A Corpse for Yew Read Online Free

pliable. She pushed at it, thinking it might be some form of plant life or even a dead fish. Instead, as she prodded it, the round white surface moved, revealing the face of a dead woman with bright red lips.

2
    Weeping Willow
    Botanical: Salix babylonica
    China is the original home of the lovely weeping willow tree. It can grow to twenty-five feet tall and has rough bark. It will grow quickly in a season but does not like drought, though an otherwise dead tree can be brought back to life with a single cutting once the weather turns wet. The tree symbolizes renewal, growth, and vitality.

    “CAN ANYONE ID THE DECEDENT?” Mosquitoes and flies buzzed Charlotte Police Detective Al McDonald. He ignored those he could, and swatted at the rest. He held his tattered notebook in one hand while he looked over what had become a crime scene.
    He’d addressed the question to the entire group, but with no reply forthcoming, Peggy responded. “She was Lois Mullis. She was supposed to meet everyone out here, but when she didn’t show up, they assumed her lumbago had kept her home.”
    Al glanced up from writing down the information. All eight of the Shamrock Historical Society members stared back at him. They were covered in mud and had various twigs, plants, and other debris on their clothes and in their hair. “Peggy, can I have a word with you?” He nodded at the rest of the group and walked a few yards away to wait for her.
    “What do you think is wrong, Margaret?” her mother whispered, a worried line etched into her forehead. “You don’t think he thinks any of us did this, do you?”
    “At this point, he doesn’t know what to think. John used to say you never knew what was happening for at least a day or two. Right now, Al doesn’t even know what killed Mrs. Mullis. It may be natural causes. He has to ask these questions. It’s part of his investigation.”
    Peggy knew the routine all too well after thirty years of marriage to a police officer, then homicide detective, for the Charlotte Police Department. John Lee seldom spoke in great detail about his investigations, but she had learned through the years to read between the lines and fill in what he didn’t say. Most of the time, she was dead-on.
    She was sure it had something to do with her own recent pursuit of criminal investigations. Her part in looking into those happenings was mostly guesswork until her newfound occupation working as a contract forensic botanist for the police. Now the cases she was involved with were more than secondhand information. And she loved it.
    Cautioning her mother and the other society members to remain calm, Peggy left them standing by the large brown van with the shamrock logo on it and walked to where Al waited near a beautiful weeping willow tree. “What is it?”
    “I feel like I’m questioning my mother’s bridge club,” he complained. “Where did you find these people?”
    She explained about her mother’s involvement with the group. “You must’ve forgotten to take your vitamins today if they’re bothering you. Not that I think any of them was involved with what happened to Mrs. Mullis.”
    “Of course not. What a surprise! Peggy Lee, champion of the innocent, thinking these people could do no wrong.”
    She raised one cinnamon-colored brow above a bright green eye. “You are out of sorts, aren’t you?”
    Al nodded toward the body, which was being removed from the dry lake. “Do you know who Lois Mullis is?”
    “Besides being treasurer of the Shamrock Historical Society? No, not really. I met her briefly at our swearing-in party a few weeks ago. She didn’t seem like anyone out of the ordinary to me.”
    “You spend too much time in that garden shop, Peggy. Lois Mullis is the chief’s aunt. She gives to every charity in Mecklenburg County, attends every ball, tournament, and society function we have. And she’s dead on my beat in suspicious circumstances. That means triple paperwork, really bad headaches,