21. You’ll be sniffed out by the plants

You’ll be sniffed out by the plants, the inspector told Lupe, before shoving her into the greenhouse and locking the door behind her. Lupe took an apprehensive first step. Her eyes darted around the glass house, which was populated by hundreds of exotic plants. There was just one bald spot: the place where the rare hammer orchid had snuffed it.

“You think they’ll recognize her?” the cop asked his superior.

“They always do,” the inspector smiled as he lifted his sunglasses from his eyes.

Indeed, as Lupe tiptoed across the greenhouse, a bustling murmur arose. The plants curved their branches and leaves ever so slightly. They all seemed to be pointing subtly towards the young woman who tried to keep her cool but broke down anyway.

“Yes,” she yelled from the top of her lungs. “It was me! I cut down the hammer orchid. I confess.”

She fell to her knees, sobbing, a broken woman.

On the other side of the TV-screen, a mother and her two sons reached simultaneously towards the big bucket of popcorn nestled between them on the couch, gripped by the story unfolding before their eyes.

CSI: Greenhouse looked to be yet another hit for the network.

 

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