Laura Childs - Gunpowder Green

“Wow,” said Theodosia, feeling slightly overwhelmed.

“Of course, roses are also notorious for preferring acidic soil, but you can’t have it too acidic. The demanding little darlings prefer a pH balance somewhere between

5.5 and 6.5. Any more than that, and they get chlorotic.” “What does that mean?” “Their leaves mottle,” said Professor Morrow.

“It’s a good thing he faxed you his notes,” said Drayton, “otherwise this would be really complicated.”

For the last hour, Drayton had been poring over Professor Morrow’s jottings, checking them against three different gardening books that he’d borrowed from Robillard Booksellers next door. Books, faxes, and pages torn from Drayton’s ledger were strewn on one of the tea shop’s tables. In between waiting on customers and serving fresh-from-the-oven pastries, Haley hovered at the table where Drayton and Theodosia had set up headquarters.

“I’m going to end up buying these books,” Drayton announced. “They’re very good, and I don’t have them in my collection. Just look at this tabular list of garden perennials and this lovely chapter on bridge grafting. You don’t run across information like this every day.”

Earlier, Theodosia had shared Professor Morrow’s findings with Drayton and Haley, and they had both jumped at the chance to be involved in the investigation. Although it felt like they were heading down the right trail, their task also felt slightly daunting. Professor Morrow had given them so many details and possibilities that one almost needed a degree in horticulture to figure everything out.

“Haley, we’re going to need litmus paper,” said Dray-ton. “Can you run down to the drugstore later and pick up a packet?”

“Sure,” she agreed. “You’re still convinced we can get a handle on who might have overpacked that pistol by testing soil from various gardens?”

“And the yacht club,” said Theodosia. “Let’s not forget the yacht club.”

“Right,” said Drayton, then added for Haley’s sake, “this is a gamble that could pay off. We’ve got the results from Professor Morrow’s tests, so that becomes our baseline. Now what we do is check the various soil samples using the soil testing kits we got from Hattie Bootwright’s floral shop down the street.”

“So how exactly are we going to pull this off?” asked Haley. She was almost dancing in place, excited at the prospect of being involved in a full-blown investigation and, at the same time, keeping a watchful eye on her tea shop customers.

“Drayton and I already talked about that,” said Theodosia. “We’ll all be at Timothy Neville’s tonight, so that will serve as a kind of home base.”

“Right,” agreed Drayton. “We’ll work from there. Doe lives half a block away, so we can easily scout her garden and obtain a sample.”

“You’re sure she’ll be at Timothy’s tonight?” asked Haley.

“Absolutely,” said Drayton. “In fact, she’ll be attending with Giovanni Loard. He called me yesterday about a silver teapot someone brought into his shop, and he mentioned that he’d be there. If you remember, his garden is on tomorrow night’s tour. So he’s very excited about the entire Garden Fest event.”

“He’s not still mad about the other day?” asked Theodosia.

“Never mentioned it,” said Drayton.

“Okay then,” said Theodosia, getting back to business. “Booth Crowley lives two blocks away on Tradd Street, so his garden should be an easy hit as well. We know he’ll be there tonight, since his wife Beatrix serves on one of the Garden Fest committees with Delaine.”

“Perfect,” said Drayton, rubbing his hands together.

“What about Billy Manolo and Ford Cantrell?” asked Haley. “I thought they were on your hot list, too.”

“They are,” said Theodosia, “but Billy Manolo doesn’t really have a yard. Well, he does, but almost every square inch is littered with pieces of iron or covered with finished metalwork. We can drop by the yacht club, though, that’s easy enough.”

“And I guess it would be difficult to check Ford Cantrell’s place, since he lives on a huge plantation,” said Haley. “You wouldn’t even know where to start.” She turned to scan the tearoom, saw out the window that one of the yellow tour jitneys had just let off a load of tourists, and they were making a beeline for the tea shop.

“I guess we’ll just work with what we’ve got,” said Haley as she headed for the door to greet their new customers.

“Actually,” said Theodosia, once Haley was out of earshot, “it’s not all we’ve got.”

Drayton turned his head sharply to stare at Theodosia. Something in her tone told him she might be hatching another idea. “What do you mean?” he asked warily.

Theodosia bent close to Drayton’s ear and began to whisper. And as she did, a look of astonishment flickered across his face. When she was done, he gazed at her with admiration.

“It’s a jolly good brazen plan, all right,” said Drayton. “The question is, will it work?”

Theodosia lifted her shoulders imperceptibly. “It might flush out a fox or two.”

“It’s also dangerous,” he said, adding a sober note to the conversation.

“Agreed,” said Theodosia, “But that’s also why I like it.” She frowned. “Trouble is, the whole plan would hinge on Timothy Neville’s cooperation. Do you think we can persuade him to go along with us? And especially at such short notice?”

“You leave Timothy to me,” advised Drayton. “I can be very convincing when I have to. And since elections at the Heritage Society are coming up soon, and Timothy is lobbying strongly for reelection as president, he might just listen carefully to what I have to say. So you go call Lizbeth Cantrell and arrange for her to come up with some creative ruse to have her brother present at the party tonight. And leave Timothy Neville to me.”

Theodosia tapped her fingers on the telephone. This wasn’t going to be easy, she told herself. Because she could be setting Ford Cantrell up for a terrible fall. Then again, if Ford really was instrumental in engineering Oliver Dixon’s death, justice would be served.

The word justice echoed in Theodosia’s brain. Lizbeth’s wreath of coltsfoot had been intended to connote justice. Funny how that single word seemed to hang over this entire investigation like a sword suspended from a single thread.

Taking a deep breath, Theodosia opened the phone directory, ran her finger down a fairly long list of Cantrells, spotted Lizbeth Cantrell’s phone number, and punched it in.

Lizbeth Cantrell was in today; she picked up on the first ring.

“Lizbeth,” said Theodosia, the words tumbling out, “can you bring Ford to a party at Timothy Neville’s home tonight?”

“What’s going on?” asked Lizbeth, her antennae already at full alert.

“Hopefully, a plan that will reveal Oliver Dixon’s killer,” said Theodosia.

Lizbeth hesitated. “A plan you want my brother’s participation in.”

“Yes,” said Theodosia, “but I’m afraid I can’t share the exact details.”

“And if this plan backfires?”

Theodosia had heard fear and worry in Lizbeth’s voice and knew exactly what she was thinking. Backfiring was Lizbeth’s euphemism for Ford being proven guilty. She knew Lizbeth was utterly heartsick over the possibility.

I’ve got to strongly dissuade her of that thought, Theodosia decided. Keep her thinking positive.

“Hopefully,” said Theodosia, “this plan will help clear Ford’s name, once and for all. But it will only work if he’s in attendance tonight. At the Garden Fest kickoff party.” Theodosia listened to dead air for a moment. “You know where Timothy lives?” she asked hopefully.