Fruit of the Poisoned Tree

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.”

9

Begonia

Botanical: Begonia

Family: Begoniaceae

The begonia was first discovered in the rain forests of South America around the mid-1800s. For almost a century, it was considered an exotic plant only owned by the wealthy. Today, the begonia is to Belgium what the tulip is to Holland and graces the windowsills of homes around the world.

“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!”

“It’s all right.” Beth smiled at her. “Peggy and I need to talk.”

Peggy waited until Foxx and Reddman were out of the room. She didn’t mean to burst in and begin a tirade, but the words just came out when she saw her friend’s placid face. “Beth, if the police find out . . . when the police find out, it’s going to be very bad for you.”

“I didn’t know what to say,” she confessed, hands twisted in her lap. “Park told me we should keep quiet on the insurance. That’s why I pretended not to know about it. Then all these other things came up. I just blanked.”

“This makes you look incredibly guilty of something.” Peggy continued to pace the old hardwood floor. “I know you didn’t do anything to hurt Park or Isabelle. But the police won’t. They’ll come after you about this. You have to tell Hunter so she knows what she’s up against.”

“I will,” Beth agreed. “It’s so scary, Peggy. I-I don’t know what to say or do. They’re accusing me of terrible things. I could lose the boys.”

Peggy wanted to hug her. She really did. But she was angry, too. So she stayed where she was, arms folded across her chest to keep from reaching out to her friend. “Just tell the truth from now on. Don’t let them catch you in any more lies. This is bad enough without that.”

“I agree.” Beth looked up at her with tears on her face. “I won’t let it happen again.”

“Did you talk to Alice about working for Isabelle?”

“I don’t see what difference it makes now.” She shrugged. “Isabelle probably sent her here years ago to spy