Fruit of the Poisoned Tree

Al laughed heartily. “I can imagine. The bigger the dog, the bigger the trouble.”

When he was gone and the heavy front door closed behind him, Peggy heard the boys crying in the kitchen. Park was so close to them. Even though he was gone a lot, he never missed their important events. They were going to be devastated by his death.

She stood by the door awkwardly, not wanting to interrupt their grief. A large aspidistra was in a tall iron planter behind her. She took a few minutes to pull off some dead brown fronds. Really, it wasn’t the best place for the plant. They liked warm, contained areas better. The door opening and closing let in too much cold air.

She finally went into the back of the house. Beth was hugging both boys to her as the three of them sobbed. It had to be one of the most heartrending things she’d ever seen. She wished she could scoop them all up in an embrace that would take away the pain. But nothing so simple would help them.

Knowing there was nothing she could do for them, she tidied up the kitchen. The same large gift basket she received at the hotel was at one end of the counter. It was open, most of the fruit spoiled. She was surprised Park kept it. She’d left hers at the hotel, since it was too big to take on the plane without being a nuisance. She pushed the open jar of jam and almost-empty jar of honey to the back of the cabinet and threw away the rotten fruit.

Looking around for something else to do, Peggy thought about Beth’s parents. They lived in Salisbury, about an hour away. Beth was going to need them. Finding the number on the side of the refrigerator, Peggy gave them a call.

IT WAS AMAZING HOW quickly things could change. Park fell asleep and died on the interstate. Now the police were questioning his death. Could he have committed suicide? She was sure anything was possible. No one knew what was in his mind as he started across the overpass. But she didn’t think he’d give up without a fight. It wasn’t like him.

But Al could be right. She couldn’t deny it, much as she wanted to. Maybe Park was afraid of a continued financial slide. No doubt he drove himself too hard chasing the almighty dollar. But he was very levelheaded, very calm. It seemed to her suicide would take a wild moment of insane passion. Maybe it happened that way. Then again, maybe the insurance company was capable of creating doubt in their minds, but it was only lack of sleep that pushed Park over the edge. She hoped the investigation would be quick, and the answer would be in Beth’s favor.

“I sent the boys upstairs.” Beth put her hand on Peggy’s shoulder. “Thank you for staying and calling Mom and Dad. I know I’m going to need them. I think I’ll call Alice and see if she can come over for a while, too. If I’m going to fight this suicide charge, I’m going to need all my concentration. I can’t believe this is happening. Everything seemed so normal when I got up this morning.”

Peggy agreed it was a good idea to call Alice, the part-time housekeeper and nanny. She was lucky Paul was an adult when John died. It was hard enough for an adult to understand when something like this happened. “You know I’ll do anything I can to help.”

“I know. You’re so dear.” Beth’s brow knitted, and she stroked it with her shaking fingers. “He couldn’t have done this. Not Park. He felt so strongly about suicide. You remember when his father died a few years back. He was in terrible pain. Park’s mother thought they should help him die. She even said she knew a doctor who would help him. Park refused to do it. He hated that his father was in pain, but he believed suicide was wrong. He was tortured by not helping him. Isabelle never let him forget. Park wouldn’t kill himself over anything.”

“I’m sure you’re right.” Peggy didn’t want to argue with her. There would no doubt be a full investigation. She believed the truth would come out. She hoped it was what Beth wanted to hear. “Just ignore everything and get you and the boys on an even keel. Let everyone else do their jobs. I’m glad Al thought about you calling a lawyer. Do you know someone?”

“Almost all of Park’s friends are lawyers.” Beth laughed. “That’s one good thing about being married to one, I suppose. I’m sure one of them will be willing to help me.”

Peggy waited there with Beth while family and friends began to filter into the house after hearing about Park’s death. There was a shocked, stunned look to all their faces when she opened the front door. Whether they were thinking Park had committed suicide or just couldn’t believe he was gone was impossible to say. When Beth’s parents arrived, Peggy told her friend she’d be back later and left the crowded house.

She took a deep breath of fresh air, clean and sweet, after being closed in the house all day with so much grief. She was exhausted despite the fact that she hadn’t really done any physical work. It would be less tiring to go out and plant a thousand tulip bulbs than stand by helplessly and watch death ruin someone else’s life.

The weather was worse. Heavy clouds promised snow or sleet. Peggy pulled her coat closer and wrapped her scarf around her neck. It would be unusual for it to snow this month but not unheard of. Somehow it fit with what happened to Park. Snow was the ultimate concealer. It could hide a multitude of sins, changing a brown, drab landscape to a sparkling wonderland.

Let it snow, she prayed with her eyes closed. Let it help all of us through this terrible time.

“Margaret,” a familiar voice hailed her.

There were only a few people who called her by her given name. Her mother wasn’t there. It could only be . . . “Mrs. Lamonte.” Peggy took a deep breath as she opened her eyes and faced her.

She knew most of what she felt about the older woman was still tinged with adolescent anger about the times Park’s mother wouldn’t let him do what he wanted. Parties she wouldn’t let him go to. Friends she forbade him to see. It was stupid, really, and she needed to get over it. She and Park joked about it sometimes, but she couldn’t keep holding it against the old woman. “I’m sorry we have to see each other at such a tragic time. I’m so sorry about Park’s death.”

The Dragon Queen looked down her long, straight nose. Her thin lips never came near a smile. Sallow cheeks, sunken in with age and disappointment, lent her face a look usually only accorded death masks. Her elegant black coat enfolded her emaciated body, hiding the skin barely covering bone from view. But the black made her look even more like an evil caricature of a witch. “Never mind all that fine sentiment. Where’s his wife?”

“If you mean Beth, she’s inside.” Okay. Maybe not all of what she felt about Isabelle was left over from her college days. “Her parents are here with her and the boys.”

“Who else would I mean? Don’t be obtuse, girl.”

Peggy took a deep breath. She knew Isabelle was suffering. Park was her only child. But she was suffering, too. She didn’t want to put up with this woman’s rude attitude more than she had to. “I was just leaving. Please let me know if there’s anything I can do.” She ended their conversation curtly and started to walk away.

“The police visited me,” Isabelle called after her. “He didn’t commit suicide, you know. That’s unacceptable. My son wasn’t made that way. I raised him better than that. Talk to your husband. Have him explain to the police.”

“I’d be happy to do that if it were possible,” Peggy assured her. “But John was killed a few years back. There’s not much I can do.”

Without a word of sympathy for her loss, Isabelle Lamonte brushed her aside. “You’re no good to me then. Might as well go home. Take all those regrets with you. No use for them.”

Peggy watched the haughty old woman go into the house after a sharp rap at the door with her ivory-headed cane. Everyone who knew Park well sympathized with him over his mother.

Old newspapers from the 1940s showed a different side to the woman. Peggy had seen some of them once when she was helping John clean out the attic.

During that time, Isabelle was the reigning queen of society in Charlotte. She married Park’s father, a prominent lawyer who took over his father’s prosperous law firm. They built a life for themselves in Myers Park with their large, showpiece house where they entertained important people from government and the arts. Isabelle was beautiful back then, but there was a harshness to her eyes and mouth even in the black-and-white photos.

After Park’s father died in the 1970s, Isabelle mostly kept to herself. She occasionally surfaced to manipulate her son or some other family member. She was behind Park’s failed marriage to Cindy Walker, a protege of hers, as well as his attempt to run for city council. Mother and son were never close, but after those failures, they became even more distant. Peggy actually found herself feeling sorry for the Dragon Queen when she saw her from time to time around the city. It couldn’t be easy living her lonely life.

Unlocking her bike, Peggy got ready for the long, cold trip back to the Potting Shed. There were times when