Free A Killer Crop by Sheila Connolly Page A

professors, right? And he was the primary organizer for an important conference. He had to have had plenty to occupy his attention. Why call you now?”
    Elizabeth shook her head. “Detective, I have no idea. As I told you, he contacted me, not the other way around. He didn’t appear rushed or stressed during the time we spent together.”
    “What did you talk about?”
    “Good heavens! It had been thirty years since we’d seen each other. We talked about our families, our careers. Phillip. Meg. New England. College life.”
    “He didn’t say anything that suggested he was tying up loose ends?”
    “No. Mainly we exchanged stories about our children, how their lives have been so different from ours. He was very proud of what his boys had accomplished.”
    “Hold on, Detective,” Meg interrupted. “You aren’t telling us everything. What is it that you have that makes you think Daniel Weston didn’t die a natural death?”
    Marcus regarded her then, his expression an unsettling mixture of anger and speculation. Finally he said carefully, “The preliminary autopsy shows physical evidence. I’m not going to tell you the details, but the evidence was sufficient for us to consider this a homicide.”
    Meg didn’t dare look at her mother, and no one spoke for several long moments. Finally Meg said, “Daniel Weston was murdered? At that farm stand?”
    Marcus nodded once. “Yes.”
    “Do you have any suspects yet?” Apart from my mother?
    “We’re talking to quite a few people—including your mother. The general picture is that Weston was well liked by his colleagues, he had a clean record, he was happy with his wife, his kids are upstanding citizens. Your mother is the only wild card in the bunch.”
    “What about the people who were here today at the service?” Meg pressed.
    “We’ll follow up on them, of course.”
    Elizabeth broke in, her voice steely. “Detective, as I have already explained to you more than once, Daniel called me out of the blue and invited me to come visit. I had no conflicting commitments, so I agreed. I have no idea why he chose this particular time, because we never discussed it. We spent some pleasant time together, but we were effectively strangers these days, despite our past shared history. There’s nothing more I can tell you. I very much regret that he’s dead, but I had nothing to do with it.”
    “And you’ve never visited that farm stand where he was found?”
    “Of course not! Why would I? I have no idea where it even is. I came here to see Daniel, not to buy vegetables.”
    Marcus waited a few beats before responding. “Will you be staying in the area for a while?”
    Elizabeth’s glance darted at Meg again. “If you wish. I have no current obligations back home.”
    “What about your husband?”
    “I don’t know what he could add to what I’ve already told you, but I will be sure to let you know when I hear from him.”
    “Thank you.” Marcus stood up abruptly. “I’ll be in touch.”
    When he turned to go, Meg followed him, and when they were out of her mother’s hearing, she said, “Detective, what did you hope to find out from her?”
    He regarded her gravely. “I don’t know, but she’s the only thing out of place in this whole scene. I don’t trust coincidences. Listen, if she tells you anything she didn’t feel like sharing with me, will you let me know?”
    Meg wondered how she was supposed to respond to that: he was asking her to rat out her mother. But she had to admit that she couldn’t rid herself either of the nagging feeling that Elizabeth hadn’t been completely honest. “Yes, I’ll tell you. But there’s no way she killed anyone, so you’d better look hard at the other people on your list.”
    Marcus’s mouth twitched. “You’re the expert.”
    Before Meg could come up with a response, he was gone. She was annoyed at him, frustrated by her mother’s reticence, bewildered by the whole situation, and stressed out by the