strip mall three miles off of Longely’s main road. The strip mall had been built recently. There was more and more mall sprawl lately, taking up land that, in Bernie’s judgment, should have been left alone. After all, how many Home Depots and Staples did you need?
Kathy’s Garden Shop was located between a drugstore and a place selling chicken wings, but as Kathy had pointed out to Bernie, the rent was cheap, the utilities were fairly low, and there was plenty of parking. Like Bernie and Libby, Kathy managed to compete with the chains by charm, customer service, and interesting merchandise. So far she’d done pretty well for herself.
When Bernie got out of her car, she was happy to see there were eight pots of mums sitting outside of Kathy’s shop.
“You want to do a trade?” Bernie said when she went inside.
Her friend Kathy looked up from behind the register. Today her hair was in cornrows. She had light brown skin and large green eyes. It was a smashing combination.
“What kind of trade?”
“You let me borrow the mums to decorate the tables up at the Haunted House, and I’ll give you three apple pies.”
“Apple and cranberry and throw in a parsnip pie and you got a deal.”
“You are the only person I know, except for me and Libby, that likes parsnip pie.”
“That’s because you’re making my grandmother’s recipe.”
“No. It’s my grandmother’s. We’ve had this discussion before.”
Bernie pointed to the display of orange and lemon trees. “Those would look nice in my bedroom.”
“And I would sell them to you,” Kathy said, “if you didn’t have a black thumb.”
“Gray thumb.”
“Black,” Kathy said firmly.
“All right. Black.” It was true. Bernie had yet to keep a plant alive. She simply forgot to water them. “By the way, do you remember Zinnia McGuire?”
Kathy put her pen down. “Course, I do. She used to pal around with Zachery Timberland, Bob Small, and Amethyst Applegate. Now there was a nice crew.”
“Whatever happened to her?”
“She died in an automobile accident down in Coopersville. Hit-and-run, if I remember correctly. Some guy went right through the stop at Elves and Ash and T-boned her. He must have been going really fast, from what I understand.”
Bernie raised an eyebrow. “And no one saw anything?”
“It was three-thirty in the morning. You know what that place is like. It’s even worse than Longely. A neighbor called it in. She said the crash woke her up.”
“I wonder why Zinnia was there?”
Kathy shrugged. “She was probably doing the typical druggie high school dropout thing.”
“Did Zinnia ever say anything?”
“Nope. She died on the way to the hospital. I guess she was in pretty bad shape when the police got there. It’s really too bad.”
“How’s that?”
“Because she was getting her act together. She’d given up the stuff she was doing—the coke and the weed—and was talking about going back to school.”
“How long after Bessie Osgood died was she killed?”
Kathy thought for a moment. “Maybe one year. Certainly no more than two.”
“Interesting,” Bernie murmured.
“You don’t think one thing had anything to do with the other, do you?” Kathy asked.
“Probably not,” Bernie said.
Nevertheless, she filed the fact away in her head for possible use later.
Chapter 11
“D amn cell,” Sean said as he and Marvin headed toward Lexus Gardens.
Marvin turned his head to look at Sean. “Can’t you—”
“Eyes on the road,” Sean yelled.
“They are on the road,” Marvin said.
“Now they’re on the road. Before they weren’t. Maybe you shouldn’t talk while you’re driving.”
Marvin didn’t say anything. Sean could tell he was sulking. Young people didn’t take correction well these days. They should be thankful for the help. But when he’d said that to Libby and Bernie, they’d just rolled their eyes.
After a moment, Sean said, “Things are stressful.” Which was as
Kathy’s Garden Shop was located between a drugstore and a place selling chicken wings, but as Kathy had pointed out to Bernie, the rent was cheap, the utilities were fairly low, and there was plenty of parking. Like Bernie and Libby, Kathy managed to compete with the chains by charm, customer service, and interesting merchandise. So far she’d done pretty well for herself.
When Bernie got out of her car, she was happy to see there were eight pots of mums sitting outside of Kathy’s shop.
“You want to do a trade?” Bernie said when she went inside.
Her friend Kathy looked up from behind the register. Today her hair was in cornrows. She had light brown skin and large green eyes. It was a smashing combination.
“What kind of trade?”
“You let me borrow the mums to decorate the tables up at the Haunted House, and I’ll give you three apple pies.”
“Apple and cranberry and throw in a parsnip pie and you got a deal.”
“You are the only person I know, except for me and Libby, that likes parsnip pie.”
“That’s because you’re making my grandmother’s recipe.”
“No. It’s my grandmother’s. We’ve had this discussion before.”
Bernie pointed to the display of orange and lemon trees. “Those would look nice in my bedroom.”
“And I would sell them to you,” Kathy said, “if you didn’t have a black thumb.”
“Gray thumb.”
“Black,” Kathy said firmly.
“All right. Black.” It was true. Bernie had yet to keep a plant alive. She simply forgot to water them. “By the way, do you remember Zinnia McGuire?”
Kathy put her pen down. “Course, I do. She used to pal around with Zachery Timberland, Bob Small, and Amethyst Applegate. Now there was a nice crew.”
“Whatever happened to her?”
“She died in an automobile accident down in Coopersville. Hit-and-run, if I remember correctly. Some guy went right through the stop at Elves and Ash and T-boned her. He must have been going really fast, from what I understand.”
Bernie raised an eyebrow. “And no one saw anything?”
“It was three-thirty in the morning. You know what that place is like. It’s even worse than Longely. A neighbor called it in. She said the crash woke her up.”
“I wonder why Zinnia was there?”
Kathy shrugged. “She was probably doing the typical druggie high school dropout thing.”
“Did Zinnia ever say anything?”
“Nope. She died on the way to the hospital. I guess she was in pretty bad shape when the police got there. It’s really too bad.”
“How’s that?”
“Because she was getting her act together. She’d given up the stuff she was doing—the coke and the weed—and was talking about going back to school.”
“How long after Bessie Osgood died was she killed?”
Kathy thought for a moment. “Maybe one year. Certainly no more than two.”
“Interesting,” Bernie murmured.
“You don’t think one thing had anything to do with the other, do you?” Kathy asked.
“Probably not,” Bernie said.
Nevertheless, she filed the fact away in her head for possible use later.
Chapter 11
“D amn cell,” Sean said as he and Marvin headed toward Lexus Gardens.
Marvin turned his head to look at Sean. “Can’t you—”
“Eyes on the road,” Sean yelled.
“They are on the road,” Marvin said.
“Now they’re on the road. Before they weren’t. Maybe you shouldn’t talk while you’re driving.”
Marvin didn’t say anything. Sean could tell he was sulking. Young people didn’t take correction well these days. They should be thankful for the help. But when he’d said that to Libby and Bernie, they’d just rolled their eyes.
After a moment, Sean said, “Things are stressful.” Which was as
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