Mop and Broom: Tales of the Twelfth:

Chapter 28

"It's awfully quiet out there," Mop noticed. "No one is laughing at jokes or anything."

"Yeah," Broom agreed. "Something has happened. Is that Rick and Kate coming? No, it's Doctor Lady Lanie and Esposito."

"That's strange," Mop offered. "They haven't been in here together for a long time. I wonder what's going on."

"That was about Scary Lady, wasn't it?" Mop asked. "It sounded bad."

Broom's handle swayed. "It was. Lanie was telling Esposito that Scary Lady, maybe we should call her Captain Gates now, was taking a flying lesson. Something went wrong and the airplane came down. Captain Gates is alive, but she was really hurt, something about severe head trauma. Lanie thinks she'll be gone for a long time, if she comes back at all. That must be why it's so quiet out there. Even if they don't like Captain Gates, you know how it is when something happens to a cop."

"I do," Mop agreed. "It makes all the cops sad. I think that's Rick and Kate coming now."


"So Kate is going to be in charge," Broom recapitulated.

"Yeah, she's getting a temporary rank of Captain until she gets the real thing," Mop added. "She didn't sound too happy about it. Strange, I thought she wanted to be captain."

"I don't think she wanted it that way," Broom explained. "She didn't want anything to happen to Captain Gates. Rick is always supporting Kate, and you know how much time Captain Gates spent yelling at him, but I don't think Rick wanted anything bad to happen to her either. He just wanted her to get promoted or something so Kate could move up - if Kate really wanted to."

"Well they were talking about Kate moving into Captain Gates' office for a while. They might not be back here as much," Mop speculated sadly.

"As much as I hate to say it, I think they will - but not to talk," Broom told him. "The door to the captain's office is glass. Spray Bottle has complained about getting the fingerprints off of it enough times. I think they may still want to hide in here when they - you know. But that's hardly what they were worried about, even if you are. There are going to be a lot of changes. Kate will have to stay here a lot, like Captain Gates did. That means she and Rick won't be going to crime scenes together much unless it's a really big case. It could also change the way Rick writes about Nikki Heat. They'll have a lot to work out."

"Well those two have always been great at working things out and in and out and in..." Mop teased.

Broom smashed his bristles against the wall. "That is really inappropriate!"


"So Board said Rick went out with Ryan?" Mop asked.

"Uh huh," Broom confirmed. "Esposito is on a case involving Spanish speaking families. Kate thought Sanchez might be more successful getting statements than Ryan, so he's with Esposito and Ryan is with Rick. Board thinks it's the kind of case they both like anyway. Kate would too, if she could go. A florist by the name of Flora Bunga was killed. Someone stood her up in a giant vase in the window of her store making her look like a giant tulip. They put big yellow petals around her head and everything. Rick and Ryan are trying to figure out why someone would do that, or at the very least who. Board said Rick was feeling a little nostalgic because his first case with Kate involved flowers. He was missing her."

Mop waved his tendrils in anticipation. "Maybe he'll find a way to not miss her later - back here."

"I wouldn't hold your breath," Broom replied smugly. "Rick and Ryan are going through all of Flora's financials and questioning all her friends. It's going to be a while before he has time for that. Kate has to keep track of the other cases too. If they do get to do any of that stuff you love so much, they'll probably do it at home."

Mop's tendrils drooped. "Well at least I can get Brush to tell me about it if they do. It's not as good as getting to watch, but it's something."


Mop settled into his place on the cart. "Well at least Wastebasket hears everything Rick and Kate talk about in her office, and he's willing to share. He did say all they did was talk, and it was about the case."

"My condolences," Broom retorted sharply. "but what about the case?"

"Well you know Rick," Mop replied, "he never wants to do the usual thing. He started thinking about the meanings of flowers, especially yellow flowers. He said they meant hopelessly in love, and yellow tulips used to mean unrequited love. So he and Ryan started looking at Flora's texts to see who she might be hopelessly in love with or who might be hopelessly in love with her."

"Did they find anything? Broom questioned.

"Yeah, they did," Mop informed him proudly. "Flora was constantly texting this guy named Joe Boxter. Rick and Ryan were going to track him down."


"So what did Espresso say Rick told Kate about Joe Boxter?" Broom asked a milk-sodden Mop as he was returned to the Janitor's Closet."

Mop shook a few white drops from his tendrils. "Rick said Flora and Joe went together in high school a long time ago. But when she started texting him she told him she broke up with her husband because she never got over Joe. I guess he changed his number three times trying to get away from her, but she always found him. He's some kind of a flower expert too, so they had some connections. He lost a couple of girlfriends over all the texts from Flora and just couldn't take it anymore. He went to her shop to try to get her to leave him alone, but that just convinced her that he wanted to see her. Rick said the man couldn't handle it and snapped. He wanted everyone to see that her love was unrequited, so he turned her into a giant yellow tulip. He still had all the stuff he used to make the petals at his apartment."

"Wow! The question is who was crazier, Flora or Joe," Broom offered.

Mop clacked his loop. "Yeah, that's what Kate thought too. She decided it was Joe. She thought a sane person would have just taken out a restraining order. Anyway, that was the end of the case. Kate was kind of happy. She said as a captain she can usually leave at a reasonable hour and since Rick wound up his case, he could go with her. Then Rick said he had a stop to make along the way and he'd meet her there. I'll have to check with Brush to see if I can find out what that's about. Or maybe Wastebasket can ask her. I don't get near Brush much these days."

Broom rubbed his bristles against the floor. "Cleaner knows you'll just keep sticking your tendrils in things until you get the story."


"So you talked to Brush when Kate spilled her M & M 's®. What did she tell you?" Mop demanded. "Why did Rick stop on his way home?"

"Alright, I know you won't leave me alone until you find out," Broom capitulated. "He picked up a bouquet of yellow and red roses. The yellow stood for devotion and the red ones meant that she's his lover."

Mop swished expectantly. "Oh things must have gotten good after that."

Broom stuck his bristles straight out. "Brush said that Kate ran her through her hair after she changed into something nice for Rick. Then she left Brush in the bathroom until morning. Brush didn't see or hear anything."

"Pile of dirt!" Mop exclaimed. "What's the flower for frustration?"

Broom settled contentedly against the wall.

A/N In answer to Mop's question: wormwood.