Potager Plot

by Vikki Walton

  A thump at the edge of the bed drew her attention.

  “Well, hello there, mister. Where have you been?”

  Mouser made his way up the bed until he was next to Anne. She stroked the cat, and he set to loud purring. “You have your own engine in there.”

  He looked at her with his blue eyes, tail twitching.

  “What do you think about all this? Any insights?”

  In response, he drew up his paw and began licking it. She shifted to her side and listened to the purring continue. The next thing she knew, sunlight was streaming through the window.

  CHAPTER TEN

  The following day, Kandi came over to find Anne constructing a replica of the bookcase out of cardboard.

  Anne waved. “I think this is going to give us more of an idea of it size-wise. What’s that you’re carrying?”

  She pulled an item from a box. “I have a pool float for when I’m on the ground.”

  Anne rose and dusted her hands on her pants. “What in the world?”

  “Billie was taller than me, so I found this old football helmet and taped a face on top. I’m pretty sure it puts the top at the right height.” She stuck it on her head. “Plus, the helmet will protect my head from the pot.

  “I don’t know whether to think you’re nuts or really smart. Speaking of pots, I pulled out an old plastic one and put in a bit of soil and dirt. Come over here behind the greenhouse and see what I’ve done.”

  Kandi picked up the end of the cardboard, and they walked to where a large tarp was laid out with white sheets on top. A refrigerator box served as the sofa, and cereal boxes sat ready to be used as books. After reviewing the photos that Anne had taken and from what they remembered originally, they set the scene.

  Kandi cocked her head and the head on top tilted with her. “Okay, what should we do first?”

  Anne burst out laughing. “I hope we can be serious with that contraption on top of your head.”

  “Hey, it’s important we know the truth, right? So, we need, like, to make it as close as possible.”

  “You’re right,” Anne said.

  “Let’s just do a basic scenario without you—um, Billie, in it.” From another smaller box serving as the table, she picked up the plastic pot and set it on top of the cardboard bookcase.

  Spencer called out, “What are you doing?”

  “We’re constructing a scene to see if it could have been an accident or caused by someone,” Anne replied.

  He pushed his hair away from his face. “You want me to video it? Then you can look at it later.”

  “That’s a great idea.”

  “Plus maybe I can stick it up on—”

  “Now, wait a hot minute. No one is going to be seeing this but us.”

  He pointed at Kandi and the contraption that sat on top of her head. “But just look at that. It’s a wasted opportunity. This could go viral.”

  “Not if you, like, know what’s good for you!” Kandi shot back. “Now go get that camera before I hit you with this pool noodle.”

  After Spencer left, Anne said, “Well, you told him. I think you’re getting feisty the older you get.”

  Kandi laughed. “Not much. But I know when to put my foot down.”

  She adjusted the helmet, and they waited until Spencer returned.

  “A…nd action!” He threw his hand down while Anne rolled her eyes. “Scene One. Basic scenario.” She tilted the bookcase, and the pot fell to the ground. They marked the spot where the pot had fallen and the dirt. Anne took a few photos. After shaking out the sheet, they reconstructed the area. “Scene Two. Billie dusting. No fall.”

  Spencer stopped filming. “Why are we doing that?”

  “We need to consider what may have occurred.” She handed Kandi a basket. “Okay, Kandi, just do what you think you might have done if you were Billie. Supposedly, you were outside, and you’d cut some peony flowers, and the basket was on the sofa. Okay, then you went to dust.” Anne refilled the pot with a bit of wet soil and set it back up on the bookcase. “Okay, go.”

  Kandi pretended to cut flowers, wave at Kim, and had fun hamming it up. She pretended to open the door, set down the basket, and remove her gloves. She picked up a feather duster and stopped in front of the bookcase, surveying it. “Wait a cold minute!”

  “Hot minute,” Anne replied.

  Kandi crossed her arms. “What determines if it’s hot or cold?”

  “I don’t know. It doesn’t matter. What made you stop?”

  “I remembered that I’d been at Billie’s before. Years ago. She never dusted around anything on the top. She always took it down and cleaned up there first. So, the pot couldn’t have been up there when she was doing the dusting.”

  “Things could have changed over the years. She might have used the stool, dusted one side, moved the plant, and dusted the other side. Then put the plant back in its original spot.”

  Kandi shook her head. “Nope, can’t see it. She was, like, one of those people who likes things the same way. Either she took it down or someone else did.”

  “Okay, let’s say that I’m Ben. I take it down and place here on this table. Wait a minute!” Anne pulled her phone out of her pocket and scrolled through the pictures until she got to the one of the table. She enhanced the picture. “Yes!”

  “What is it?” Kandi joined her, as Spencer looked over her shoulder.

  “I’m not saying anything. You tell me what you see.” Anne held the phone up so the two could view the picture better.

  “It’s a table with stuff pushed back,” Spencer said.

  “A ring!” Kandi yelled out.

  “What?” He squinted at it.

  Anne pointed to the table. “If you’re simply looking at the picture as a whole, it’s as you said. But if you focus in, you can see a light ring on the table. Most likely a bit of water or dirt from the edge of the pot. It’s not all the way around in a perfect circle, so it’s not easily seen right away.”

  “That means the pot was on the table at some point.”

  Anne had Kandi go through everything again with the pot on the table.

  “Now even with a stepstool, it would have been hard to lift that plant up. I could do it, but I’m healthy. So, I think it was most likely that she was waiting for Ben to put it back up. That’s why I didn’t notice the stepstool until later when I was thinking about it again.” Anne turned to Kandi. “What about the books? Did she always remove those?”

  Kandi twisted her mouth to the side. “I don’t think so. She would use the feather duster for regular cleaning and would remove them for a more thorough cleaning.”

  “Okay, let’s do Scene Three. The bookcase falls.” She stepped out of the way and directed Kandi. “You’re dusting the shelves. You get dizzy and you reach out to grab the bookcase.” Kandi acted out the part. “You grab a shelf, and it tilts.” Kandi followed suit. “You struggle with it, and you can’t put it back, so you step back and that causes the sofa to move. All right. Let it fall.”

  Kandi moved out of the way as the bookcase fell to the ground.

  Anne stared at it. “Hmm, something’s off here. I feel like something should be showing up.”

  She bent closer, and Kandi did as well. Spencer chimed in. “I know what it is. Pick up the bookcase, Kandi.”

  She did it, and under the bookcase, they saw the large dirty, wet spot where the pot had landed on the first attempt at reenactment.

  “So, if the pot had been on top of the bookcase, it would have fallen quicker and been under the bookcase. It may still have hit Billie but not on the top of her head.”

  They pulled the sheet up and cleaned it off again and reset everything. This time, Kandi went through it with the pot on top of the bookcase. As they’d thought, the pot fell off before Kandi fell. After taking pictures, they reset the scene. This time, the pot was sitting on the table. Kandi laid down on her pool float, and the bookcase was laid on top of her with a pool noodle to help pretend she was trying to
move it off her and other things were between her and the bookcase.

  “Okay, Kandi, cover your eyes so you don’t get dirt or water in them. Ready?” Anne asked.

  Kandi nodded her head as the other head on top of the helmet bobbed consent. Anne raised the pot high and let it go on the fake head. The pot leaned left, spilling dirt and water across the ground, and the fake head bounced up with the impact.

  “Don’t move!” Anne grabbed her phone and took a picture. “Okay, you can get up now.”

  Kandi rose to her feet, and they all looked at the picture on Anne’s phone. The placement was similar. Anne scrolled to the photo she’d just taken. “I’m pretty sure that’s where Billie’s headwound was too.” Anne bent over, her stomach heaving as she recalled the terrible scene.

  Kandi gasped and pulled the handmade contraption off her head. “Oh no. Like, Billie was killed!”

  “I think so too. Now we have to figure out who did it and why.”

  That evening, she told Carson about the experiments that they’d performed. “I’m telling you, I’m pretty sure someone killed her.”

  “You’re getting to be pretty good at this. Good idea on reenacting it. The pictures you sent of Kandi were something else. Now, before you get all giddy, I still have my doubts, but you’re making a sound case for this to have a second review. Don’t share this with anyone until I get back. If someone killed Billie, the last thing you want to do is give them any ideas that you’re on to them.”

  “Okay. I expect Ben will be telling us when they’re going to have the funeral, though. Will any evidence be preserved?”

  “Yes, I believe so. But I’ll call over and say that some new evidence has come to light, and it might not be as cut and dried as first thought.”

  “They need to check the pot for fingerprints. I can take that to them.”

  “ND, where did you get the pot?”

  “There were shards left when I cleaned up the room for Ben. He didn’t want that plant in his house anymore, so I took it—it’s a good plant—and took a few pieces of the pot too.”

  He roared, “Of course you did. Listen, I want you to be very careful. I’ll be back soon, and I’ll review everything, and then, and only then, we will take our suspicions to the police.”

  “Thanks. I like the sound of that.”

  “What? That I’ll go with you?”

  “No. That it’s our suspicion, not just mine. I appreciate you believing in me.”

  “Of course I believe in you. You’re one of the smartest women I know. This is why I want to marry you before some other guy snaps you up.”

  She chuckled, but a warm tingle surrounded her. “Right. Like I’m beating them off as they’re lining up on my doorstep.”

  “Now, what are you planning to do that you’ll actually tell me about?”

  “Funny. Well, I think we have the how, so now we need the who and the why. So far, I’m leaning toward Ben or Kim. Though if he is having an affair, that also brings in Jennifer and Aly to the mix.”

  “Tell me again. Who’s Aly?”

  “She’s the young girl I told you about. She’s working at Sorcha’s bookstore. She moved here a while back, but she’s keeping something close to the chest. And if you think I was moody, she takes the cake, this kid.”

  “Was moody?”

  “Ha. Ha. I’m hopefully better now than when we first met.”

  “Yes. You’re much better now. Mainly because you stopped being so antagonistic against me.”

  Anne stretched. “Well, you’re growing on me.”

  “Good. Let’s keep it that way. Now I’m off to get some shuteye. I’m okay with you thinking about each person’s motive, but no snooping! We clear?”

  She fake saluted. “As a bell. Love you.”

  “Love you too,” he replied.

  “Love you for.”

  “Ever.”

  ***

  Anne heard the funeral would be held in a few days, so she spent the following day rounding up annuals and other flowers to insert into the bare spots of Billie’s garden. She spent the day digging in the dirt with the sun beating down on her shoulders like a warm embrace. Ben had gone back to work, so she spent the morning in silence, her mind working overtime on who stood to benefit from Billie’s death.

  She stood up and stretched again while wandering around the newly planted beds. She had some leftover pallets of phlox, so they might as well go to good use. She picked some up, along with a garden spade, and made her way to the front of the house. The white phlox would look nice in front of the peonies, so Anne planted them in that spot. While they’d provide an accent of color now, this entire area would eventually be a profusion of white flowers which would make the pink peonies stand out.

  Anne’s thoughts returned to what Kim had said. Maybe she had seen Billie cut the buds, or she’d made it up. It could be another way to give herself an alibi. She’d also said she’d been in her back yard. It would have been easy for her to come through the back yards to Billie’s house. The woman from the garden group had noted that Billie said she wanted Anne to help her solve a mystery. Ben had noted that Billie had been upset about some invoices. Wait. Kim was the treasurer, and she had really balked about giving up her position. Was Kim stealing money from the group? That would certainly be a motive. She needed to contact Mercy and see if she had access to the club’s books now.

  She’d rounded the corner to the Whitmans’ back yard when a glint of silver reflected from the sun, hitting her and causing her to take a step back. Kim stood holding a pair of sharp garden shears, opening and closing them. She took a step toward Anne.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Anne’s mind raced over how to respond to Kim. What was the woman doing in Billie’s yard? More importantly, why did she have the shears?

  “Kim. You scared me. I didn’t realize anyone was going to be here.”

  “I saw Ben last night, and he told me you were coming over this morning to finish the yard. I thought you might like some help, so I brought my gear.” She motioned to where a bag sat with various gardening tools inside of it. She raised the shears again as Anne took a step backward. Using the shears as pointers, Kim continued, “I noticed the hedge next to the drive could use a bit of cleaning up so brought my shears along. I was headed there now unless you want me to help you first.”

  “No, that’s great. I need to pull things out of my truck, anyway.”

  Anne kept her eyes on the shears and thought she should be able to outrun Kim if need be. As long as she didn’t trip, which was another story altogether as she often fell just for the sake of tripping on some unknown or known item.

  She smiled. “Let me put these down and I’ll help you haul the stuff to the back. However, since Ben’s not here, it’d probably be easier if you backed up into the driveway where we can get things closer to the beds.”

  Anne was happy to note she held the shears in a downward position by her side.

  “I like that idea. Let me go do it now.”

  She jogged away, but it was difficult not to look back over her shoulder to determine if Kim was coming after her with the sharpened shears. Upon reaching the truck, she realized Kim had returned behind the house, most likely waiting for her on the other side. She let out her breath that she’d hadn’t realized she’d been holding. The more she thought about it, the more her thoughts came back to Kim being the main suspect. Certainly, it would be easy for Kim to pop over to Billie’s house, and no one would think twice about her being there. Another thought sprang to Anne’s mind. Did the police question the neighbors on the morning Billie died? She spied the house opposite of Billie’s. Would they have seen or heard anything? She might have to check into it later. Plus, everyone had gotten so paranoid lately, one or more of the neighbors might have outdoor cameras. A video would definitely show anything unusual. She backed up into the driveway and was lowering the truck’s bed as Kim came up next to her.

  “Here, if you’ll grab these pots of ger
aniums, I’ll take this other batch of petunias.” She handed the pots to Kim as they heard a woman’s voice call out to them.

  “Hello!” Mercy carried a box full of small blue flowers toward them.

  Kim surveyed the flowers in Mercy’s hands. “Are those forget-me-nots?”

  “Yes. I had to call on some friends in the garden club to find some, but I finally found someone who will give them for Billie’s celebration of life. I divided them into little pots, so they can sit on the tables for the food and drinks.” Mercy pursed her lips together, but it didn’t stop the tears escaping from the corners of her eyes. “I’m sorry. I know in my heart Billie is no longer in pain, and it was for the best, but I miss her so much.”

  Anne wondered if Mercy would feel the same if she knew for sure Billie had been murdered. Would she still think it was for the best, then? She’d hate to be the person on the other side of Mercy’s anger if she found out who had killed Billie. Her attention returned to the moment when Kim spoke to Mercy.

  “Listen, I understand you not wanting to be president, but I don’t have time to train someone on the books of the club, and I’m finishing up some grant paperwork. To switch hands at this point is going to cause problems. I would ask you to wait a few more months to hold the elections. I’ve already spoken to Susan from the board, and she said she’d be happy to lead the meetings and be interim president until then. Please, think about it before planning on holding early elections, that’s all I’m asking.”

  She moved away and began digging in the area Anne had designated for the geraniums.

  With Kim out of hearing, Mercy mumbled, “That woman. All she thinks about is herself. I only did it to help Billie. I was no more going to be president than—” She focused in on Anne, who hadn’t spoken. “Do you have a best friend? One you’d do anything for?”

  “Yes, I have a few like that.”