Chapter 11

So Lars Draken was a suspect in the poisoning death of Bert Bradley and the attempted murder of Seth. Five years ago Seth was the expert witness who testified against Draken, and his medical testimony helped convict Draken of killing his wife, although the murder weapon had never been found.

Mort had parked the patrol car in front of Lars' old house, now occupied by his new, second wife. The three of them got out of car.

"I better warn you," Mort said, "with Seth accompanying us, I don't think Stacy Draken, the new wife, will be all that receptive with us."

"We'll just have to be very respectful to her," Jessica suggested.

"I don't think it helps with that sheriff's uniform you're wearing, either, Mort," Seth commented, "She probably won't take kindly to law officers."

"But being a law officer, I can inform you that you have the right to remain silent, Doc, so please exercise that right," Mort deadpanned back.

In direct contrast to the rest of the block, the Draken's home was overflowing with flowering plants everywhere. Hydrangea bushes greeted them as they walked up the pathway. There were beds of roses, azaleas, and lilies, while morning glory vines crept up all along the fences.

"Oh my," observed Jessica, "it's obvious this new Mrs. Draken is quite a gardner!"

"It's colorful, alright," Seth agreed, "but, sadly, it reminded me of the flowers at Bert's wake!"

Now at the door, Mort knocked.

Stacy Draken opened it. She was a woman in her early 30's with nondescript brown hair. Rather plain looking and drab.

"Yes?"

"Mrs. Draken," Mort spoke out, "I'm Sheriff Metzger from Cabot Cove and these are my friends, Jessica Fletcher and Dr. Seth Hazlitt. We'd like to talk with you for a few minutes, if you don't mind."

Stacy was focused on Seth.

"Hazlitt, I recognize that name," she stated coolly.

Then instead of opening the door wider, she stepped out and closed the door behind her.

"This is about my husband, isn't it?"

Mort acknowledged, "We're looking into the death of Police Captain Bert Bradley. There is a possibility that he was murdered in connection with your husband's old case."

Stacy looked suspicious, "So I was right. You aren't here to help my Lars...Are you saying you think Lars might have killed this police captain, too?"

Jessica tried to be gentle, "We have to check all possibilities, Mrs. Draken. And to be truthful, your husband had made a threat against the police captain after he was convicted."

"Wouldn't YOU be upset if you were wrongly convicted?" she asked, her eyes looking at Jessica with disdain.

This caused Seth to step forward, so that he was in between Jessica and Stacy.

"We aren't here to cause trouble," Seth stated diplomatically, "we just want to rule him out as a suspect."

"How could he have killed anyone, anyway?" Stacy's eyes flashed with anger at Seth, "Thanks to YOUR testimony, Doctor, he has an alibi; he's been in prison these past five years!"

"Killers sometimes have accomplices," Mort suggested.

Stacy narrowed her eyes suspiciously, "Now you're accusing ME of being a murderer?!"

During this exchange, Jessica's attention had waned and she walked away, looking about the front yard. Stacy stretched her neck to call Jessica back.

"Yoohoo, Lady!" she yelled at Jessica as she walked towards her and the two men followed, "Come back here! Where the hell you going?!"

Jessica gave Stacy her loveliest smile.

"I was just admiring your lovely garden, Mrs. Draken," she commented, "I putter around my own garden, but I could never get the flowers as bright and beautiful as the ones you display here! You are a natural gardener."

Stacy looked confused but relieved by the change in subject.

"Yeah, well...thanks, I guess. Gardening has always been a hobby of mine. I used to keep a little windowsill garden of geraniums when I lived in my tiny apartment, so I really enjoyed tending flowers in this big yard."

"You've done an excellent job!" Jessica complimented, "And how long have you been growing this enchanting garden here?"

Meanwhile Seth and Mort were looking at Jessica like she was crazy.

"Seven months," Stacy proudly announced, "I moved here a month before I got married. Lars wanted me to look after the house, while he was uh,...away."

"Oh, that was certainly a smart play on his part!" Jessica nodded approvingly.

She then wandered off again.

Again Stacy followed her, watching Jessica's movements carefully.

"Heyyyyy," she suddenly realized, "You're not admiring my flowers...you're snooping! I don't know what you're looking for, Lady, but you're not going to find it here!"

Jessica momentarily stopped.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Draken, I didn't mean to upset you," she apologized, " and your garden truly IS quite lovely, but something tells me that there's more to the garden than what it appears...but...I just can't put my finger on it..."

She began walking again, as Stacy caught up with her.

"You have no right to traipse about my garden!" Stacy declared, "The three of you need to leave NOW!"

"Alright, if you insist," Jessica obliged pleasantly as Mort and Seth confusingly looked on.

She exited the pathway, with the others following close behind.

Jessica stopped when she reached the sidewalk.

"Mort, the murder weapon was never found, correct?" she asked cryptically.

He acknowledged, "You're right."

"And what kind of weapon was it again?" she asked Seth.

"It was some type of metal, " Seth explained, still wondering what Jessica was up to, "with two flattened points at one end, much like a crowbar."

"A crowbar..." murmured Jessica under her breath. Then outloud she said, "you know, if the murder weapon was never found inside the house...perhaps the killer hid it outside!"

Mort looked surprised, "You mean, somewhere, HERE?" he asked, looking about.

"That's crazy, CRAZY I tell you!" Stacy instantly yelled at Jessica, "for your information, the police already searched the front yard! They even ran a metal detector all over the place!"

"They did?" Mort questioned.

"You bet they did!" Stacy nodded vigorously, "and they found NOTHING!"

That piece of news did sound rather discouraging.

But Jessica continued scanning and finally walked over to where the streetlamp was embedded in the grass patch next to the curb, and thoroughly examined the area, while Seth and Mort continued to look confused.

"Mrs. Draken, did you plant those hydrangeas around that public streetlamp over there?" Jessica next asked.

"I did," Stacy stated petulantly, "So?"

Jessica pointed, "It's just that that patch of hydrangeas over there are a solid pink color, yet on the other side," she pointed, "the hydrangeas are starting to come in blue."

"So?" Stacy repeated herself.

"Can a crowbar be made of aluminum?" Jessica asked Mort.

"Sure," answered Mort, "although the titanium ones are better. Aluminum ones tend to rust and corrode easier. Why, Mrs. F?"

"I enjoy growing hydrangeas, myself," Jessica explained "and I know they tend to be sensitive to acidity in the soil, like aluminum. The rust can change their color. See this whole row of pink flowers here?" she pointed, "They're unchanged. But on this other side, the flowers have a tint of blue to them. I think if we dig underneath here, we may just find the murder weapon!"

"No, that doesn't make sense!" Stacy looked scared, "the hydrangeas turned blue because it's so close to the lamppost, which is made of metal, too!"

"That's not true," Seth reasoned, "lamppost are made of galvanized steel so that it WOULDN'T rust!"

"That riight!" Mort jumped in, "That's why when the police came along with their metal detectors, they got 'pings' in this area! They just assumed it was because of the lamppost and ignored the warning pings!"

"Welllllll, I won't allow you to get further evidence against Lars!" Stacy was adamant, "No way will you dig up MY garden. You have no authority!"

"That's where you're wrong, Mrs. Draken," Mort said, sounding very official, "Number one, we don't need your permission to dig around here, since this section with the lamppost is considered public land, and two, we don't need further evidence against your husband, because he's already been convicted!"

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And later when the lamppost area where blue hydrangeas grew was dug up, they found a rusting crowbar hidden in the dirt. Subsequent tests confirmed Lars' fingerprints on one end and his first wife's blood on the other end of the weapon.

So Seth could breathe a sigh of relief because they had convicted the right man.

But because Lars was guilty and already sentenced to prison for life, he probably wouldn't want to suddenly go on a murderous revenge spree, especially if that would only bring attention back to the murder conviction of his wife.

So, unfortunately, Mort, Seth and Jessica were back to square one in finding out who had poisoned Bert Bradley and Seth.

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