Food Fair Frenzy Read online

  “Oh heavenly Father, Logan. Why in the world would a florist sell deadly flowers?” She blew out a breath. “You send flowers to people you care about, not ones you want to kill.”

  “Okay. Fine.” I entered new search terms. “Here,” I said. “Botanical gardens. How about that?” I asked. “A few greenhouses came up when I did a general search of ‘flowers, greenhouses, farms’ and they have a botanical garden.” I looked at her. “Wouldn’t people put poisonous flowers on display?”

  “Yes. Now you’re using that knocker of yours.” She took her fist and tapped me on my head.

  “Okay. Now let’s see where the closest one is,” I said reading the listings my Google search provided.

  “Put in Freemont and Augusta County,” Miss Vivee said wiggling her finger at my phone. “It’d have to have been somewhere close.”

  “I meant to ask you that, why do they call it the Freemont County Fair, when it’s in Augusta County?”

  “Long story,” she said and pointed at my screen. “Type it in,” she ordered. “Freemont and Augusta.”

  “I don’t have to,” I said. “Google knows where I am and gives me the closest ones.”

  “Well, don’t that beat all?” She leaned in closer to my phone, nose nearly touching the screen and squinted her eyes. “A phone that knows where you are.” She turned from the phone and looked up at me. “Will wonders never cease.”

  “Are you blind?” I said and pulled the phone away from her face. “Okay. Here’s one.” I clicked on the link. “Krieger’s Greenhouse and Botanical Gardens.” I scanned their home page.

  “Do they have the flowers that were on the note?” she asked.

  “I don’t know, but one of their collections is named the Poison Garden.”

  “Bingo,” Miss Vivee said, and hit me on my head again.

  Chapter Nine

  We decided that I would drive us up to Krieger’s Greenhouse so we could check out the flowers on display in their Poison Garden. It wouldn’t be an exhaustive search to exonerate her as a suspect, I reasoned, but I figured that it would make her feel better to know she wasn’t the only one that had the flowers on the note.

  And Miss Vivee did seem to feel better after we made our plans. Then she took one look at herself and got even more energized.

  “Come on,” she said. “I have to make myself look presentable. I look a mess. Let’s go Cat.”

  Cat jumped up, tail wagging and ran to the house and back three times before we got to it. I breathed a sigh of relief.

  Maybe she’d taken a U-turn on that crazy road.

  I followed Miss Vivee and walked back in through the screen door into the kitchen. She went and stood in the middle of the floor and flapped a hand at Renmar. “Well, I guess you finally got your way,” she said.

  “What are you talking about, Mother?” Renmar asked. She glanced up at me from icing the red velvet cake she had been baking earlier as if to ask if everything was okay.

  I didn’t let on to anything.

  Actually, I don’t have a clue about anything Miss Vivee is up to.

  “Logan’s gonna take me to that old folks’ senility doctor up in Augusta that you wanted me to go to.”

  I am? First I’d heard of it.

  “Mother!” Renmar said and laid down her buttercream covered spatula. “I’d never-”

  “Don’t deny it, Renmar. You’ve been trying to get me certified crazy ever since I turned a hundred.”

  “You’re not a hundred, Mother,” Renmar said.

  “Momma,” Brie said. “Don’t nobody mean no harm. We only want you to be happy and healthy.”

  “I’d be happy if the two of you would leave me alone. And,” Miss Vivee nodded her head and lifted an eyebrow. “I’m more than a hundred, and healthier than the both of you to boot.” She ran her eyes up and down each one then kept them on Brie. “And you,” she pointed a finger. “You could stand to lose a few pounds.”

  “That’s exactly why we wanted you to go and see someone,” Renmar said. “You’ve got no filter.”

  “Filter?” Miss Vivee said. “Oh, so you do admit to wanting me to go to the crazy doctor?”

  “No,” Renmar said sheepishly, and went back to icing her cake.

  “When you get to be my age,” Miss Vivee said. “You can say what you wanna say. Don’t need a filter. But it don’t make me no never mind, no how. Logan’s gonna take me up there. Give you what you want.”

  “I can take you, Mother,” Renmar offered.

  “I don’t want you to take me,” Miss Vivee said. “Logan’ll take me and I won’t have to hear a whole bunch of talking about it. Isn’t that right, Logan?”

  Everyone looked at me. I couldn’t let Miss Vivee down in front of everyone even though I knew she was telling one of her tall tales. We hadn’t planned on going anywhere near any doctor’s office. I had spoken to Renmar directly about the geriatric physician and didn’t even know her name. I didn’t know how Miss Vivee knew.

  “Yes ma’am,” I said. “Not a word from me.” I pretended to lock my lips and throw away the key.

  “When are you going, Momma?” Brie asked.

  “Right now,” Miss Vivee said. “We’re going right now.”

  “You have an appointment now?” Renmar looked at us suspiciously.

  I let my eyes wander over to the refrigerator and kept them there.

  “Yes. I do,” Miss Vivee said.

  “I still don’t know how you knew about that doctor.” Renmar narrowed her eyes. “And, how did you get an appointment so quickly?” she asked.

  “I know people, and people know me,” Miss Vivee said. “Wasn’t hard at all. Was it, Logan?”

  I really wish she wouldn’t drag me into her lies.

  “No,” I shook my head, eyes wide. “Wasn’t hard at all.” I didn’t know how Miss Vivee thought she’d fake a trip to the doctor, but I was committed – I was going to go down with the ship.

  Renmar waved her fingers up and down Miss Vivee, just as she had done me. “You do plan on putting on some fresh street clothes, and combing your hair, don’t you?”

  “Of course I’m going to comb my hair,” Miss Vivee said. “I already told you dreadlocks wasn’t my idea. I was just going along with this makeover Logan wanted to give me.”

  Renmar cut her eyes at me.

  “But it’s just too much.” Miss Vivee continued. She tried to run her bony fingers through her hair, but caught them on a tangle. “Ouch!” Miss Vivee said and shook her head. “Plus, it hurts.”

  “Well, now at least you’re showing an inkling of some sense,” Renmar said. “And I’ll have a talk with you, Miss Logan, as soon as the two of you get back.”

  Oh crap.

  Chapter Ten

  I pushed Miss Vivee into my jeep after fighting with her for ten minutes about Cat coming along. I was afraid her little dog would relieve herself on a prized flower. Miss Vivee insisted that it would be good for the soil.

  “So,” I said after I got in and buckled up, “What is this thing about the doctor?”

  “I heard Renmar talking about it this morning,” Miss Vivee said. “How she thought she could keep a secret by discussing it in the dining room with all the guests there is a mystery to me.”

  “I still don’t understand.”

  “I found out the name of that doctor, and I want you to drive me by there.”

  “They’re not going to see you today,” I told her. “Doctor’s offices are busy, they don’t do walk-ins.”

  “What do you think? You’re talking to a child? I know that they’re busy.”

  “So what’s the plan?” I may as well cut to chase.

  “You’ll take me by the office, I’ll make an appointment for another day, and they’ll give me an appointment card. I’ll show that to Renmar.” She held out her hand like it was all so simple and easy to see. “And even though I didn’t see the doctor, it’ll prove I was there today. Renmar’ll be none the wiser.”

  How does
she think of these things?

  “Where is this doctor?”

  “How am I supposed to know?” Miss Vivee scowled. “I know her name, you’ll have to gaggle where she is.”

  “Google. And you better hope she’s in her office today.”

  “I think you’re the one that better hope she’s there,” she said, she shifted her shoulders back and sat up straight, her eyebrows lifted. “Otherwise, Renmar’ll think you’re a liar.”

  “Me?”

  “Yeah, she already thinks I’m senile.” A smiled curled up her lip. “She won’t blame me.”

  Certainly not a way to start off a relationship with my future mother-in-law.

  Luckily for me the doctor was in. She was located in Augusta not too far from our exit for the Krieger Greenhouse off I-520 next to Doctor’s Hospital. The office staff seemed quite comfortable with Miss Vivee and her tall tales, and accommodated her without any trouble. I guess they were used to her kind. They took her in the back, and instructed me to stay put. Fifteen minutes later with appointment card tucked carefully in her purse, she came back out laughing with the nurses and we headed out to the greenhouse.

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  “I thought it was a botanical garden,” Miss Vivee said as we drove up to the spot my Google Earth had led us to. She looked at me. “It’s an arboretum.”

  And that was exactly what the sign read. Krieger Arboretum. No mention of a garden, let alone a poison garden.

  “I thought so, too,” I said. I pulled the car over, put it in park, and rechecked the GPS on my iPhone. I checked the directions and looked back up at the sign. “We’re in the right place.”

  I put the car back in drive and headed in. The road into the arboretum must have gone on for a nearly three quarters of a mile and was banked by an archway made up of maple trees. The trees that hovered over the wide concrete road had to be decades old. They had smooth, silvery gray bark and a crown spreading out over the road with masses of green leaves that shaded the road so much so that only streaks of sunlight were able to push through.

  As we went down the road, I could hear the birds twittering and smell the crisp, fresh air breezing around us. Once past the trees we came upon a clearing. And there was the most beautiful courtyard I’d ever seen.

  A cascading waterfall fountain set in the center, it was made up of blue-green, yellow and orange glazed tiles that glistened in the sun. The fountain was surrounded by colorful, fragrant flowers, all in full bloom with butterflies flitting about. Cobblestone pavers led to an English cottage-like structure complete with ivy growing up the front, and an asymmetrical composition of small trees, shrubs and tall grass bordering it. It was magical.

  The sign in front of the small structure read “Office.”

  I wouldn’t mind coming to work here every day, I thought.

  I stopped to take it all in, and noticed how Miss Vivee was shifting around in her seat. Her eyes gleamed, she tapped her feet, and had clasped her hand together.

  “Isn’t it just breathtaking?” she said and smiled so wide I thought her dentures would fall out.

  In front of stone structure were signs, one pointing left that read, “Botanical Gardens,” and one pointing right that said, “Arboretum.”

  “Botanical Gardens?” I asked.

  “No,” Miss Vivee said and glanced at me. “We need to speak to someone. The Office would be the best place to start.”

  “Okay,” I said and parked the car. She rarely let me in on her game plan when searching for clues, but that was okay because I believed that Miss Vivee herself didn’t know her plan of action going in. She’d just wing it.

  As I opened Miss Vivee’s door to help her out of the car, I saw a man in my periphery walk toward us.

  “Hello,” he said.

  Leaving Miss Vivee in her seat, I turned with a smile to greet the man. My facial expression quickly changed to surprise. “I know you,” I said. It was the Official Guy from the fair. I couldn’t remember his name.

  “Gavin Tanner,” Miss Vivee said.

  I turned and looked at her and back at him. “That’s right. Gavin.”

  He grinned and looked at Miss Vivee. “You remembered?”

  Miss Vivee had a memory like a steel trap. I don’t know why I let Renmar convince me that something was wrong with her brain.

  “Of course I remember,” Miss Vivee said. “Why wouldn’t I?”

  “I thought that was you I saw getting out of the truck,” Gavin said. He walked over to the car, reached over me to help Miss Vivee out of the car.

  “Hi, Mrs. Pennywell.” He greeted her formally and took her hand. He held on to her long after she’d landed safely on the ground. “Fancy meeting you here.”

  “What are you doing here?” she asked, I think she was thrown off seeing him there, too, but she was a master at keeping a straight face.

  “I work here,” he said. “I was just helping out at the fair as part of my job?”

  “Your job?”

  “Yep. I work in Visitor Services, and sometimes I help out in the Horticulture Department.”

  “So then you knew about all those plants?”

  “What plants?”

  “On the note,” Miss Vivee said. She looked at him suspiciously.

  “On the note?” he asked his face scrunched. Then it seemed to dawn on him. “Oh no. I didn’t read that note. I just ran it over to you.” He stuck his hands in his pockets. Took them back out and put them behind his back. “There were plants on the note?” He stumbled over his words. “That’s what made everybody sick? Plants?”

  “You brought it all the way over to me and didn’t read it?” Miss Vivee asked. I saw a small smirk cross her face.

  “Yeah. Well.” He ran his hair through his mop of curly black hair. “The fair director just told me to find you. You know, because that Sheriff said you could help.” He scratched the back of his neck, then his elbow. “So that’s what I did.”

  “And I gave you all that trouble.”

  “It wasn’t really you, Mrs. Pennywell.” He glanced over at me.

  Wasn’t me either, I started to say. I tried to help.

  “No. You’re right,” she said. “It was my daughters.”

  He laughed and cracked his knuckles. “They were not letting me get anywhere near you. So . . .” He looked all around as if he was searching for something. “Did you get it figured out?”

  “What?” Miss Vivee asked as if she didn’t know what they were talking about.

  “The note. The flowers on it. What did it all mean?”

  “Oh yes, I did figure it out,” she said. “They didn’t mean anything.”

  “They didn’t?” he smiled. Seemed like that was happy news to him.

  “Yes,” Miss Vivee said lowering her voice and leaning in to him. “I think it was food poisoning.”

  “Food poisoning?” He seemed to really get a kick out of that, he reeled back and let out a laugh. “Well, that’s a good thing. It’d be an awful thing if Mr. Wagner died from something that he loved so much. That would have been ironic, huh?”

  “He loved flowers?”

  “Oh yeah,” he said and then paused and looked at the two of us. “Oh. I guess you didn’t know. This is his place.” He spread out his arms. “Krieger Arboretum and Gardens.”

  “You don’t say,” Miss Vivee said.

  “Well, you know, Mrs. Wagner owns it too – with her husband. Well when he was alive, I mean. But it’s named after his mother. Mr. Wagner’s mother. Krieger was her maiden name.”

  “His wife?” I asked. I remembered her from the fair. Dead husband laying on the ground not twenty feet away, and she acting as if she didn’t have a care in the world. “What’s her name?”

  “Camren Wagner,” he said.

  “So now she owns this place?” Miss Vivee asked.

  “Yeah. Well.” He blew out a breath. “I guess so. You know, now that he’s dead.” More fidgeting. “Now that Mr. Wagner’s dead.�
� He coughed into his hand. “Anyway, we all figured the arboretum would be closed today. You know, with his death. A day of mourning, or something. But we’re open and she’s here.” He clapped his hands and rubbed them together. “We’re all here.”

  “Where is Mrs. Wagner now?” Miss Vivee asked.

  “Where she always is. In her gardens.”

  “I can’t believe she came to work today.” I said, mumbling.

  I don’t know why though, I thought. She didn’t miss a beat when he died. The show must go on.

  “That’s really strange,” Miss Vivee said.

  “Well, I guess it’s no love lost between them,” he ran his hand through his hair again, then pushed his hand down in his pockets.”

  “No love lost?”

  “I think they were getting a divorce,” he leaned in and spoke in a low voice. “She’d kind of already moved on.”

  “So you say she’s here? In her gardens?” Miss Vivee asked turning around looking the way the arrow pointed. I thought sure she’d try to pry more information about a possible affair out of Gavin, but she didn’t. “I thought this was an arboretum,” she said instead.

  “Oh yeah. It is,” he said. “In a narrow sense an arboretum is a collection of trees, but today, when speaking of an arboretum it usually refers to a botanical garden. And our gardens are huge.” He was right in his element talking about the place. “Still we have collections of saliceta and querceta, which are willows and oaks. Also magnolias. Magnoliaceae is the scientific name.” He shook his head and grinned, his eyes big. “We have a lot of magnolia trees. But our main focus in the arboretum is in pomology.

  “The cultivation of fruit trees?” Miss Vivee asked.

  “Yes,” Gavin Tanner smiled. It seemed to excite him for her to know what that meant. “When we’re in full bloom,” he started counting on his fingers. “We’ll have blackberry, Pomegranate, pear, apple, peach, plum, fig, nectarine, pecan, Asian pear, fig and Japanese persimmon trees.” He swallowed hard and took in a breath as if he was going to continue.