Free Floral Depravity by Beverly Allen Page B

mention that in any of her four consultations. You’re saying her daughter married the son of her ex-husband? Is that even legal?”
    â€œNot blood relatives. The kids never even lived in the same house. Granted, it’s going to make family reunions a little tricky.”
    The next file was Andrea’s. “Why would she kill her father-in-law?”
    Bixby flipped to the next file, which showed a picture of the young groom. He placed them side by side. “The happy couple will inherit. Megabucks. Not to mention the senior Brooks was reportedly not all that happy about the marriage. Insisted the bride sign a prenup. Implied that if she were anything like her mother . . .”
    â€œWhich opens the old wounds with Kathleen.” I sighed and studied the pictures of the three of them. Kathleen’s bitterness over her ex-husbands, all three of them, was no secret, but I doubted she’d kill any of them. “She was all over the encampment that day, which is understandable since she was the mother of the bride.”
    â€œHow’d she seem?”
    â€œBusy.”
    Bixby’s face froze into an unreadable expression. Apparently that wasn’t the response he was looking for. “I meant,” he went on, “did you detect any tension or anything odd about the way Kathleen was acting?”
    â€œChief, you have a daughter, right? How do you think
you’re
going to hold up on the day of her wedding? Yes, I guess you could call Kathleen tense, but probably no more than anyone else would be, given the circumstances.”
    â€œIncluding what might have been an unpleasant reunion with her ex-husband.”
    â€œSure, that had to make it even harder. But to poison her ex on the day of her daughter’s wedding? She once told me that there were easier ways of getting rid of a husband than murder.”
    Bixby sent me what seemed a patronizing smile and then went back to the counter for a refill.
    I flipped to the next bundle. The buxom woman named Raylene Quinn was apparently a longtime employee of Brooks and listed as the Director of Research and Development. She looked every bit the sexy scientist and was one of those women who was probably older than she first appeared. Her platinum blonde hair betrayed her at the roots.
    As Bixby slid into his seat, I said, “And she traveled with him regularly?”
    â€œYou’re wondering if they had some kind of romantic relationship besides the business one.”
    â€œThought crossed my mind.”
    He shrugged. “Not one that she was forthcoming about.”
    â€œShe wouldn’t be.”
    The small nod I got back from him belied the impression that I was getting closer. I hadn’t come up with any new revelations, but at least we were on the same track.
    â€œWas there a Mrs. Brooks?” I asked.
    â€œOn her way from Richmond as we speak. That’s where Brooks Pharmaceuticals is headquartered.”
    â€œShe didn’t come to the wedding of her own son?”
    â€œApparently the current Mrs. Brooks isn’t the mother of the groom, either, and she’s more into society parties than ‘running around in the woods’ as she told me over the phone.”
    The final entry in the most-likely-suspects category was a Chandler Hines. “Another co-worker?”
    â€œNot exactly. He’s the only one of our initial persons of interest who didn’t know Brooks outside of the encampment. But his name came up three times when I asked people if they knew anyone who might have wanted to kill Brooks. And after interviewing him, I could see why.”
    â€œHe must have made quite an impression. They’ve only been at the site, what, three or four days?”
    â€œAh, but both Hines and the victim were regulars, with apparently a lot of bad blood between them. Hines claims to be one of the founders of the group. Really rigid.”
    â€œJust the type of fanatic who might want to