Fruit of the Poisoned Tree

His meaning was clear. Peggy’s eyebrows raised, and Beth stared at him. “I didn’t do anything, Gary. I’m not going to ask Alice to lie for me.”

He shrugged, quite elegantly for wearing flannel, Peggy thought, watching him. “You have to know the police will be back whether they find anything wrong about Park’s death or not,” he informed her. “It isn’t a big stretch of the imagination for anyone to think you could sneak out when no one was looking, push Isabelle down the stairs, and come back. Her house is only a few minutes’ walk from here.”

“It took me about five minutes, maybe.” Peggy squeezed Beth’s hand again. “I agree with Gary. I don’t think it’s over either. But there’s no reason to lie about it. The evidence will prove you innocent.”

Gary got to his feet and glanced at his Rolex. “I’m just trying to help. I would rather nip this in the bud than fight it in court. You know we’ll all do whatever we can for you, Beth, but a B drawn in the old lady’s blood is pretty dramatic. All those friends of yours who heard Isabelle say you killed her son will testify for the DA against you, whether they want to or not. Having Alice say she glanced in and saw you sleeping seems easier to me. But you do what you think is right.”

“Thanks, Gary.” Beth shook his hand.

Was it Peggy’s imagination or did his hand linger on Beth’s a little longer than was necessary?

“I wish I could handle this for you, but I’m swamped. I’ll send someone from the firm over to help you out.” He smiled and hugged Beth, his hands sliding up and down her slender back, pressing her closer to him.

Peggy frowned. Really, the man had no sense of propriety!

Beth closed the door behind the attorney and leaned against it.

“I hope whoever he sends is better than Mr. Rusch,” Peggy said.

“Gary’s a very good attorney. Park always said so.”

“Maybe. But I wouldn’t want him on my side!”

“What else can I do?”

“I know just the right person,” Peggy took out her cell phone. “I’ll give her a call.”

Hunter Ollson was there in twenty minutes. She was tall, blond, and beautiful, more like a fashion model for Fitness Today than an attorney. She hugged Peggy when she saw her, dropping her briefcase on the wood floor. “I’m so happy to see you! You called at just the right time. I was trying to decide if I should give up being a lawyer and go into wrestling. I defended a lady wrestler last month. Do you realize how much money they make? The Warner case made me notorious in this town. All I can get now is DUI sports figures and race car drivers who slap their fans.”

Peggy laughed. Hunter was always a breath of fresh air. “Beth, this is Hunter Ollson. She’s Sam’s sister.”

Beth shook Hunter’s hand. “I remember your name. You defended Mr. Cheever when he was accused of killing that man in Peggy’s shop. Hello, Hunter. I’m Beth Lamonte.”

“Hello. I’m so sorry for your loss and this other mess. I hope I can help.” Hunter picked up her briefcase, and the three women went into the dining room. From the kitchen, they could hear Foxx and Reddman’s laughter as they helped Beth’s parents make cookies. “Wow! Something smells good.”

“Would you like a gingerbread man?” Beth went into the other room and came back with a tray of cookies.

“Thanks.” Hunter munched one, exclaiming when it was hot but continuing to eat. “I didn’t have time for breakfast. Sam was supposed to bring pizza by last night and got held up somewhere else or with someone else.”

“He was probably with his boyfriend of the-month.” Peggy rolled her eyes. “I wish that boy would settle down. He told me his grades dropped, and your father yelled at him. I can’t believe he’d give up so easy as much as he wanted to be a doctor.”

Beth laughed. “I suppose when you look like Sam, it’s easy to get distracted.”

“That doesn’t mean you’re supposed to forget your starving sister and drop out of college,” Hunter argued. She drank a glass of milk Foxx brought in for her in one gulp, then looked at Peggy and Beth with a white mustache on her upper lip. “Uh—sorry. Did either of you want some?”

Both women smiled and assured her they didn’t. Peggy handed her a napkin as Hunter opened her briefcase and took out a pen and a yellow legal pad. “Okay, I’m ready. What happened?”

Peggy let Beth tell the story on her own. Hunter took notes and nodded. When Beth was finished, Hunter glanced up at Peggy. “How did you get involved with this? Were you here because you’re a friend of the family?”

“Not exactly.”

Hunter made a chuckling sound in the back of her throat. “I thought not. Okay, Peggy. What do you know about all this?”

Peggy told her everything she knew about what happened, including the fact that Alice Godwin found Isabelle dead. She also told her about Cindy Walker being at the house. “She could have made that B with her blood after finding her. I don’t know when she got there but she hates Beth enough to want to implicate her.”

After hearing from Peggy, the three women tried to plot a strategy for getting Beth out of trouble. It was difficult since they didn’t have all the information on either case. Hunter finished writing her notes in a broad scrawl across the yellow paper. “There’s nothing anyone can do until they finish the autopsies on Park and Isabelle.”

“Will they do an autopsy on Isabelle even though they know how she died?” Beth looked at Peggy.

“Any questionable death demands an autopsy,” Peggy quoted John. “And that could be good for you. Maybe Isabelle died of natural causes and fell down the steps. The B might not mean anything.”

“That doesn’t explain her cane being on the chair,” Hunter reminded her. “Or the dragon’s head missing from it. Of course, we still have the chance the old lady died of natural causes and someone found her and moved the cane. Maybe took the dragon’s head since it was probably valuable. Maybe even drew the B in her blood to try to implicate Beth. I’ll check out Cindy Walker’s and Alice Godwin’s alibis. We’ll have to wait for the autopsy report and crime scene disclosure. But so will the police.”

“What do I do in the meantime?” Beth asked.

“Don’t talk to anyone unless I’m with you,” Hunter advised as she glanced at her notes. “That means the police, the press. Anybody. Got it?”

“All right,” Beth agreed.

“What about this life insurance policy?” Hunter’s warm blue gaze flashed up to her new client’s face.

“She didn’t know anything about it,” Peggy defended her.

Beth cleared her throat. “That’s not entirely true.”

The other two women stared at her.

“Park told me about it. I-I was just so stunned when he died. I forgot.”

“Well, try not to forget anything else,” Hunter said, closing her briefcase. “Especially if it involves money. The police are looking for anything out of the ordinary.”

“Lots of our friends have large life insurance policies,” Beth commented. “It’s not out of the ordinary.”

“When the police think you may be responsible for two deaths, everything becomes out of the ordinary. Your life is going to be scrutinized down to the sheets in your linen closet. Don’t keep any secrets for me to find out from them. It will only hurt your case.”

Beth looked away but didn’t reply. Peggy bit her lip, feeling sure there was something else her friend was holding back. “I think there might be something to Alice Godwin working for both Beth and Isabelle.”

“The housekeeper?” Hunter checked her notes. “Wasn’t she here with Beth and the boys during that time?”

“She left here at about nine,” Beth recalled. “If she went out before then, I don’t know about it.”

“Isabelle may have paid her to spy on Beth,” Peggy explained. “I’m not sure how that would relate to everything that’s happened, but Alice had access to both houses.”

“I’ll check into it.” Hunter got to her feet. “If you think of anything else, let me know.”

Beth stood and held out her hand. “Thank you for coming. You’re a lifesaver.”

“You’re welcome.” Hunter’s face turned a little red. “Uh—there’s a little thing about a retainer.” She named a figure. “I hope that’s not a problem.”