Garden of Death

by Chrystle Fiedler

  Medicinal uses: Since the times of ancient Greece, both types of chamomile have been used medicinally in the same ways. Tiny but mighty, chamomile is rich in nerve- and muscle-relaxing nutrients such as calcium, magnesium, potassium, and B vitamins that help promote relaxation, easing stress and anxiety, encouraging the movement of chi or good energy, and promoting sleep. It is has also been approved in many countries to treat inflammation, indigestion, muscle spasms, and infection.

  Sleep did not come easily, and I woke up just about every hour. While Jackson and our animals snoozed, I grabbed the binoculars and padded over to the window. The cops were still in the garden. It seemed that they were moving in a grid pattern, so when I woke up at 2 a.m., they were working around the anti-inflammatory plants. An hour or so later, I spotted them working the ground in the analgesic plants area. I worried that with every step they were destroying what Jackson, Nate, and I had worked so hard to build.

  Finally, at 4:30 a.m., I heard several cars start up on the street. I went to the window and looked out, and the garden was finally dark. For now, the cops were gone. After that, I fell into a deep sleep.

  On Sunday morning, we got out of bed at seven. I skipped my usual morning meditation and yoga practice, threw on shorts and a Nature’s Way T-shirt, and headed out to the garden, fearful of what I might find there. The morning air felt dewy, soft, and salty. Out in the harbor, deckhands on one of the tall ships were raising their flag. The Shelter Island ferry headed for the Greenport dock, leaving whipped-cream waves in its wake. Early risers were out strolling in Mitchell Park and walking their dogs.

  When Jackson and I walked up to the garden gate, the yellow crime-scene tape was gone. “So that’s it,” I said, “They’re done investigating.”

  “In the garden maybe, but I’m sure Koren will be back to talk to us—me, specifically. My prints are on that shovel. I wasn’t wearing gloves.”

  “That doesn’t mean that you killed White.”

  “Of course not, but you and I both know that we’re in for round two with Detective Koren.” Jackson pushed open the gate. “But for now, let’s see what the garden looks like.”

  I sucked in a breath. “I’m really worried about what we might find.”

  “Hopefully, it’s not another dead body.”

  I gave him a look. “That is not funny.”

  He put his arm around me. “Whatever we find, we’ll fix it, don’t worry.”

  At first glance, it seemed as if the police had been careful; the damage looked minimal. But as we went from section to section and plant to plant, we saw footprints all over the beds, torn leaves, smashed plants, and broken branches. If my garden had been a painting, it was as if someone had splattered red paint across my beautiful creation. I felt like crying.

  “Steady, Willow,” Jackson said as he pulled me into a hug. “We can fix all of this. Nate will be here soon and the three of us will go through it section by section, plant by plant, and prune, replant, replace, and water. If we’re not done by the time we open at noon, I’ll keep working with Nate while you start the tours. They can see us in action.”

  • • •

  We decided to begin working in the cardiology area, since that’s where Dr. White had died and where investigators had spent most of their time. Here, plants were uprooted and leaves ragged from handling. The path was also a mess; most of the cedar chips were gone. We had a lot of work to do.

  I pulled on my gardening gloves and grabbed my favorite pair of shears. “I knew Koren didn’t like me, but this is ridiculous.”

  “He’s trying to find a killer, Willow,” Jackson gently reminded me. “I really don’t think it’s personal.”

  “You’re right, but the sooner this is fixed and yesterday is erased, the better.”

  “Agreed.” Jackson kissed me and headed to the potting shed. “I’ll get a couple of new bags of mulch for the walkway while you figure out what needs to be done.” While I surveyed the damage, Jackson brought over a bag of cedar mulch, split the bag with his pocket knife, and poured it over the area in and around the cardiology plants. Immediately, the smell of cedar filled the air. “Hmmm, that smells really good. It’s almost like aromatherapy.”

  Jackson smiled. “I like it, too. Maybe I should get some cedar aftershave.”

  “Then you’ll smell like mulch.”

  “That won’t work. I’ll have to think of something else to get your motor going.”

  I smiled at him. “I have faith in you. You’ll think of something.”

  He put the bag down, came over to me, pulled me close, and gave me a good, long kiss. We had been together for a year and a half and it still felt new and electric between us.

  We were interrupted by Nate. “Hey, guys, uh, sorry.”

  “No problem, Nate,” Jackson said, “Help me get the rest of the mulch to repair the path.”

  While they worked on the pathway, I turned my attention to the plants. The foxglove bush that Dr. White had been lying behind was completely uprooted, but it would survive. I replanted it, added organic fertilizer, and watered it thoroughly. “Guys, I’m going to need mulch around this plant, too.”

  Nate grabbed a bag of mulch and came over and gently spread it around the plant. The three of us worked together and very quickly, things began to look better.

  But as usual, when one thing goes right, another can go wrong. Or as the fourth-century Taoist sage Chuang Tzu said, life is ten thousand joys and ten thousand sorrows. An hour later as I was working in the section that featured plants for mental and emotional well-being, such as St. John’s wort for mild to moderate depression and kava-kava for anxiety, Detectives Koren and Coyle returned.

  “We need to talk to you two,” Koren said as he walked up to me. He was wearing a black suit and a tie with a geometric black-and-white pattern, while Coyle wore a rumpled brown linen suit and a tie with a golfer on it. He really needed some of Koren’s fashion savvy.

  Jackson had just finished spreading the mulch two sections over. He saw the detectives, put the bag down, said something to Nate, and came over to us. “What is it now, Koren?”

  “The autopsy results are in. Dr. White died from massive head trauma to the front of his skull, delivered by your shovel. Big surprise, your prints are all over the handle.”

  For a moment, I couldn’t breathe, and the world began to spin. I felt myself heading for the ground, but Jackson noticed my reaction and grabbed me before I could fall. “It’s okay, Willow,” he said, his voice steadying me. “Yes, I told you that I used the shovel to replace a plant,” Jackson told the detectives, his tone was calm and confident. “I wasn’t wearing gloves. I’m sure that mine wasn’t the only set of prints on it either.”

  “No, you’re right, they weren’t,” Detective Koren admitted. “Let’s go over your movements again.”

  Jackson sighed. “As I already told you, I replaced the damaged digitalis plant just before 11 a.m. Then I went out to Front Street to watch the parade with Willow.”

  “And you, Ms. McQuade? You were at your plant stand before the parade, right?”

  “Right. I was working with Wallace Bryan and Nate Marshall, who is over there.” I pointed to Nate, who was getting something out of the potting shed.

  “Okay, Spade, so you’re saying that Dr. White came in after you left and so did the person who killed him? That’s a lot of activity for you not to notice.”

  “Normally, maybe,” I said. “But the parade passed by in front of the garden, and as you know, since you were there, it was quite loud. It would have been really easy for anyone to get into the garden from the other side, on Adams Street. They would just have to hop the fence.”

  “Yeah, I tried that,” Detective Coyle said. “It wasn’t exactly easy, but it could be done.”

  “There you have it, Detectives. Can we finish our repairs to the garden?” Jackson looked at Det
ective Koren. “We still have a lot to do before Willow can open up again.”

  “Your people weren’t exactly careful in here,” I said. “They did a lot of damage.”

  “Too bad,” Detective Coyle said. “It’s a crime scene, Ms. McQuade. We’re trying to find a killer.”

  “Calm down, Coyle,” Detective Koren said. “We’re sorry about any inconvenience you may have experienced.”

  “That sounds real sincere,” Jackson said. “Now can we get back to work?”

  “For now,” Detective Koren said. “But don’t leave town.”

  “Me, leave? I’d miss you too much.”

  “Knock it off, Spade,” Koren said. “And stay local.”

  “Yeah, we’re watching you,” Coyle said.

  As they walked away I said, “You shouldn’t aggravate Koren. He wants you to slip up.”

  Jackson grinned. “I know, but he just makes it so easy. Let’s get busy, McQuade.”

  I finished up the section I was working on and moved on to the next one. Once I was on a roll, the process seemed to go faster, and with every repair I made, I felt as if I was getting my life back in order, too.

  Two hours later, around nine-thirty that morning, I took a break and went inside to get us something to drink. I found Wallace and Merrily slammed with a full house inside and out, and no Simon.

  I shouldn’t have been surprised, but I was. Since Merrily desperately needed peppers, artisan cheeses, fresh bread, and eggs, someone needed to go to the farmer’s market. I called Simon and got his voice message: “I’m where my muse takes me. Do what you do.” The phone beeped.

  “Simon, it’s Willow. You need to put your muse on hold. I need your help at Nature’s Way now. Call me!”

  “I really need that stuff, Willow, especially the bread,” Merrily said, looking worried. “Otherwise, we won’t have sandwiches.”

  It seemed that I didn’t have a choice. Jackson and Nate would have to work without me for a while. The garden didn’t open again until noon, so we had time. “I’ll go. Give me the list.”

  After I brought some fresh-squeezed organic lemonade and buttered blueberry muffins to Jackson and Nate in the garden, I took one for myself and headed over to the farmer’s market. It wouldn’t take long and, to be honest, I needed some time alone to get my head straight about all that had happened. Koren hadn’t taken Jackson down to the station, but it didn’t mean that he wouldn’t be back.

  Their visit had jolted me into realizing that I had to stop feeling sorry for myself and find the killer. And that was exactly what I was going to do.

  • • •

  The farmer’s market was held each Saturday and Sunday morning in the parking lot behind the church annex on Main Street. Vendors set up trim, white tents, where they offered everything from gourmet coffee, hummus, and Moroccan condiments, to sunflowers, zinnias, and goat cheese.

  I decided that since I was here, I’d check out Ramona and Rhonda’s produce, and more important, ask some questions about the case. For all I knew, they might know something or even be suspects. But before I could get that far, I spotted my wannabe waiter.

  Simon was wearing a navy Izod shirt, white linen shorts, boat shoes, and Prada sunglasses. He looked ready to step onto a yacht. I watched as he chatted up the girl at the Honeybee Yum! booth. I walked up behind him and tapped him on the shoulder. “Did you get my message?”

  He whipped around. “Willow! Leah, this is Willow. She’s the one I was talking about. She runs Nature’s Way in town.”

  “Nice to meet you, Leah. Simon, can I talk to you for a moment, please?”

  He pushed his sunglasses onto the top of head and smiled. “Something going on with the case?”

  I pulled him away from the booth. “No, you were supposed to help us out at the store this morning, and now we’re super busy.”

  “That’s good,” Simon said.

  “Where were you?”

  “I couldn’t make it down because the muse was calling me. I think it had something to do with that murder. It got my juices going again last night. I couldn’t type fast enough. I mean, the ideas were flowing! I got up early this morning and kept going. I feel reborn.”

  “So, now that you’re not blocked, you don’t want to be a waiter anymore?” Good, old Simon—reliable and a good friend one minute and completely self-involved and oblivious the next.

  “Hell, no! I’ve got to keep writing! I just came down here to pick up some of my favorite java to give me a caffeine fix and then I’m back at it.” He leaned in and whispered in my ear. “However, I do still want to help you with the case.”

  “That’s something, at least,” I said. So, while I picked up bread and cheese, I told him everything that had happened and my plan to talk to Ramona and Rhonda again.

  “You might want to talk to Kylie again, too. She’s here and she’s been chatting it up with this chick who I think is selling something here, too. Maybe she’s that friend who was a patient of Dr. White.”

  “That would be too easy.”

  “They were up there.” He gestured to the right. “Talking at the info table.”

  I glanced that way and spotted Kylie, but she was sitting alone at the table, which was covered with leaflets, talking on her cell phone.

  “I don’t see the friend, Simon.”

  “She was just there. Let’s take a walk around and we can look for them.”

  We circled the lot, looking for Kylie’s friend and Ramona and Rhonda. We found the couple’s booth first, at the back of the lot off Carpenter Street, although no one was behind the table. The banner above read: Ramona and Rhonda Heirloom Veggies: The Most Unique Produce on the North Fork! While we waited for someone to show up, I checked out the produce, which looked fresh and delicious. I knew that I’d bring some of it home to Merrily.

  Moments later, Rhonda rounded the corner and came up to the booth. She wasn’t happy to see me, and she barely hid her displeasure. “What can I get for you?”

  “I’ll take a couple of squash, some celtuce, and four of the heirloom tomatoes. Everything looks really good.”

  “Glad you think so.” Her tone was cool and detached. She quickly rang up my purchase and put the items into a brown paper bag. “It wasn’t easy to find a place to garden, but we managed.”

  “Yes, Ramona mentioned that. I’m glad things worked out for you two.” I handed her ten dollars.

  “Things didn’t work out, Willow,” she said sharply. “We made the best of a bad situation. Dr. White was right about you. If it hadn’t been for your aunt, someone else—like us—would have been able to use that lot.”

  “Hey, wait a minute,” Simon said. “Willow got that lot fair and square, and she’s done a great job on the garden. It’s really beautiful.”

  Rhonda handed me my change. “I haven’t seen it, so I can’t say, and now that Charles—Dr. White—was found dead there, I’m certainly not going to go.”

  “Were you two friends?”

  “I wouldn’t say that, but when we first moved out here, he used to be my doctor.”

  I thought about what Kylie said and wondered if she was another disgruntled patient. “Was your doctor? Did something happen?”

  “That is none of your business.” A group of people began to crowd around the booth. “If you don’t mind,” Rhonda said, “I need to take care of my customers.”

  “She’s a frosty one, isn’t she?” Simon said as soon as we were out of earshot.

  “Sub-zero.” I glanced at Kylie, who was still on the phone. “Let’s try to find her friend.”

  We circled the parking lot, but Simon couldn’t point out the woman whom Kylie had been talking to. We decided to try and talk to Kylie again, but before we could, she put her phone away, got up from the table, and hurried out of the parking lot, but not before glancing in my direction.
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br />   “Should we follow her, see what’s up?” Simon asked.

  I checked my watch. We’d only been gone from Nature’s Way twenty minutes. We had to get back to Merrily with the food, but we could probably take a little more time. And I wanted to make some progress; we still didn’t have a single reasonable lead.

  I wasn’t sure what to do. But then, as Kylie reached First Street, before she scurried away, she turned and looked at me, again.

  I grabbed Simon’s arm. “Let’s go.”

  chapter nine

  Willow McQuade’s

  Favorite Medicinal Plants

  CRANBERRY

  Botanical name: Vaccinium macrocarpon

  Medicinal uses: Historically, cranberry fruits and leaves were used for a variety of problems, such as wounds, urinary disorders, diarrhea, diabetes, stomach ailments, and liver problems. Today, cranberry products have been used in the hope of preventing and treating urinary tract infections or Helicobacter pylori infections that can lead to stomach ulcers, and to prevent dental plaque. Cranberry has also been reported to have antioxidant and anticancer activity. The berries are used to produce beverages and many other food products, as well as dietary supplements in the form of extracts, teas, and capsules or tablets.

  Clearly, Kylie’s errand had something to do with me. So we followed her as she walked briskly toward the harbor on Main Street. The Maritime Festival was already in full swing, and the sidewalks were jammed full of people while motorists vied for available parking spots.

  Beyond the bank, the road was closed to traffic. After we walked past the Greenport Historical Society building, Kylie headed into the center of the street. We followed her as she threaded through the many vendors selling everything from nautical T-shirts to nautical CDs. At the Capitol One building, she moved to the sidewalk, but we stayed in the middle of the road, pretending to look at T-shirts and sun visors. A few yards later, she stopped at the Cheese Emporium, a cheese store and café, and went inside.