The Accidental Florist

While Mel was making his calls to the two reporters, Jane and Shelley were at the scene of the murder of Miss Welbourne.

Before they got to the scene Jane had stopped at the bank for a whole roll of quarters. She put quarters in the parking meter until it refused to take another coin. Neither of them planned to be there for eight hours, but

it would be a boon to some other driver to find so much free time available.

They stopped by the community center and read the schedule for the day. There was a class in swing dancing, and a book club meeting, and a bus in front to take mothers and their small children to the nearest library from ten to noon.

Jane and Shelley went across the street to the florist shop and sighed with pleasure at the cool humid fragrant atmosphere inside.

'I'm Jim Torrady, the owner. Anything special you ladies need? Or just looking around, which you're welcome to do.'

'It smells wonderful in here,' Jane said. 'I'm getting married in six weeks and I want to order bouquets for myself and for my matron of honor,' she said, indicating Shelley.

'Do you want something fragrant?'

'By all means. Do you have gardenias?'

'Of course. They smell wonderful.'

Jane said, 'Now this is going to sound silly but there will be a civil wedding the day before the big one. Can I use the gardenias for two days or are they too perishable?'

'They last fine. Just put them in a big plastic bag with a slightly damp paper towel and keep them in the refrigerator overnight.'

'That sounds wonderful.'

'What else do you want in the arrangement?'

'What do you suggest? I don't want it to be huge, and I'm wearing an emerald green suit, not a white dress.'

'Small leaves of green and white ivy would be my suggestion. And ivory-colored ribbons to grab to throw it.'

'Now, Shelley, what kinds of flowers do you want to carry yourself?'

'Do I have to? I don't even know what I'm wearing. We've wasted a lot of time fretting over what you were going to wear.'

'That's true. We do have to sort that out soon. We have plenty of time to come back again. I'll bring along another roll of quarters.'

'A roll of quarters?' the florist asked.

'Last time I was on the block I didn't notice the parking meters and I was heavily fined. I put in all the quarters the meter would accept this time.'

Jim Torrady laughed out loud.

So did Jane. She said to Shelley, 'I have a yearning to wear a little hat. I wonder if there are still hat stores.'

Mr. Torrady said, 'There's one right around the block; it backs up to this shop. She has a good selection. My wife loves any occasion to wear hats and she always buys them there.'

'Let's go look, Shelley. We have seven more hours on the parking meter.'

Shelley came along willingly. 'I'd love to wear a little hat, too.'

The shop that backed up to the florist's had dozens and dozens of hats displayed and almost all of them were pretty.

'Welcome, ladies, I'm Madelyn the Hat Lady. How can I help you?'

'I'm Jane Jeffry and this is my matron of honor. I'm getting remarried in six weeks and I want a little hat to wear. Sort of a beret, off center.'

'I have those. Let me bring a few to you to consider.' She picked out four and Jane tried them on in a three- sided mirror that showed how the hats looked from every angle. The first one was too big. The second too small. The third one was red.

The red one was the perfect size and sat well on her head with a few bobby pins built-in to hold the hat in place.

'That's the wrong color, but it would look great if it was the same as your dress,' Shelley said. 'Let me try it on, too.'

They gushed in unison. 'We'll be back with what we're wearing so you can make a color match. Can you do that, Madelyn?'

'Of course I can. How about coming back the first of

next week with the dresses so I can find a perfect match.' 'Done. Shelley, remind me to bring the quarters.' 'Quarters?'

Jane explained about the fine for the parking meter.

'Aren't they obnoxious? I have a parking space behind my shop that doesn't have a meter, but I always remind customers to feed the meters and keep lots of quarters in a jar for them. See you on Monday or Tuesday. Wednesdayis when I take off the afternoon to shop for fabrics and threads and netting.'

'We'll be back Tuesday at the latest.'

They both left the shop happy and Jane suggested they stop by the community center and watch the people dance for a few minutes.

There were five couples and it was practice not lessons. All of them were skilled. The young women wore short circular skirts under which they wore colorful bloomers. And the young men had sort of slouchy tuxes so they could move around well.

Jane and Shelley found it fascinating. 'I've never seen dancing like that,' Shelley said, as one young man threw his partner over his shoulder and back between his feet.

'Sure you have. It was a rave in the forties musical movies.'

One of the other young men turned his partner in a cartwheel but his hands must have been sweaty and he lost his grip. She fell on the floor and jumped right back up. He rubbed his hands on his trousers and they tried it again, her turquoise bloomers flashing as she spun.

'That would have at least broken my arm,' Shelley said. 'I can't take anymore. Let's go shopping at the mall for a dress for me. I'd prefer black, like the men are wearing, if you don't care.'

'Perfect. I'll stand out like a big green parrot,'Jane said with a laugh.

Chapter

SEVENTEEN

J

ane had driven them today. She knew her cautious driving drove Shelley crazy, just as Shelley's driving scared Jane to death. When they got back to Jane's Jeep, there wasn't a car parked behind them, so Jane could back up a little to pull out into the street. As she did so, she stopped.

'Why are we just sitting here?' Shelley asked.

'There is no traffic behind me except a small red car pulling into where I was parked. I want to watch him as he goes to the parking meter.'

Sure enough, the man got out with presumably a couple of quarters in his hand, looked at the meter, and then at Jane's Jeep. He approached the car and Jane rolled the window down.