Murder Crops Up Read Online Free PDF

rounded the corner and approached the area of fence that Lois was rebuilding to suit herself. She had gotten a couple of other people to put up the fence posts. They were pouring in concrete around the pressure-treated lumber as we went by. Lois gave me a baleful look, probably because I’d stopped doing her bidding.
    “I saw Lois had you digging postholes.” Tamiko glanced at me. “I didn’t realize she was putting up a real fence there."
    “Neither did Rita.” I nodded at the garden manager, who stood by the Dumpster, making sure no one left their debris on the ground. She gave us her usual wide smile as we came up.
    “The Dumpster is getting full,” she announced.
    “I’ll pack it down, then.” I swung myself up, not without effort, and stomped down on the tangle of weeds and other debris. Tamiko handed up her tarp and my bucket, and I stomped them in.
    “Well, that was a good thought,” Rita said. “I don’t know if anyone else can get anything in there, though.”
    “What about this?” I turned around at the new voice. Carlotta Houseman stood beside the Dumpster, clutching a handful of Bermuda grass. I knew Carlotta from the senior writing workshop I led, although she was not a particularly welcome member.
    “I can’t reach, Liz.” Her nasal whine grated on my ears just as it did in class. She smiled demurely. With her fluffy white hair and rounded body, she looked like everyone’s dream grandmother. But I could see the malice in her expression.
    Carlotta and I had tangled when I’d inherited my house from one of her neighbors. Carlotta had wanted me to join her in selling to a developer who planned to build townhouses. I had refused, and Carlotta had never forgiven me. Despite eventually realizing a tidy sum on her house, she still believed she could have gotten a better price if I had cooperated. And she seemed determined to make me sorry I hadn’t followed her wishes.
    “I didn’t know you were a gardener, Carlotta.”
    “Oh, I’m just helping out a friend,” Carlotta said sweetly. “Could you put this up there for me?” She batted her eyelashes helplessly at me.
    “I guess.” I took the Bermuda grass and chinned myself on the Dumpster again, getting it all in. Or so I thought.
    “You dropped some,” Carlotta observed, her faded eyes glinting. “But then, you’re so careless with Bermuda grass. Aren’t you, Liz?”
    She turned and walked away, leaving me staring after her. Tamiko glanced from me to her.
    “She’s the one,” she said under her breath.
    “Excuse me?” Rita thrust herself between us. “What was that all about?”
    “That woman, whoever she is, was going around this morning saying that Liz put Bermuda grass in Webster’s garden, and maybe in a couple more. And some other nasty rumors, too.” Tamiko regarded me thoughtfully. “Now, why would she want to do that? You know her, don’t you, Liz?”
    “I know her.” I thought about the disruptions Carlotta had been causing in the writing workshop, the insinuations she kept making about my lack of morals and untrustworthiness. Evidently her whispering had fallen on fertile ground at the community garden. I watched her pause beside Lois and say something to her. They both turned to look at me. I regarded them steadily, and after a moment Lois looked away, her cheeks wearing bright spots of color. Carlotta continued to watch me, her small mouth pursed in a smile.
    “Well, she’s no friend of yours, believe me.” Tamiko began to scoop some of the wood chips from a nearby pile onto her tarp. I helped her, wrinkling up my nose at the moldy dust that rose from the pile.
    Rita tossed her ponytail. “Looks like Lois is making more trouble. I may have to do something about her.”
    “What could you do? She’s got a lot of adherents in the garden.” Tamiko asked the question as if it were all academic, and as far as I knew it was.
    “I have some aces up my sleeve,” Rita replied, looking smug. “And it’s about