Fed up

braids in her champagne. “I’d like to make a toast. To Adrianna and Owen, on the impending arrival of the fruit of their union!” Naomi removed her hair from her glass and took a long drink.
    My parents and Josh made loving toasts, as did Owen’s father and Nana Sally, both of whom welcomed Adrianna to the family. Kitty made the best toast of which she was capable: none at all. I watched to make sure that Nelson was filming all of the speeches, as he was, probably because Robin stayed right by his side and kept muttering directions and scolding him for not following all of her orders. At one point, their bickering began to escalate, but Robin had the sense to shoo Nelson out of the tent to finish the spat.
    I went back to the buffet table to help myself to the lamb. Then I set my plate down and filled a small bowl with the incredible roasted pumpkin stew. I took a spoonful of the stew. Heaven! Rich, gooey, and cheesy. As I ate, I walked slowly along the edge of the tent to survey the scene and fix it in my memory. As I was wondering whether Robin and Nelson would be able to resolve their differences for long enough to finish filming the wedding, I heard Nelson’s voice and then Robin’s. The two were no distance from me; only the fabric of the tent separated us.
    “You’re getting the angles all wrong, Nelson, and—”
    “I swear on my mother’s life, Robin, if you don’t shut up and let me record this thing how I want, I’ll blow your dirty little secret. How’d you like that, huh?”
    “What are you talking about? You don’t know anything.” Robin was seething.
    “Oh, yeah? I know about you and Leo Loverboy. So, now what do you have to say for yourself, Ms. Director? I bet a lot of people would be interested in that. You two have been going at it for months. And having him be the chosen shopper for the show was no accident. You set that whole thing up. So shut your trap about what I film.”
     

 
    WHOA! The conversation stopped me in my tracks.
    Robin and Nelson reappeared in the wedding tent, but I lingered at periphery of the crowd. Robin had been having an affair with Leo. Even though she had no garden, she had bought foxglove, which was not a houseplant. Because of the gardening film she’d made with my parents, she’d known of the nursery where she’d bought the plants and known of their toxicity. It was she who’d chosen Leo as the featured shopper; she’d engineered his participation and thus, of course, Francie’s. Once in the house with Francie, she’d poisoned food that Francie but not Leo would eat. Robin must have prepared the plants in a way that made it easy to slip the poison into the food that Josh had served to Francie. According to what I’d read about foxglove, every part of the plant was so toxic that the preparation would have required no skill. And if others, too, were poisoned? Robin hadn’t cared. If others got sick, or even if they died, so much the better! Francie’s death, instead of appearing to be a deliberate murder with Francie as the victim, would pass as an accident—in other words, exactly what the police officer saw it as when he arrived at the house. What’s more, after Francie’s death, it had been Robin who’d arranged to have me remove Francie’s clothing from the house; Robin had used me to eradicate the traces of her lover’s ex-wife.
    Had Leo known of Robin’s plan? Had he known that he’d be the Chefly Yours shopper and that Robin was going to poison his wife during the filming? Or had he realized only after Francie’s death that his lover had murdered his wife? Suddenly, my focus shifted to my own safety. As soon as Robin saw the wedding footage, she’d see and hear the exchange between Héctor and me that Digger had translated. She’d learn that I’d been interested in the purchase of foxglove and that Emilio’s cousin had identified her as the buyer. She’d immediately conclude that I was piecing together the elements of the murder.
    But I couldn’t spoil Adrianna’s wedding reception. Despite Josh’s eccentric tuxedo, my father’s tar fiasco, Josh’s fistfight with Emilio, the consequent damage to the flowers, and Evan and Willie’s attempted shotgun prank, we had avoided ruinous catastrophes; the ceremony had been beautiful; Adrianna and Owen were now, in fact, married; the food was even more delicious than I’d expected; and the reception was lively and joyous. I would simply have to wait until the bride and groom