Death in the Garden

by Kathleen Suzette

  Amelia new that was the truth.

  Chapter Eighteen

  The empty ice cream dish clinked as Amelia set her spoon into it. “That sure was tasty. I’m glad you texted me and invited me for ice cream.”

  “Wasn’t it though? We need to do this more often.” Joanne’s phone buzzed, and she pulled it out of her purse and looked at it. “It’s Maggie.” She looked at the text and then looked up at Amelia. “She wants us to meet her at the library.”

  Amelia narrowed her eyes. “What for?”

  She shrugged. “She says it has something to do with the murder. What have we got to lose?” She grinned.

  She had a point, Amelia thought. “All right, but then I’ve got to get home. Walter is going to wonder where I’ve gotten off to.” She’d been gone most of the day and she thought he might just drive around town looking for her.

  She nodded. “No problem.” They paid for their ice cream and then got into Joanne’s car and drove over to the library.

  Joanne pulled into a parking space and they got out of the car and headed in. Maggie stood at the reading room doorway and waved them over.

  “Are we paying rent on this room?” Joanne asked with a chuckle. “We’re using it far more than we had planned.”

  Martha shook her head and waved her knitting needles in the air. “No, we pay taxes and that’s what pays for this library and everything in it! It’s technically ours!”

  Joanne glanced at Amelia and she shook her head.

  “What’s going on?” Amelia asked.

  Maggie closed the door and hurried over to the table and they all sat down. “We know who killed Patty.” She looked around the room.

  “Who?” Amelia asked. Did they really have some information? She hoped so because the longer this thing went on, the more she thought the police were going to come knocking on her door and haul her away.

  “Ruth Shore,” Maggie leaned in and whispered. “We’re absolutely sure of it.”

  “Why?” Joanne asked, glancing at Amelia. Between the two of them, they felt it was true that Ruth was at least involved in the murder, even if she hadn’t committed it on her own.

  “Because I ran into Bert Danvers this morning over at the grocery store and he told me that Ruth Shore was telling everyone all over town that he killed Patty. But, he said he didn’t do it.” She nodded her head for emphasis when she said the last.

  “Oh, well,” Amelia said trying not to sound overly sarcastic. “I guess if he says he didn’t do it.”

  Joanne chuckled. “I don’t know many killers that are just going to come out and say that they did it.”

  Maggie waved her hand. “That’s not all. He said she was telling everybody that he was Patty’s secret admirer. He admits that he did buy her flowers and had them sent to her, but he said they were just friends. He also said that Ruth Danvers had to be the killer because she hated Patty. I mean, really hated her. In fact, he said that she admitted that Patty lied about her and spread rumors around town that she was bald.”

  Joanne turned to Amelia. “I guess that would do it.”

  Amelia suppressed a smile. “Honestly, I can’t imagine somebody killing someone over spreading a rumor like that. Can you?”

  Maggie stared at them, the excitement fading from her eyes. “I don’t know. I think if Ruth was angry enough about it, she might have. And she has garden plots down at the community gardens. So she had the opportunity to do it.”

  She had a point about that. Ruth did have the opportunity, but Patty was mean to everyone, so what difference would it make if she spread one more rumor? And after she and Joanne had seen Ruth and the victim’s husband at the diner, the evidence was mounting. But she wasn’t sure a rumor like that was what would push Ruth over the edge. However, if she and Gary were more than friends, she could see them plotting to get rid of the one person that stood in their way.

  “Do you have anything else?” Amelia asked.

  “Yes, Ruth has always resented Patty ever since Patty got her daughter disqualified from the talent show when their kids were in the eighth grade. She lied and told the school principal that Ruth’s daughter Sarah had got someone to buy her liquor after school.”

  Amelia took this in. How many years ago had that been? It must have been at least thirty years ago. Who held a grudge that long?

  “That Patty Manning was just awful,” Sue added, nodding.

  “It’s true!” Martha nearly shouted as she began another row of stitches on the baby blanket she was knitting. “She was just awful.”

  “Let’s just agree that Patty Manning was an unlikable person. And that means that a lot of people probably had something against her at one point or another,” Amelia said carefully. “With Gabardine being a small town, of course you run into the same people over and over and having to deal with somebody like Patty could make life difficult. But is that enough? Who goes and murders somebody over rumors being spread around town, or even a deceitful act like having your daughter disqualified from the talent show? Thirty years ago.” She looked around the room.

  She didn’t want to tell them about having seen Ruth with Gary at the diner. That would just start more rumors flying. But the more she thought about it, the more she leaned in the direction of Ruth being the killer. Maybe that resentment had festered for thirty years and she just lost it the day Patty was killed.

  Nora nodded. “Nobody liked Patty. She was mean.”

  “So now what? How do we know for sure who did it?” Joanne sat back in her chair thinking this over. “There had to be some kind of evidence left behind.” She didn’t look at Amelia when she said it, but Amelia suddenly thought about the car key. That car key fit Patty’s car and she was in possession of it.

  After more discussion the ladies decided to go back to the drawing board. The police wouldn’t accept hearsay and what Maggie had told them was just that. Hearsay. But Amelia thought Ruth was just as likely to have murdered Patty as anyone. Ruth and Patty’s husband, Gary.

  Joanne dropped Amelia off to get her car from the diner parking lot and she drove home with all these thoughts going through her mind. There had to be something she could find to take to the police to help them find the killer. Ruth and Gary had to be in on the murder together.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Walter was in the kitchen rummaging through the refrigerator when she got home. He turned and looked at her. “Don’t we have any salami?”

  She stopped in the kitchen doorway. She still hadn’t made it to the grocery store. “No, I guess we ran out. I’ll have to get some next time I go to the grocery store.”

  He closed the refrigerator door and turned to her. “I thought you were going to go to the grocery store this morning?”

  “I must have forgotten,” Amelia said and went to the cupboard and pulled out a glass. “Walter, have you heard anything new about the investigation?”

  She went to the refrigerator and put some water into the glass from the refrigerator door dispenser.

  “I talked to Hank down at the police station, he said those detectives are staying tightlipped about it.”

  She turned to him. “Why would they do that?” She thought again that they were tightlipped about it because a former police officer’s wife was a suspect.

  He shrugged and looked away. “I don’t know. It seems odd to me.”

  She took a sip of water. “Walter, I have to tell you something.”

  He looked at her again. “I don’t like the sound of that.”

  “Yeah, you probably won’t,” she said and took another sip of water. “You know that key I found? Well I saw Patty’s car at the grocery store parking lot, and it fits.”

  He took a deep breath. “You stuck that key into a dead woman’s car door?”

  She nodded, both hands on her glass of water. “Yes, I had to know. And it is. It’s hers. What am I going to do? What if the police find out I was withholding evidence?” She could feel the panic rising as she spoke.

 
“Don’t get excited yet,” he said calmly. “Where’s the key?”

  “In my purse. Why?”

  “Why don’t you give it to me?”

  “What are you going to do with it?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t know yet. But I’d rather you not be driving around town with it in your possession.”

  She nodded. “Of course. You know I didn’t kill her, right?”

  He chuckled. “Of course I know you didn’t kill her. I know you aren’t capable of that. If I haven’t gotten to know you yet after forty years of marriage, then I’d say I’ve done a pretty lousy job as a husband.”

  Amelia smiled. “You’ve done a great job as a husband,” she said and went to her purse and got the key for him. “But there’s something odd going on. I was at Dilley’s Diner and Gary Manning and Ruth Shore were having lunch. They were sitting close together. I mean, really close.”

  He looked at her with interest. “Really? A grieving widower not wasting any time getting close to another woman? Preposterous!”

  She nodded and chuckled, handing him the key. “And you know how excited Gary gets every time someone talks about the murder. And especially about any troubles they may have had in their marriage.”

  He thought about this and tucked the key into his pocket. “I suppose there’s a possibility that the two of them were in on it together.”

  She nodded. “That’s what Joanne and I think. The two of them took the opportunity early that morning at the community gardens and killed Patty.”

  He looked at her, one eyebrow lifted. “Joanne? You’ve been seeing a lot of her lately, haven’t you?”

  She shrugged and took a sip of her water. “Sure, why?”

  He shrugged “I don’t know. I guess it’s good that you made a new friend. But do you have to take her with you every time you decide to go and investigate?” He made air quotes when he said the word investigate.

  She chuckled. “She was at the diner first. She texted me and told me they were there at the diner together, so I stopped in. She’s an extra set of eyes.”

  “That’s the last thing we need,” he said, shaking his head. “The two of you are actually out there investigating.”

  She slapped him lightly on the arm. “I told you I was going to investigate. The murder weapon has my name on it, and somebody hid that key among my zucchini. By the way, Detective Jackson was there at the gardens. He kind of scared me with the way he spoke to me.” She headed into the living room.

  “What did he say?” he asked, following her.

  “He didn’t really say much of anything, but it just seemed like he wanted me to know that he was keeping his eye on me.”

  He nodded. “All right. I’ll see if I can get more information down at the police station.”

  “And then Susan Potts stopped by, and she was standing in front of my zucchini and I swear it felt like she was hinting about something.”

  “So we have some very good suspects,” he said thoughtfully. “I guess that shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. You’ve had a busy day.”

  She nodded. “It isn’t a surprise to me. Nobody liked Patty, and the only thing I’m surprised about is that there aren’t more suspects.” She sat down on the couch and he came over and sat next to her, putting his arm around her shoulders.

  “I’m not letting you go to prison. Especially not for something you didn’t do. Now, if you change your mind and decide to tell me that you actually did kill her, then we’ll have to figure out what country to move to.”

  She chuckled and put her hand on his knee and gave it a squeeze. “I swear to you, I did not kill anyone. I don’t want to move to a foreign country.”

  “Why not? The world is our oyster and we could go anywhere we wanted. Maybe we could choose a different country every year. You’ll be on the lam for the rest of your life and we can’t let anybody catch up to us.”

  She shook her head. “Unfortunately, we aren’t independently wealthy, so we probably won’t be doing anything like that. Besides that, I’m not guilty.”

  He shrugged. “Suit yourself. But if we do become independently wealthy in the next few years, I say we move to another country and then try out a different one each year until we die.”

  She shuddered. “Don’t say die. I’ve had all I can take of death.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Amelia slept fitfully that night, dreaming of the police coming to her door and arresting her. When she couldn’t sleep, she stared up at the ceiling as Walter snored lightly beside her. How was she going to prove her innocence? If the police knew about the BMW key, she would be sitting behind bars right now. But what if they were waiting for something to happen to make an arrest? What if they were just waiting on an arrest warrant? She shuddered. She didn’t think she’d survive in prison.

  At 4:00 a.m. she finally hauled herself out of bed, giving up on any thoughts asleep. Perhaps she could take a nap in the early afternoon to make up for the sleep she’d lost that night. She sat on the couch and read for a while, but her mind kept wandering over to what prison might be like for her. At her age, she wasn’t ready to make a change in how she behaved. And she knew that prison would require a different Amelia in order to survive. She shook herself and told herself she was being silly and laid the book down on the coffee table.

  After flipping channels on the television and finding nothing of interest to watch, she headed out to her car. It was just about daybreak and she suddenly wished she had a job to go to. A job would occupy her thoughts, not to mention prevent her from ever starting a garden down at the community gardens. She wondered why she had retired. It wasn’t like the bank would have forced her to retire, and she could have continued working into her seventies. She foolishly thought retirement would be some grand adventure. Well, it was an adventure all right, but not the kind she had wanted.

  She got into her car and drove down the street, merging onto Kern Street, the busiest street in town. Busy for a small town, anyway. For a minute she imagined herself dressed in her business suit and black heels and drove past the bank. It was closed of course, as it was just after six o’clock, but she stopped the car and looked longingly at it. Perhaps Marge would be hiring a part-time teller. It wouldn’t be challenging work, but it would occupy some of her restless hours during the day. She made up her mind she was going to call Marge after the bank opened and ask if she had any teller positions opening up soon. The thought made her happy, and she smiled as she drove down the street.

  After driving around town for another twenty minutes, she decided to drive over to the community gardens. At least she could tend to her garden and keep herself busy for a little while. She parked and got out, heading to the gardening shed to get her tools and gloves.

  When she’d gathered her tools, she put them in the wheelbarrow and went to her plot. She borrowed someone’s new hoe that was leaning in a corner of the shed and hoped they didn’t mind. She was happily surprised to see that one of her zucchinis looked like it was ripe. It had hidden beneath the green stems and leaves of the plant and she hadn’t even realized she had one growing there in the back. She plucked it off the vine and laid it on the side of the planter and searched for more.

  “Well, looks like I’m not the only early riser,” Susan said from behind her.

  Amelia jumped and turned to her. “Oh hello, Susan, I didn’t even hear you pull up.” She glanced at the parking lot and saw that her car was the only one there.

  She chuckled and sat on the planter next to hers. “I walked here. I try to get my exercise in whenever I can. The early Spring mornings are brisk, but it gets the blood flowing when I walk down here.”

  Amelia nodded. “You don’t live far from here?”

  “Only about a mile,” she said. “It’s convenient really, because a mile here and a mile back is great morning exercise and I try to get up early to get it done before traffic gets busy on the streets.”

  Amelia held up the zucchini. “Look what I got. I didn’t e
ven know this little guy was growing at the back my plant.”

  Susan looked at it appreciatively. “That’s a nice one. You just wait until both of your zucchini plants are blooming and ripening. You’ll have so much you won’t know what to do with it.”

  “I read that zucchini plants are prolific,” Amelia said, turning back to the zucchini plant. “Now if I could just get down here regularly and get these weeds out before they establish their roots, maybe the zucchini would grow faster.”

  “Oh yes, you’ve got to keep your eye on the weeds. It’s amazing that even in a raised bed you end up with weeds. I suppose the seeds are carried on the wind.”

  Amelia nodded. “Yes, I suppose mother nature is doing her part by spreading seeds via the wind.”

  “Say Amelia,” she said slowly. “Have you heard anything new about Patty’s murder?”

  Amelia glanced at her and shook her head. “No, I haven’t heard anything new. At least, nothing official.”

  “I thought maybe your husband still stayed in touch with the other officers on the police force,” she said.

  “He does, but for some reason, they’re tightlipped about this case.” Amelia’s mouth made a straight line. She thought she knew why they are being tightlipped about it, but she didn’t say so.

  “I wonder why that is?” she asked.

  Amelia shrugged. “I guess I really don’t know what the answer to that question is.” She dug deeper and pulled out a weed that was surprisingly small on top but had a long root at the bottom and tossed it to the side.

  “Say, your zucchini sure have grown a lot in the last week or so, haven’t they?”

  Amelia glanced at the plant and nodded. “I suppose they have.”

  Susan got to her feet and walked over to the wheelbarrow that Amelia had placed her plant food and other equipment in. She had rested the new garden hoe she had borrowed on the handles of the wheelbarrow. “You’ve kept your equipment in good working order,” she noted. “It’s good to see when a new gardener does that. Some people are so sloppy, they let their tools get caked with dirt. They can become rusty that way.”