A Taste of Death (Maggie Olenski Series) by Mary Ellen Hughes Page B

"Oh, isn't it lovely, Dyna," she said, cringing inwardly as she heard herself sound just like one of her mother's gushy friends. "How do you keep them so healthy?"
    Leslie shrugged again. "I don't take care of them. They came with the house, and Mrs. Hanson waters them, I guess."
    Maggie wandered around the room, which was bright and sunny, and, with its tropical decor, a stark contrast to the bare trees and snow visible through the windows. She bent down to sniff at a blooming camellia. "Mmm, wonderful." A tall palm stood in its pot nearby. "I could spend all day in a room like this. Doesn't it make you want to stretch out in a swim suit and soak up the sun?"
    Leslie was about to say something when Mrs. Hanson's voice sailed in calling, "Mrs. Warwick. It's the caterer. Shall I have him call back later?"
    "No, I'd better talk to him. Excuse me," she said to Maggie and Dyna, "I'll just be a minute."
    The moment she left the room, Maggie hissed to Dyna, "Stick close. I'm going to take samples." She immediately began breaking off parts of each of the plants in the room.
    "What are you doing?" Dyna whispered, wide-eyed.
    "I'll explain later." Maggie broke off a piece of the potted palm. "How can we carry these? I don't have a purse. Did you bring one?" Maggie tested the pockets of her jeans, which fit closely and found they wouldn't hold more than a leaf or two.
    "No, I hate purses," Dyna said. "I don't know. Wait, put them in here." Dyna held out the front pocket-pouch of her hooded sweatshirt, and Maggie quickly shoved the twigs already filling her hands into it. By the time Leslie returned, the pouch had been fully packed, and Dyna kept a hand at each side to keep greenery from slipping out. Maggie thought the look on her face was priceless, a combination of "who, me?" innocence, and "please don't ask me to shake hands" worry. She would have laughed if the situation weren't so serious.
    They followed Leslie back to the living room where she immediately freshened her drink. "That was Dan Morgan. He's doing the food for the fund raiser."
    "Fund raiser?" Maggie asked.
    "Yes, weeks ago Jack and I agreed to hold a fund-raising buffet dinner here to benefit the school. They need a new library, and Jack, of course, was looking for ways to ingratiate himself with the town. It's gotten a lot of promotion ever since, and I don't see any reason not to go ahead with it."
    She really doesn't see any reason, does she, Maggie thought.
    "I don't suppose you knew about it, but everyone will be here. The PTA ladies are handling the ticket sales. I hope you'll both come? It's the day after tomorrow."
    Maggie nodded, slowly. "I guess...." She looked over at Dyna, who sat looking a little plumper than she had when she first arrived, her hands still stuffed into each side of her pouch.
    "Sure," Dyna said, nodding stiffly. She seemed afraid of talking too much, as if taking in the extra breath needed would call attention to her lumpy bell y.
    Leslie didn't seem to be noticing much, though, her thoughts on other things. "The food will be wonderful, since Dan's doing it. Have you ever tried his wild mushroom soup? It's out of this world. I always ordered it when we ate at his restaurant. He sent some over after, well, after, you know, that town meeting, which was so kind of him, don't you think? Anyway, there'll be loads of flowers. And music. We'll move the baby grand into the...." Leslie suddenly screamed as Ali, the orange cat, appeared from nowhere and leaped up onto her lap.
    "Get off! Get off!" She had partially risen from her chair, but the cat stubbornly refused to jump off, his claws anchored firmly in her clothing. "Mrs. Hanson!" Maggie stood up to help and had just about pried him loose when the housekeeper appeared at her shoulder to take him from her.
    "I was in the laundry room, Mrs. Warwick," she explained, agitated. "I don't know how he gets out! He's like a demon cat."
    "A demon, yes! He's a devil cat. I won't have him around me! I