Reap a Wicked Harvest by Janis Harrison

up?”
    â€œI don’t remember. I got the feeling that she was looking for information, but she never told me what she wanted. We talked about things from my world and from hers. She admired my people and how their beliefs kept them unpretentious. She said that deception wasn’t normally her way. To scheme felt wrong.”
    Scheme? That was interesting. I followed it up by asking, “Do you remember what you’d been talking about when she made that comment?”
    â€œDan had told her that there are orchid blooms that mimic a particular female insect. That way the bloom will appear attractive and will be pollinated and survive. I told Marnie I think human nature and Mother Nature have much in common. Deception is shared in both worlds. For plants this trickery is a marvel, but in humans it is sometimes wicked.”
    All along I’d thought Marnie had something specific in mind with this talk about questions and answers. Now I find that she’d also talked about deception and scheming. I looked at Jacob. “I don’t suppose Marnie gave you any details about this scheme of hers?”
    â€œNo, and I didn’t ask.” He ducked his head. “We were just talking. I didn’t know that it was important.” He raised his head to meet my gaze. “I chose to leave my family and observe Rumschpringes so I could learn more about the entire world, not just the Amish way of life.”

    He gestured disparagingly. “But I’m like a newborn calf. I want to stand on my own two feet, but I keep stumbling. There were questions I could have asked, but I didn’t. There were things I could have done, but I didn’t.”
    â€œThat’s called hindsight, Jacob. We all wish we’d done things differently in our lives.”
    Overcome with emotion, he blinked his eyes, but the sheen of tears glistened. “A second chance is all I’m asking for. One more chance.”
    Puzzled, I asked, “To do what? Nothing will bring Marnie back.”
    Jacob dashed a hand across his eyes. “Marnie?” he said, sounding confused. “Yes. Of course. I know.”
    The poor guy was really broken up. I touched him lightly on the shoulder. “I’m sorry to keep pressing you to remember things, but I want Marnie’s killer caught.”
    â€œI don’t think I’m helping you.”
    I wanted to agree, but I pointed to Dan’s laboratory instead. “Have you been in there?” I asked.
    Jacob shook his head. “I’ve looked through the glass door. Orchids don’t interest me. They’re too—uh—” He lifted a shoulder. “I don’t know what the word is.”
    â€œAlien?” I said. Seeing Jacob’s baffled expression, I added, “Different, strange, or maybe weird.”
    â€œI don’t like the words strange or weird. Different is a better description. It doesn’t sound so judgmental.” Jacob gestured to his T-shirt and shorts. “Dressed like this I can walk down any street in River City, and no one gives me a second glance. But if I were dressed in my Amish clothes, people would gawk, point, or say cruel things.
    â€œMarnie said she liked me because I am open and truthful. She said she didn’t want to be deceitful, but sometimes the end
justified the means.” Jacob’s brow wrinkled in thought. “Marnie must have meant that if she did something wrong it would end in something right. But she is dead, and her killer is free.” He held out his hands. “Where is the justice?”
    I didn’t have an answer—yet. But without hesitation, I assured Jacob that I was working on it. My statement amazed me. I never thought that I, Bretta Solomon, would get purposely involved in an investigation but apparently, DeeDee was right. My subconscious was always at work. I picked up information, stored away impressions, and listened to what people had to say.
    At the moment,