I looked up at Lowell coming through the door. Thinking back, it seems he must not have spotted Brantley, not that I can blame him since he was almost completely hidden by a stack of crates displaying maple leaf printed dish towels, place mats, and napkins.
“Dani, we need to talk right away.” His voice was forceful and worried, two things I never associate with Lowell. He is always calm in any crisis. Tell him you lopped off an arm and he’d be tying a dog leash around what’s left while speaking with quiet authority to 911. I almost dropped my coffee cup at his tone.
“Can it wait?” Whatever it was, I knew I didn’t want to know it. No one is ever happy to know what will be said by someone who sounds like he did.
“No, it can’t. I got the results from the state lab. Alanza Speedwell was poisoned by ingesting Greener Pastures syrup. Something called Compound 1080 or sodium fluoroacetate. It’s a highly toxic pesticide that’s been off the market for quite some time.” My Adam’s apple froze in mid-bob. I should have been thinking of something else, I’m sure, but for some reason all I could focus on was whether or not an Adam’s apple could actually get stuck like an elevator trapped between floors. I was starting to feel a wave of panic crashing down on me when the gnome snapped me out of it and reminded me of what was important. Brantley stepped out to a spot where Lowell could see him.
“Did you say the syrup from this establishment killed someone?”
“Who are you?” Lowell looked a little like I must have when I spotted Brantley on my porch.
“I’m the state ag inspector here to review an application for organic certification, which no longer seems necessary.” He looked me over from head to foot. “No wonder you were so jumpy this morning. I should have put things together a little faster. The pancake breakfast incident on Saturday. That’s where I had heard the name Sugar Grove recently.”
“I’m afraid so. And I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t go telling all you know to anyone,” Lowell said.
“All I’m gonna say is this inspection is over. And I think you’ve got bigger problems than organic. This place is gonna be shut down completely.”
Lowell and I watched as the gnome fled as fast as his short little legs would carry him. He was out the door and down the drive in less time than it took a camel to swallow a homemade granola bar.
“I need to let the family know what is going on.”
“Yes, you do. But I wouldn’t be too worried. We tested all the other jugs at the breakfast and hers was the only one that had been tampered with. I will need to check out your supply, though.” Lowell clapped a gentle hand down on my shoulder.
“What a nightmare. Can you imagine what it will do to business if any more syrup is found to be poisoned?”
“Try not to think about it too much. You’ve got all kinds of things to worry about, like surviving the holidays and finding a husband.”
“Don’t you start in on my love life. I’ve got enough trouble between Knowlton and Mitch.”
“And don’t forget about the camel who sounds like quite the kisser.”
“You heard about that?”
“Of course.”
“You will tell the family about it gently, right? You know how Grampa looks like a strong blustery guy but something like this is really going to throw him for a loop.”
“I’ll be careful. And I’ll reassure them we only found poison in the syrup at Alanza’s place setting.”
“I’m not entirely sure that will help.”
“You know I’m going to have to ask some uncomfortable questions to eliminate you as suspects, right?” Lowell looked at his uniform shoes and I thought I saw the faintest bit of a blush spread under his cheeks. I had never considered how a crime might worm its way between Lowell and my family. He had always seemed like one of us more than not. I often forget about Lowell having any family other than us. His parents died in a house fire along with the family dog while Lowell was away in the service. He came back to Sugar Grove at the end of his hitch and my family tried to fill his loss.
My father had been his best friend since early childhood, and he had spent as much time in our house as his own for years. The same could be said in reverse for my father, and the loss of the elder Matthews had hit him hard. The death of the Matthewses was one of the reasons the Sap Bucket Brigade’s fund-raiser was such a popular cause. My first thought was to realize what a terrible position Lowell was in. My second was to feel even angrier at whoever had done this thing and had brought this sort of mess to our community.