with us Madam." 

    The two men and Chidgey stood up. Mrs. Chidgey placed her arms forward so that Mr. Hopkins would place the cuffs on her. After that the men locked the apartment and took Mrs. Chidgey to the police station. Police came later to seal the apartment, as Chidgey's apartment became property of the police department. 

    News spread really fast; everyone was on shock. The homeless men killer was finally caught and taken to jail. 

To be continued. . .