The Begonia Bribe by Alyse Carlson

grounds were setting up for the audience that would attend the pageant that night.
    “Jake says hello,” he said as he shut his phone.
    “Any news on the poison?” she asked.
    “Oleander,” he said.
    “Oh, yeah. That would do it,” Cam said. Unfortunately, it reinforced that whoever had committed the crime was knowledgeable about gardening, or at least plant-based poisons.
    She looked out at the men setting up chairs in front of the amphitheater and eyed the patched-up gardens and faux dogwood flowers. The begonias that would arrive the next day would do a better job hiding the damage to the lilies. They were also colorful and cheerful, something the sad, sagging lily heads were not. Most were currently bound to stakes to hold them upright, but they hadn’t forgotten their abuse. Cam wished they’d been able to get the begonias in that day, even if she knew the television cameras would be too far away to notice.

CHAPTER 7
    “I sure wish with a dead judge they would let us postpone!” Evangeline was matching invoices to equipment in the staging area. Cam thought her comment was really just stage-night nerves talking.
    They both knew it was standard for television not to change scheduling because of advertiser expectations. Still, Evangeline seemed to want to talk about it.
    “Have you appealed to Judith Towers-Stevens?” Cam figured with a dead husband, she might feasibly try to find a loophole.
    “She’s the one who told me.”
    “She’s working? It’s only been a few days! And isn’t she a primary suspect? That won’t be good for publicity.”
    Evangeline shrugged and nodded. “She won’t bow out and the station is supporting her.”
    “Well, Toni is on board. I guess we can do it if we have to,” Cam said.
    “Why do people die on our watch, Cam?”
    “I wish I knew.”
    Cam looked up and saw Judith Towers-Stevens walking straight toward them. She wondered if the woman’s ears had been burning.
    “You should talk to her,” Cam said, thinking a society woman like Evangeline had a better shot at getting somewhere than she did.
    “I’m sorry, Cam. I just can’t.” Evangeline ducked away, leaving Cam to face Judith Towers-Stevens alone.
    Cam looked at her carefully. The woman was strangely dry-eyed as she got the camera crew into position for the evening.
    Cam plastered on her most sympathetic smile. “Ms. Towers-Stevens, I’m so sorry about your husband.”
    Judith swiped a hand irritably.
    “Are you sure you wouldn’t rather have an assistant or somebody else take over?”
    “Oh, they never get it right. And I’ve been working with Jimmy Meares, who will only work with me.” Cam thought that was self-importance on Judith’s part. Jimmy had seemed perfectly willing to work with Cam.
    “Maybe I can convince him . . . don’t you have a vice president of production or something you could call? Surely Jimmy would understand.” Especially if she was young and pretty, Cam thought, though she didn’t think sharing that thought was wise. She saw a flash of hope in Judith Towers-Stevens’s eyes. “Tell me who I should talk up. I’ll go work on him,” Cam said.
    “Hilary Sweeny has been my right hand for six years. She’s very good.”
    “I’ll work on Jimmy.” Cam spotted an opportunity in the form of her work crew putting the finishing touches on the mended garden. She called, “Dylan!”
    He wandered over more slowly than Cam would have liked and then just stood in front of Judith Towers-Stevens and her expectantly.
    “Dylan, Ms. Towers-Stevens is the television producer. It was her husband whom Scooter found the other day. Would you be able to see that she gets home?”
    Dylan looked at Judith quizzically, as if sizing her up. “Sure. If it’s not far, I mean. I need to be back in an hour for lighting.”
    Judith’s expression wasn’t readable but she didn’t argue, so Cam took that to mean she was close enough. Dylan must have understood the same thing.
    “Car’s