Dandelion Dead (6 page)

“I'm Lily Bryan. I work for Willow in her store and café.” Lily pulled a handful of dandelion greens out of a box.

I took them from her. “These aren't poisonous, Detective Koren. These are just simple dandelion greens, and I saw Lily pick them yesterday morning in our class. We like to use them because they're edible and nutritious and they taste good.”

Detective Koren took all the greens and put them in a large baggie. “Would it have been easy for someone to substitute a poisonous plant for these greens, Ms. McQuade?”

“Very. They would just need a good reason.”

“Like trying to kill me,” David said.

•  •  •

Detective Koren left after telling
Lily to stay put because he might have more questions for her and after telling me again to stay out of it. But the minute his car pulled out of the parking lot, Simon said, “We've got to do something about this, Willow.”

I turned to Lily, who was clearly upset. “It's going
to be okay. Why don't you load the van? I'll be right out.”

She hesitated, so I went over to her and gave her a hug. “You're okay, just take a few deep, cleansing breaths.”

She brushed away her tears, took a few breaths, and put on a brave face. “I'll get our stuff.”

“Thank you, Lily.” I motioned Simon and David to the door. “Let's go outside.”

We headed out to the lawn and sat down at a picnic table. I took the side with a view of the front lawn, and the tree line that hid the cliffs and the blue-green Long Island Sound. The sun still felt warm, but the breeze off the water caused a slight chill, so I zipped up my
LIFE IS GOOD
orange sweatshirt.

“I can't believe that someone tried to kill me,” David said as he sat down across from me. “And I thought those messages were bad.”

Simon didn't sit down, but instead paced back and forth. “And whoever it is, he's still out there. He may try again.”

“Oh, God. No, this can't be happening.” David got up, pulled out a pack of cigarettes, lit one up, and started pacing as well. Watching the two of them move back and forth was like watching a Ping-Pong match.

“Willow, you and I and Jackson have got to work on this together, like before. Now that it's a murder, we have to. David's life is in danger and so is Pure. Someone wants to keep us from winning this competition.”

“Simon told me you three have a good track record on this kind of thing.” David blew out a stream of smoke. “That you're smarter than the police.”

“I don't
know about that,” I said. “But we have had good results. We do work well together.”

“Yes, we do,” Simon said. “The Three Musketeers.”

“Jackson doesn't want me to get involved,” I said.

Simon waved that notion away. “So what else is new?”

•  •  •

Lily and I returned to
Nature's Way and spent the rest of the day getting ready for the dinner that night. I'd left a message with Jackson but hadn't filled him in yet on the latest developments. I was pretty sure what he'd have to say about it, but I was also pretty sure what I wanted to do—namely, help Simon.

While Lily helped Merrily prepare the evening's dinner in the kitchen, Wallace and I set up the café to accommodate more guests. To that end we'd moved some of the tables and chairs out onto the porch and lawn and added heat lamps to create more usable space. Out beyond Front Street, Mitchell Park was now crowded with people as they crisscrossed their way across the Village of Greenport enjoying North Fork UnCorked!

We'd just moved the last set of table and chairs to the lawn when Wallace said, “I know that you have a lot of things on your mind, Willow, but can we talk?”

I pointed to the chair he'd just put down and sat in the other. “Of course.”

“I'm worried about Lily. She's a sensitive girl, and that business yesterday at Pure, and today with the police and the news about that poisonous plant, I just don't know.”

“I understand, Wallace.” I suddenly realized that, yes, I might need to investigate for Simon, but quite possibly for my employee Lily, too. I knew from experience that once the police zeroed in on someone, it could be extremely difficult to shake them.

“Wallace, it is normal for the police to have questions since she prepared that particular appetizer and had foraged for the garnish, the dandelion greens. But the fact is, anyone could have switched out the greens for a poisonous plant at just about any time. I do think the police will see that and eventually work on other leads.”

“Eventually? But how long will that take?”

“I'm not sure.”

“I've been here long enough to know that you have a knack for solving murders, Willow.” He gave me a pleading look. “Can you help her?”

I told Wallace that of course I would help Lily, but first I needed to discuss it with Jackson. Once most of the setup work was done, I slipped away upstairs to take a shower and change into a black cotton shift dress with quarter sleeves, decorated with small white butterflies, and black heels.

As I got ready, I took the time to mull over the events of the past twenty-four hours. No clear suspect for Amy's murder presented itself. But, really, it was too early for that. I needed to investigate—gather the individual pieces—to solve the puzzle of this murder.

•  •  •

Jackson arrived around six o'clock,
looking good in a yellow T-shirt, jeans, boots, and a black blazer. Between his short-cropped hair, stubble beard, and blue eyes, I wanted to take him back upstairs and fool around, but that wouldn't make us very good hosts for his farm's fund-raiser.

By this time, the café, porch, and lawn were completely ready. We had tables in and out, and even space on the steps—we were casual here—so plenty of room to mingle and talk. In addition to the Halloween decorations, we'd strung pretty white lights all around the checkout stand, on the doorway of the kitchen, and outside on the pink and purple rose of Sharon bushes in the yard.

Meanwhile, Merrily and Lily worked toward the 7:00 p.m. start time to begin serving the vegetarian and vegan entrées, including fall-vegetable curry, Swiss chard with chickpeas and couscous, brown-butter gnocchi with spinach and pine nuts, linguine with capers and green-olive sauce, and gemelli salad with green beans, pistachios, and lemon-thyme vinaigrette.

Since we had a few minutes before the event started, Jackson and I stepped outside onto the porch, so I could fill him in on the latest news. Most significant was that Amy's death would probably be classified as a murder because of a poisonous plant, and that Lily was a person of interest because she had foraged for the dandelion greens that were used on the scallop appetizer.

“Do you think she
could
have done it?”

“No. Besides, someone has been threatening David, sending him texts and e-mails and telling him to drop
out of the competition. I just can't see her doing that. What's her motivation?”

“I agree. More likely it's one of the rival vineyards that were at the party, or Gerald Parker, or Kurt Farmer.”

“Regarding the vineyards, yes, the cash prize is substantial. It could motivate someone to go to the dark side.”

“Yes, Obi-Wan.” Jackson smiled. Both of us were big
Star Wars
fans, and looking forward to the next movie. “Does Detective Koren know about the texts and e-mails?”

I nodded. “Yes, David showed them to him, after he started freaking out that someone wanted him dead, since Amy ate one of his scallop-and-greens appetizers. David had someone trying to trace the messages to their source, and now Koren will do the same, so we'll see. What do you think?”

“It seems like a reasonable theory that if David's food had been tampered with, the killer wanted him dead, not Amy. There is a lot at stake.” Jackson got quiet for a minute and watched the evening crowds of people heading to different restaurants, up and down the street. Finally he said, “And because it involves Lily and Simon, and his winery, you're going to want to investigate, right?”

“How did you know that?”

Jackson gave me a “get real” face. “C'mon.”

“But it would be different this time.”

“Really, how?”

“The killer is after David, not one of us. It's a little more removed.”

Jackson couldn't help but laugh. “It isn't. Not once you get involved and things start to unravel. You may find out that person you thought least likely to be a killer is the one. Believe me, I've seen it before on the job. It would be much better if you just let this one go. It's too dangerous. It always is.”

“That's true.”

“Our lives are good. We're happy. I'm making a difference, and so are you. The medicinal plant garden and your new book were a hit, and you're doing good work here, and I'm doing my thing at the farm. Plus, you heard what Detective Koren said.”

“I know that, but I really feel I need to do this, and I am pretty good at it. Actually, we're good
together
, the three of us.”

Jackson shook his head. “Honey, you are good, but Simon should just hire a private investigator instead. It's easier, it's safer, and I can give him a couple of names.”

“Did I hear someone mention my name?” Simon bounded up the stairs, wearing a denim blazer, orange button-down shirt, black jeans, and loafers, without socks, of course, and came over to us.

“Yes, you did,” Jackson said. “We were just talking about what happened today at Pure, and the fact that I don't want Willow involved in this investigation.”

“Yeah, I get that.” Simon took off his sunglasses. “But I could really use her help and yours, Jackson. This is important. David is scared out of his mind, and it could impact our standing in the competition. We've worked so hard to get to this place, and it could all be for nothing.”

“What about a private investigator?” Jackson said, not giving up so fast. “I know of a few really great people.”

“Are they from out here? Do they understand Greenport and the people and the North Fork winery business and all that?”

“Well, no. They're retired cops that I know from the job, in Nassau County.”

“I just don't think someone like that, an outsider, can crack this case. I need you, both of you.” Simon gave us a pleading look. “So will you do it?” He got down on his knees. “I'm begging you, please.”

I looked at Jackson, and he shrugged—that Simon was up to his usual antics—and said, “Up to you, McQuade.”

“Thank you, honey,” I said. “Simon, I'll help you, of course I will.”

“Whew.” Simon got up. “I was a little worried that you weren't going to have my back on this one.”

Now I gave Simon a “get real” look. “C'mon, Simon, you knew I'd help you. I'm sure Jackson will, too, when he has time away from the animal sanctuary, right, honey?”

Jackson blew out a breath. “Sure, I've got to protect you from yourself. That goes for both of you.”

Simon put an arm around each of us. “Just what I was hoping for! It's the Three Musketeers, together again!”

I decided to start the
investigation by going back to basics, in this case finding out if David had any enemies. After I was sure everyone was taken care of, I headed over to talk to him. David, wearing a brown corduroy jacket over a faded yellow tee, jeans, and red high-top sneakers, was flirting with Carla Olsen, a petite redhead, and the owner of Sisterhood Wines.

He spotted me and said something to Carla, who moved on. When he turned back to say hi, he almost ran into Lily, who was serving glasses of Falling Leaves
.

“Sorry, Lily.”

“It's fine,” she replied frostily. “Wine?”

He pointed to his almost-full glass. “I'm good.” He pecked me on the cheek. “Willow, nice party.”

“Thanks. Everything okay?”

“Yeah, fine.” David watched Lily walk away. I wondered what was going on between them—did they have a history that I didn't know about?

“I wanted to tell you that I've decided to help you and Simon, Jackson, too.”

“Wow.” David smiled. “Thank you. That's a relief.”

“First off, we need to know the basics, like if you have any enemies? Anyone we should talk to or check out?”

“As you saw at the party, I don't exactly get along with Gerald or my father and brother, but besides them and whoever is sending those texts and e-mails, I don't know.” David shrugged. “I really try to get along with everyone.”

I wondered if this was true, and if he was faithful to his wife, Ivy. “David, I know this is probably a touchy subject, but I have to ask. Is there someone else in your life, I mean, besides Ivy. I noticed that you were chatting with Carla and . . .”

“People always take it that way.” David sounded frustrated. “I like women, period, but I don't fool around, Willow. I'm a married man.”

“Okay.” I put my concerns about other women on the back burner for a moment. “So no one else comes to mind who has a grudge against you or anything?”

He shook his head. “Nope.”

“And you and Ivy are okay?” I was thinking about the fight I'd witnessed at the corn maze. “Yesterday morning you two seemed upset.”

“We're fine, Willow. Don't worry about me tonight, take care of your other guests.”

“I can do both.” I noticed that he wasn't eating. “Can I get you a plate of food?”

His eyes opened wide. “No, I grabbed something before I came. I'm feeling a little anxious about eating out after what happened. I mean, I'm sure the food is fine, but I'm just being careful.”

“It is fine, really, David. You should eat. Ivy, too.”

“Oh, she's eating.” He gestured to Ivy, who was chatting with Simon, in between bites of gnocchi. “She's always hungry. Both of them are, I mean
were
, the same way.”