Anthony Eglin - The Blue Rose

Marcus stood over Baldie’s prostrate body, the carpenter’s mallet still in his hand. He rolled Baldie over with his foot and bent down to check the pulse in his neck. Satisfied that he was still alive but unconscious, Marcus got up and saw just what he was looking for. It was on the bench, a roll of silver duct tape. He dragged Baldie’s body up against one of the upright posts supporting the roof and lifted him to a sitting position. He placed two strips of tape over Baldie’s mouth, then proceeded to band his entire upper body, arms and all, to the post.

Marcus dusted himself off and walked out of the barn. He thought of going up to the house to look for the Sheppard woman but decided that by now she had had plenty of time to call the police. She might even have roused other people to come looking for him. He had better go and find Wolff and tell him what had happened. That was going to be an ugly scene.

All eyes were now on the tall American holding the gun.

‘Which one of you is Alex Sheppard?’ he asked, halting a dozen feet away from them.

‘I am – and who are you?’ Alex answered, glancing nervously from the gun to the man’s face.

‘First things first,’ he said, walking over to the rose. For a long moment he stood studying it, then slowly circled the container, never once taking his eyes off the rose. Then he turned and approached Alex, stopping a dozen paces from him, the gun at his side.

‘You’re Ira Wolff, aren’t you?’ said Alex.

The man ignored him. ‘In a couple of days that rose is leaving here,’ he announced in a commanding voice. ‘All the export documentation and shipping arrangements have already been made.’

‘That’s fine by me,’ Alex interrupted. ‘But where’s Kate?’

‘That rose is going nowhere,’ Compton butted in.

‘I want to see her, dammit!’ Alex shouted. ‘That was the deal. That’s what your man and I agreed on – Kate in exchange for the blue rose. Where the hell is she, you bastard!’

‘Shut up,’ Wolff barked. ‘You, too,’ he said, glaring at Compton. He turned back to Alex. ‘You, Sheppard, have caused me a lot of grief. This whole business could have been wrapped up a long while ago, but you had to screw it up by playing hide-and-seek with the rose. You should have stayed at home in your nice house and done what I asked you. I’m sure your wife would have found that a much more pleasant experience than the one you have put her through.’

‘What I have put her through – me?’ Alex yelled. Suddenly, he lunged at Wolff. ‘You son of a bitch–’

Kingston grabbed him just in time. ‘Careful, Alex, for God’s sake.’

‘That was extremely foolish, Sheppard,’ Wolff said, raising the gun. ‘Try that one more time and I won’t be quite so charitable. From now on, keep your mouth shut.’ He looked at Kingston. ‘And just who are you?’

‘I’m Dr Lawrence Kingston.’

‘Ah, yes – the professor. I know all about you.’ He waved the gun at Compton. ‘And what about these two?’

‘I just happen to own the place. The name’s Compton – Charlie Compton. And this is a client of mine, Ken Tanaka – who, I might add, claims to own the rose you are all arguing about.’

‘Is that so,’ said Wolff, his lips tightening. ‘We’ll see–’

An ear-splitting blast shattered the foggy silence, drowning out his words. All heads turned in the direction of the barn waiting for the echo to fade.

‘What the hell’s that about?’ Compton yelled, starting to walk in the direction of the barn. ‘I’m going to see what’s going on. That must have been Baldie.’

Wolff raised the gun and aimed it directly at Compton. ‘You stay right where you are, mister. You’re not going anywhere,’ he snapped.

Compton paused for a moment, as if weighing his chances in challenging Wolff, then turned and walked back.

Compton shifted on his feet, growing impatience showing on his face. ‘Would somebody kindly tell me what the fuck is going on here? This is starting to get very serious, and I don’t like it one bit.’

‘Why don’t you tell him, Wolff?’ said Alex.

‘I warned you, Sheppard. Keep your mouth shut,’ Wolff snarled.

‘Where’s Kate, you stinking bastard? What have you done with her?’ Alex demanded.

Wolff ignored the outburst, returning his attention to Compton instead. ‘I don’t know what kind of game you two are up to and frankly, I don’t give a shit. That rose now belongs to me.’ He nodded briefly to Alex. ‘Ask Sheppard. He and his wife have signed it over. So if you two have any other ideas you’d better forget ’em right now.’

For the first time since Wolff ’s appearance, Tanaka spoke. ‘All of you are trespassing. This is private property,’ he said, walking closer to the rose. ‘And I’m sorry to tell you, Mr Wolff, whatever your name is, that this rose has been already purchased – by a client of mine. I’ve just explained it all to these two,’ he said, pointing to Alex and Kingston. ‘Your piece of paper is worthless. So I suggest that you leave right now and take Mr Sheppard and his friend with you. Then you can argue this among yourselves.’

‘You’re lying, Tanaka, you bastard! None of it’s true,’ Alex shouted.

Wolff threw his head back and laughed. He walked over and prodded Tanaka’s ribs with the pistol. ‘Get away from that rose before I do something I’ll regret,’ he snarled.

Tanaka stared at him, fuming.

Compton’s patience was clearly running out. ‘Look, I’ve asked once already. Would somebody tell me exactly what the hell is happening here? Who does this goddamned rose really belong to?’ He wiped the perspiration that had beaded on his forehead. ‘And I wish you’d put that bloody gun away,’ he muttered angrily, nodding at Wolff.

Kingston stepped forward, motioning for Compton to be quiet. ‘Pay attention, all of you. And don’t interrupt – please.’

Wolff was having none of it. ‘You listen to me, you interfering fool. There’s nothing more to talk about. Just shut your damned mouth and–’

‘Wolff.’ Kingston spat out the name, contemptuously. ‘You’re the one who’s the fool. Listen to me, dammit!’

‘You’d better make it quick,’ Wolff growled.

‘Don’t worry, I will,’ said Kingston.

All eyes were fixed on him, as they waited for the roar of a low-flying military jet to subside. Then he spoke. ‘We all know that this rose is truly a miracle. As a scientist for well over forty years, I know just about everything there is to know about plant molecular biology and genetic engineering – and this rose is a one-in-a-billion fluke. And you’re all convinced that by owning it, you’ll become exceedingly wealthy.’ To everybody’s surprise, he started to chuckle.

‘What do you find so goddamned funny?’ Wolff asked.

‘The irony of it.’

‘Of what, for Christ’s sake?’ Wolff demanded.

‘There’s a minor problem,’ said Kingston.

‘What’s that?’ asked Compton.

‘The problem is that there’s something diabolical about this rose. Something very dangerous.’ He eyed them each in turn. ‘Wolff – Compton – and you, Tanaka,’ he said. ‘You have to believe what I’m about to tell you. It doesn’t matter now who owns it. It’s irrelevant – because the rose carries a deadly poison in its thorns. Even the slightest scratch can result in death. A quick and nasty death, I might add. Alex saw it happen, at first hand. He lost a dear friend because of this monstrous plant. She was not yet thirty years old. That’s not all. Three other people have lost their lives because of this bloody rose. Believe me, you don’t want anything to do with it.’

‘Bollocks!’ Compton snorted. ‘A load of codswallop if I ever heard it. Thirty years I’ve been growing roses. In all that time, I’ve never heard of such a thing as a poisonous rose.’