Free Lethal Lily (A Peggy Lee Garden Mystery) by Joyce Lavene, Jim Lavene Page A

I’ll see you later.”
    The phone call ended abruptly.  She was only left with her son’s picture on the screen. He was already upset.
    Paul reminded her so much of John, even though he had her bright red hair, spring green eyes, and her temper. He had John’s nose and his smile. When he talked, it was like listening to John again. He had similar mannerisms to his father too. She thought of him as a nice pairing of everything good she and John had to offer.
    Paul had held on to his personal theory that his father’s death was something more than a domestic violence call gone bad. They’d argued more than once about it. If she’d listened to him sooner, finding the evidence she needed to prove what had really happened might have been easier.
    She knew he would welcome this new theory. What boy didn’t want his father to be a hero? She wished she wouldn’t have to give it to him half-baked. She wasn’t sure what he might do. There had been a time when she’d been worried that he might go after the man the police said had killed John.
    Peggy realized she had no choice but to tell him what she knew. She hoped he wouldn’t do anything foolish because of it. After John had died, Paul was all about vengeance and finding his father’s killer. That had gone away in time—although it had been enough to change Paul’s ambitions. He’d dropped out of school, where he’d been studying to be an architect, and joined the police academy.
    She knew her son’s emotions ran deep—especially on this subject. Hers did too. It was too bad that Harry had danced around the answers until it was too late.
    She parked in the morgue parking lot, picked up her bag, and locked the car. The morning was turning hazy with the late summer heat. White clouds, mostly ozone, obscured the blue sky. Just walking from the car to the building brought on heavy breathing in the thick, moist air.
    It was obvious to her that the bushes decorating the front of the building had been recently pruned. It was also obvious that the person doing the pruning had no experience. The firebushes, azaleas, and holly had been brutally cut down to the dark, red soil. They’d be lucky if they survived the remainder of the summer heat.
    A few years back, there had been an uprising at one of the city council meetings over crape myrtle trees being pruned too far. The city had actually reprimanded the maintenance people who’d done it.
    Peggy thought they could all be a little more careful with their trimmers. This wasn’t like hair. A good pruning helped a plant. A bad one could kill it.
    The guard at the front door greeted her as she passed through the metal detector. It had been months since she’d been here, but Tom still remembered her name.
    “I’m surprised you remember me.” She smiled at him. “You see so many people go in and out each day.”
    “How could I forget the lady who gave me and my wife our first good trip to the beach? Having my son, Zac, chew on ginger root kept him from being carsick all the way to Myrtle Beach. We tell everyone about it now.”
    “Thanks. I’m glad the ginger worked so well. How is your son doing?”
    “Strong as a horse, like his dad.” The guard grinned. “You’re clear, Dr. Lee. Thanks again. Have a good day.”
    She walked down the long hall to the medical examiner’s offices and grabbed the white jacket with her nametag on it. She hoped there was some progress on Harry’s autopsy. Surely something would go her way that day.
    Dorothy called her to her office right away. Peggy said hello to some other workers in the hall. It seemed that everyone remembered her. It was probably silly on her part to think they wouldn’t. Sometimes she went months without working here. Crimes suspected to be committed with botanical poisons were rare.
    Peggy was actually giving a lecture on that subject in two days. Queens University had asked her to come back from time to time as part of a lecture series. She’d retired from