Fruit of the Poisoned Tree (17 page)

“Don’t worry about it,” Peggy said. “I know how hard it is for you right now. But everything will work out. I’m sure of it.”

“I’ll be in touch if I hear anything, Beth.” Hunter shook her hand again.

“Thank you.” Beth endured Hunter’s hearty handshake. “I’m glad you could represent me.”

“Could you give me a lift?” Peggy asked Hunter. “I’d like to go over to the Potting Shed for a while.”

“Sure. Are you ready?”

“I am. Thanks. Call me if you need anything, Beth,” Peggy told her friend as she put on her purple jacket and scarf again.

“I will. Let’s pray the autopsies take care of all of this. I’d like to think Park and Isabelle are at peace.” Beth opened the front door for them. “I’ll talk to you later.”

As they walked to the SUV in the drive, Hunter whispered to Peggy, “Do I have to give back the retainer if the autopsies clear her?”

Peggy laughed as she got in the vehicle. “I don’t think so. Don’t they tell you what to charge and how it works when you’re in school?”

Hunter slammed her door closed and started the engine. “I think that’s supposed to come from your mentor, the first person who hires you out of school. You know what happened to
him.
He only taught me older men still want to fool around.”

“And you taught him that women today can pack a wallop.” Peggy watched Park’s house fade behind them. “I remember that. I suppose there wasn’t much time for financial lessons.”

“Except you don’t punch out a senior partner at a major law firm without serious financial difficulties.” Hunter turned the vehicle toward downtown, the streets almost devoid of traffic. “Next time, I’ll just walk out and sue his ass. That’s the
legal
way to do it.”

It only took a few minutes to get to the shop. Most of the snow and ice were gone, and the only people out were walking their dogs or taking the opportunity to play in the street. Homemade sleds were everywhere, made from everything from boxes to sheets of plastic. It couldn’t be easy to try to glide down the wet slush, but it looked like fun.

Hunter got out with Peggy to go into the shop. “Wish I was a kid again. I used to love snow days.”

“I have some black plastic we use to keep weeds from growing around bushes,” Peggy volunteered. “You could try it out on what’s left of the snow.”

“No thanks.” Hunter smiled. “I got something even better today. Money! And I’m going to buy myself a new suit as soon as I chew out my brother for forgetting me last night.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Peggy opened the back door to the shop.

“You
do
think Beth is innocent, right?” Hunter’s attractive face was serious as they stood in the shadows of the courtyard and Latta Arcade.

“I wouldn’t have called you if I didn’t,” Peggy assured her. “You’re one of the good guys. I know you wouldn’t want to represent someone capable of killing her husband and his mother.”

Hunter considered the matter. “Probably not. Well, at least not without charging her triple what I got today.” She grinned at Peggy but sobered immediately when she saw her brother. “There you are! You are dead meat unless you have a pizza on you!” She hit him hard in the stomach as he transported a hundred pound bag of fertilizer to the loading dock.

Sam groaned but managed to get the heavy bag on top of the pile where he wanted it. “Are you crazy? What would I be doing with a pizza?”

“Remember? You were supposed to bring one over last night. What happened?”

“Oh yeah.” He rubbed his stomach where she hit him. “Sorry. I got caught up with something.”

“Or some
one
?” Hunter demanded, impatiently tapping her foot. “Mom wouldn’t like it if she knew you were letting me starve so you could spend time with your
boyfriend.
”

“He’s
not
my boyfriend.” Sam started walking toward the front of the shop again. “At least I don’t
think
he’s my boyfriend. I’m sorry, sweetie. I’ll make it up to you.”

“Yes you will!” She followed him into the shop where Peggy was already going through the mail. “I got a serious retainer fee today, thanks to Peggy.”

Sam made a face that looked like he’d eaten too many pickles. “Are you kidding? You’re going to do it again, aren’t you? You’re going to get involved in another one of Peggy’s crazy murder cases.”

Peggy heard her name and looked up from an invoice for several tulip trees. “What do you mean one of
my
crazy murder cases? I don’t think I’ve had crazy murder cases. You can’t really count this the same way as Mark Warner’s death. We’re not investigating exactly. Hunter just stepped in to help Beth.”

“That’s the way it started last time.” Sam grinned. “I’m not complaining. I had a good time when we did it before. Hunter was the one who whined and complained when she didn’t start picking up expensive clients when it was over.”

“This will be different,” Hunter agreed with Peggy. “Wait and see. I’ve already made more money on it than I did on everything last time. How could I charge that poor old man or his daughter for much? They didn’t have any more than I do!”

Peggy leaned on the counter beside the cash register. “Beth needs help, Sam. Park’s friend from the law firm was a little weird. There’s going to be press over this. When Hunter and I get Beth out of trouble, her name will be in the paper and on TV. Her career is bound to take off.”

“Okay! Okay! You’ve beaten me with your plowshares! So what do we do first?” Sam asked as Hunter sat in the rocking chair beside the snowman. “Do we need to steal something? Beat someone up until they tell the truth?”

“Not as far as I know.” Peggy laughed. “First, we let the police do their job. Mai told me she’d let me know as soon as the Isabelle’s preliminary autopsy is done. In the meantime, I guess we begin by compiling a list of suspects.”

“Isn’t it still possible the police will come back empty-handed as far as Park’s death is concerned?” Sam rearranged the red silk tulips in the spring display. “If his death was
really
an accident because he fell asleep at the wheel, the police won’t be able to say anything else to Beth, right?”

Hunter made a pyramid of her fingers as she rocked furiously, the floor creaking beneath her. “That’s true. But it won’t help with Isabelle’s death. The police could still try to say Beth decided to put an end to the old lady giving her grief over everything. Even if nothing comes of the investigation into Park’s death, I think there will still be problems with that.”

Peggy agreed with her. “But if we’re going to look for Isabelle’s enemies, it’s going to take us years. No one liked the Dragon Queen. Not even her husband and son.”

“That’s really sad.” Sam shook his head and stared out at what was left of the snow in the courtyard outside the windows. “But there’s a big difference between not liking someone and killing them. I don’t like Hunter, but she’s still alive.”

“I’m going to be generous and ignore that remark since you’re taking me out for dinner. And not fast food either!” Hunter smiled and hugged her brother. “Peggy, let me know if you hear anything. Otherwise, we’ll wait for the police to call us.”

“Don’t forget about Alice and Cindy,” Peggy reminded her. “I think there could be something there.”

“I won’t.” Hunter wrote herself a note on the palm of her hand.

“Where are you off to?” Sam asked her.

“To buy a new suit,” Hunter replied with a dreamy expression on her face.

“Everything’s closed,” Peggy reminded her. “You might have to wait until tomorrow.”

“As long as the power is on and my computer is working, I can shop.” Hunter grinned. “That’s why God gave us credit cards.”

Sam shook his head as Hunter left the shop. “I worry about her. It’s hard for her to keep five dollars in her pocket without spending it.”

“She’ll be fine,” Peggy advised. “She just needs to get on her feet.”

“While we’ve got a few minutes,” Sam said, “let’s talk about pruning a gardenia. Mrs. Shultz wants her gardenia pruned. I think it’s fine the way it is, and I’m afraid to prune it back any further. I think it might kill the plant. She says it doesn’t flower enough.”

“Gardenia . . .” Peggy ruminated, glancing through her vegetable catalog. “A good rule of thumb is to prune lightly. Just look for places where the plant looks uneven or has yellow leaves. You’re right about cutting it too far back.”

“So what do I tell Mrs. Shultz? She wants it trimmed back to almost ground level.”

“You tell her the truth. We don’t prune back so far as to cause damage to the plant.” Peggy looked at him and smiled. “If
she
wants to do it, that’s fine. Our last word should always come from Hippocrates. ‘Do no harm.’ That’s the Potting Shed motto.”

“That’s what I thought. Just wanted to clear it with you because I know she’ll be on the phone with you as soon as I leave.”

“Don’t worry about a thing.” Peggy put on her glasses. “I’ve got your back, as they say on the street.”

Sam laughed. “When was the last time you were on the street?”

“Today. Furiously running from yard to yard. You’d be surprised how much you pick up.”

“I’m going to finish putting out this
fertilizer
for pickup tomorrow.” He smiled with a hint at her “street smarts.”

Peggy stayed at the shop, looking through catalogs and ordering supplies. A few customers actually came up and knocked on the door. She let them in and offered them a cup of hot tea as they explained what brought them out.

One man was looking for a last-minute gift for his wife. Peggy sold him a terrarium kit when he explained his wife liked indoor gardening. They lived on the fifth floor of one of the new condominium units right around the corner. He thanked her heartily. His wife’s birthday party was scheduled for that night, despite the bad weather. He promised to come back when they were ready to start gardening on their balcony.

Debra Carson, a longtime friend of Beth’s, came into the shop. She was a regular customer at the Potting Shed. Peggy rarely saw her because she mostly ordered online and had her supplies delivered. But since the snow kept her home for the day, she sat down and had tea with Peggy.

“I can’t imagine how Beth must be feeling about now.” Debra sat in the rocking chair and rolled her eyes. She was married to a pediatrician and lived two doors down from Park and Beth.

Peggy wished she couldn’t imagine but didn’t bother explaining that to Debra. “It will be hard for her, especially with the two boys.”

“Not to mention the guilt.” Debra flipped through the flowering tree catalog.

“You mean about Isabelle’s death?”

Debra looked up at her, brown eyes open wide. “You mean she didn’t tell you about Park and her?”

Peggy put down the catalog she held and paid more attention. “What about them?”

“Beth was going to leave him over the summer. They finally reconciled and managed to keep it together. I think it was mostly for the boys. But it was close for a while.”

“What happened?” Peggy couldn’t believe it was true. Park and Beth had one of the most stable relationships she knew.

“It was the ex-wife, what’s her name?” Debra said the words like they explained everything. “As a second wife, I can tell you they can be a real bitch.”

Cindy Walker again. Her name was coming up more and more often. She was always a problem, stalking Park, trying to run Park down with her Saab when he left her for Beth. Maybe she was more than just a scorned wife. “What did she want this time?”

Debra smiled and narrowed her eyes. “It wasn’t
what
she wanted. It was
who.
And I guess you could say she got him. Park slept with her. Beth found out somehow and was ready to leave. I don’t know what changed her mind. I would’ve left Kinsley if he ever tried that on me.”

“Why would Beth feel guilty about Park dying because of that?” Peggy was confused and concerned about the information. Why didn’t Beth tell her? The police were sure to find out.

“Because,” Debra explained, “part of her agreeing to stay with him was that big, fat insurance policy. Imagine how she feels now that he’s
dead.
”

“YOU’VE CONSISTENTLY LIED TO the police from the start,” Peggy accused Beth an hour later as she paced her kitchen floor.

“Alice, take the boys upstairs, please,” Beth requested.

The burly black housekeeper snorted and glared at Peggy. “Seems to me
some
people should have enough to do without getting in other people’s business!”