Fruit of the Poisoned Tree

disinclined to listen to her when she told him Beth wasn’t good enough. There’s always been bad blood between them.”

Al nodded as he sipped his coffee and ate his cookies. “That’s pretty much what I was thinking. Isabelle Lamonte gives anybody who doesn’t have a pedigree a hard time. Especially if they came near Park. The lieutenant doesn’t realize how things have always been with her.”

“It’s difficult to explain something like that to someone who hasn’t experienced it,” she sympathized. “I don’t know if my agreeing with you makes your job any easier, but I think you’re right about Isabelle.” Peggy told him about the Dragon Queen’s demand that she tell the police the same thing.

“So the old lady doesn’t really have anything concrete against the wife. She knew we’d have to check it out if she questioned it. And there’ll be a full investigation from her vague accusation. Especially in this case. Park was pretty famous around here. The DA likes to see well-to-do lawyers who are county commission wannabes rest in peace. But he wants to make sure we don’t have to go back and dig up the body.”

“It’s such a shame about Isabelle. I don’t know what she’ll do without Park. He was her whole life. She doesn’t care much for the children. They’re too noisy and messy, you know. She still had dreams of Park running for governor. They argued about it since he was never all that political.”

“Unlike his father,” Al reminisced. “The old man ran for everything, didn’t he? Only problem was, he was still stuck back in the Civil War era. He couldn’t understand that people were different. I remember listening to one of his speeches when I was in college. I wondered why someone didn’t tell him that times change.”

Peggy smiled. “He was a firebrand though, wasn’t he? He didn’t know what he was talking about, but it didn’t matter. He was like a live wire when he got up in front of people.”

Al scratched his head. “You might have some fond memory of him, but I was scared somebody might listen to him. According to Park Senior, my kind didn’t belong in college. We belonged behind a mule plowing the back forty. That man was crazy.”

“I agree with you.” She patted his hand and sat back in her chair. “Isn’t it lucky people are smarter nowadays? So what happens now? Has what I said made any difference?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know what to tell you, Peggy. We’ll go through the investigation. We have to. Maybe it will make me feel better about the younger Mrs. Lamonte. I don’t know. I just get this feeling she’s trying to hide something.”

“Gut feeling.” She nodded with a smile, recalling how many times John told her his hunches. How many times was he right? She knew Al was wrong about Beth. “What will you tell Isabelle?”

“When it’s all over, we’ll send her an official letter telling her what we found. It might still be a suicide.”

“I don’t believe that’s true either,” she disagreed. “Park wasn’t the kind of person to kill himself. Beth’s right about that.”

“Are you saying you think he was killed by his wife?”

“Are those my only two choices? Couldn’t it have been an accident? They seem to happen to other people all the time.”

“I don’t know. The insurance company believes there would have been skid marks on the ramp if Lamonte wasn’t trying to kill himself. He lost a lot of money the last two years, and the law firm his grandfather founded has taken some hits. One of his friends told an investigator he was ‘slightly unbalanced’ over those things as well as some problems at home. Know anything about trouble at home?”

“No! And that’s hogwash!” Peggy said. “He couldn’t stop the car if he fell asleep and didn’t wake up until he hit the pavement. As to the other things . . .”

“There may be a lot of mitigating factors you don’t understand, Peggy. I’m sorry about your friend. But the case is pretty much closed as far as the insurance company is concerned. His wife can appeal it, and I’d encourage her to do so. Those guys were in and out of here pretty fast. In the meantime, we have to get through this accusation from the elder Mrs. Lamonte.”

She was frustrated by his answer. “That doesn’t make much sense. I think the insurance company just didn’t want to pay off on a multimillion dollar policy.”

Al pushed himself to his feet. “I think you’re right, for what it’s worth. There wasn’t a suicide note. He was in a little financial trouble but not as bad as the insurance company made it out to be. I’d like to think it was just a terrible accident, and everyone wants to find someone they can to blame for it, too. I guess we’ll see.”

She made a snorting sound as she tossed away her paper cup. “Such is the state of society. You can’t even have a decent insurance policy without people thinking you killed yourself for it.”

“See? I can’t please you.” He chuckled and glanced out the window at the snow-whitened landscape. “Let it go, Peggy. It’ll work out one way or the other. I’m sure the family is all right without the money. Can I give you a lift home?”

Angry with the protocol, not the man, Peggy took him up on his offer. They drove carefully through the streets filled with cars rushing to get home. The wet Carolina snow made the branches of the oaks that lined Queens Road hang down low enough to scrape the tops of trucks that went by. There was already a layer of ice coating the snow that made the street slippery.

Al stopped twice to help drivers who skidded off the road. One of them he called in as an accident since the Honda slammed into the side of a parked Toyota. Watching him help people in the street brought back fond memories of John doing the same thing. Sometimes she was impatient with him when stopping to help made them late for a party or some other function. It was funny how time and sorrow could change frustration to a loving memory.

She got out quickly when Al finally pulled his Ford Explorer into her drive. He helped her get the bike out of the back. They could hear Shakespeare’s excited barking inside the house, followed by the sound of something crashing and breaking. “Sounds like that dog of yours is going crazy in there.”

“He’s having some adjustment issues.” Peggy winced as something else crashed.

Al laughed. “Is that what they call it now? My mom called it an ‘outside’ dog. See you later, Peggy. Stay warm. I’ll let you know what happens with the Lamonte case. Thanks for talking to me.”

“You’re welcome. I know none of this is your fault. I hope I didn’t sound that way. Thanks for the ride. I won’t ask you to stay since I know Mary is probably waiting at home for you with hot chocolate.”

“You got it.” He grinned as the snow covered the top of his brown knit hat. “The kind with the little marshmallows, too. Take care. I’ll talk to you later.”

Peggy let herself in the house. Shakespeare had managed to pull down a set of front drapes that were from the original decorator of the house as well as break a Dave the Slave pottery jug her mother gave her for her wedding. “I think you might need more than obedience classes when my mother finds out you broke an eighty thousand dollar piece of pottery. Go lie down! Bad dog!”

She was trying to rehang the pale green drapes when the doorbell rang. It was Steve, his arms full of plastic shopping bags. “I just got back. I’m loaded up with munchies, tearjerker movies, and batteries for the flashlight. I thought we could hide from the storm together. You have plenty of fireplaces, and all of yours work, presumably. None of mine can draw smoke. The contractor says they need cleaning out.”

“Hello to you, too! You’ve made your case.” Her smile was huge as she took a few of the white plastic bags from him and rummaged through them. “White chocolate cheesecake and what DVD is this, hmm, Ghost? I love Patrick Swayze! You know the way to a woman’s heart.”

“They always say that about men. That thing about the way to a man’s heart being through his stomach? But I know it’s true about women, too.” He produced a container of dipping chocolate and a quart of strawberries. “I tried to think of everything.” He followed her through the trail of debris toward the kitchen to stow the goodies. “Looks like Shakespeare has been playing with your china.”

“Let’s not talk about him right now. It will ruin my mellow mood.” She put the strawberries into the refrigerator, and he put his arms around her. She turned around and kissed him. “I hope I have something to eat for dinner, or we’re just going to be eating a lot of junk food all night.”

“That’s what bad weather is for. You’re from the South. You know that. Who wants to eat what’s good for them on a night like this?” He kissed her. “I don’t care anyway. I’ve got you to keep me warm.”

“That and my working fireplaces, right?”

“Those were just an excuse.” He kissed her neck and nipped at her ear. “I just needed you to let me in the front door. I knew I could convince you of anything after that. You’d be putty in my hands once you saw cheesecake