Fruit of the Poisoned Tree

“What about them?” The officer inclined his head toward Peggy and Steve.

“I’d like to take them in, too, but they probably weren’t doing anything wrong except snooping around where they don’t belong. I don’t think the DA would prosecute them for being annoying, much as he’d like to. Although if it keeps happening, that might be another story.”

Steve straightened his shirt and hair as he got to his feet. Peggy cleared her throat and tried not to look smug as Cindy and Alice were escorted from the house.

Al turned on them. “What are you doing here? Didn’t we agree you’d stay out of this?”

Peggy held her head up high despite the dust and spiderwebs covering it. “I knew the ivory dragon’s head had to be part of this. You wouldn’t even have known it was gone if it wasn’t for me.”

“I see,” Al replied. “I guess that clears both women of murder then, right? If they’ve had the top of the walking stick all this time, they wouldn’t have bothered looking through your house, would they? You did say the killer looked through your house?”

Peggy opened her mouth to argue, then stopped abruptly. What he said made sense. Why hadn’t she seen it? Too emotionally involved, she supposed. Too eager to find any different conclusion that would clear Beth that she didn’t realize she had the wrong one.

“Or the break-in at your house wasn’t involved.” Al chuckled, seeing her at a loss for words. “That’s why they pay us the big bucks to find out how these things happen. Go home, Peggy. Steve, I’m surprised at you getting involved in something like this.”

“Me, too.” Steve was sure he looked as ridiculous as he felt. “I’ll take her home, Al. Thanks.”

“I shouldn’t tell you this, but you did help with figuring out the whole poisoned honey thing,” Al gave Peggy a bone. “We picked up Fletcher Davis this morning and took him in for questioning. The Philly police found his fingerprints all over the rooms Mr. Lamonte and Mr. Hollings stayed in. Security cameras picked him up going in and out of the rooms. I think we’ve got that part dead to rights. He poisoned the lawyers who were involved in the estuary case to stop the oil company.”

“What about Beth?” Peggy wondered.

“I’ll let you know.” Al shrugged. “This looks bad for the housekeeper. Maybe it will get your friend off the hook for that killing, too. Maybe we were wrong about the two killings being linked. Maybe it was just coincidence.”

“Thanks, Al.” Peggy followed him out of the house. “Were all of the men who were poisoned working for the same company as Park? Were they all poisoned by horse chestnut honey?”

“Three of them, all staying at the same hotel as Park. The fourth man we’re not sure about yet. We’re still waiting for more information.” He put his arm around her shoulders. “You’ve done your part now, Peggy. You pointed us in the right direction. Please stay out of it. Read the papers or watch TV news like everyone else.”

Peggy’s glance snapped up to his broad face. “Shouldn’t I be getting some sort of stipend for helping out instead of threats? You know, the next time you can’t figure something out, I might not be so willing to help.”

Al took a deep breath and rolled his eyes. “Get her out of here, Steve. I don’t think I can take any more.”

“Yes, sir.” Steve hurried Peggy toward his SUV. “I think now might be a good time to make a strategic retreat.”

“AND THIS IS LIVE footage from Queens University this morning as the leader of a left-wing conservation group known only as Tomorrow’s Children, is shown being put in a van by local law enforcement. He’s being identified as twenty-five-year-old Fletcher Davis, a graduate student at Yale who was working at Queens on a sabbatical assignment. Mr. Davis is a suspect in an apparent murder in the death of Park Lamonte, the attorney killed when his car went off the Interstate 485 ramp. There will be more on this as events unfold. This is Mark Shipton in uptown Charlotte. Back to you, Marvin.”

David and Hunter sat in the Potting Shed with Sam and Peggy as they watched the news at noon on television. “It looks like that part is over anyway,” Sam said as he finished his turkey sandwich.

“I was right about Park being poisoned in Philadelphia. I can’t believe I helped that man escape the police.” Peggy anguished. “It might have saved Park’s life if they’d picked him up then.”

Hunter swallowed the last of her diet Pepsi. “Sometimes you can’t see all the puzzle pieces until you get them together.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Sam demanded. “Peggy did the best she could in the situation.”

“I’m not saying she didn’t.” Hunter shrugged and looked at David for backup. “I’m just saying things aren’t always the way they appear.”

“That’s true.” David rose to the occasion. “But even though this might solve what happened to Park, it doesn’t explain what happened to his mother.”

“You weren’t here when Peggy first came in,” Sam said. He explained about the two women who were in Isabelle’s house that morning. “I think the chances are pretty good one or both of them did it for the money.”

“I suppose that makes sense.” David shrugged. “That should help Beth.”

“The break-in at your house must’ve been random,” Hunter gently suggested to Peggy. “Maybe they didn’t have time to steal anything. You were lucky.”

“Maybe,” Peggy said, not sure if she agreed about the random part.

“Since there were two of them, maybe the housekeeper and the ex-wife went through your house to throw off the investigation,” Sam suggested. “You remember? The police thought it might be more than one person who did that to your house. That would make sense.”

“At this point, anything is still possible,” Peggy agreed. A customer came in, and she left her place behind the counter where they’d been watching TV and eating lunch.

“We need to go.” Hunter nudged David. “Not much time before you have to get back to work.”

“You’re right.” He kissed her forehead. “We better get going.”

When they were gone and Peggy’s customer was done ordering a hundred Jerusalem artichokes, Sam shook his head. “I don’t know if I can get used to seeing them together.”

Peggy smiled as she processed the order into the computer. “Jealous?”

“No! Nauseated. Disgusted. Not jealous.” He pushed back his blond hair with an impatient hand. “They’re sickening together. I mean, nobody really acts like that.”

“You haven’t been to the park on a nice day, have you?” She laughed. “Lots of people act like that. They’re called lovers. I acted like that when John and I first got together.”

Sam fidgeted with the notepad on the counter, lowering his voice as the beginning of the lunch crowd came into the shop. “I guess the people I know are more discreet.”

Peggy put her hand on his shoulder. “Maybe they feel they need to be.”

“Maybe. The chances are nobody is going to beat Hunter and David for flaunting it.”

“Life isn’t fair. I’m not saying you’re not right about the possible consequences,” she said, “but maybe it’s worth the risk. People have to speak out. They have to be who they are. It might be scary, but it’s worse to keep everything in the dark.”

He smiled at her. “Thanks, Peggy. I hope we’re talking about the same thing.”

“I think we have customers.” She laughed and hugged him. “You’re crazy, Sam, but I love you.”

Because the morning mist and cold were burned away by the warm sun, a flood of customers spilled into the Potting Shed. Sam manned the cash register and took orders. Peggy worked the wood floors, answering questions and finding what her customers needed. She signed one woman up for landscaping her rose garden, promising a variety of old-fashioned, fragrant roses for warmer planting.

A young man asked, red-faced, about starting a water garden on his fifth floor balcony. Peggy led him to the pond kits and pointed out the water plants in a catalog. She was careful to stay away from fairies and other “cute” garden items when he confessed to feeling a little unmanly setting up a pond. They agreed on an alligator fountain and some dwarf cattails to start with. She knew he’d get over his feelings as soon as he saw the water garden in place.

One woman was interested in planting lemon balm in her small patio herb garden. Peggy cautioned her about the prolific tendencies of the plant. “You can try to keep it in a pot, but it probably won’t stay put. If you had a larger space, you might be able to grow some and keep it in check. In a spot this small, it could take over your