Drizzled with Death(54)

“I’d appreciate your spreading that kind of rumor around if you feel like you can and the opportunity crops up. I’m afraid my business is going to suffer a serious blow on account of this mess.”

“I’m not one to hold my tongue when I think something is worth shouting about. I’ll tell you what, if the police clear this up and it turns out you aren’t in the middle somewhere, I’ll put in a good word for you wherever I can.”

“Thanks so much. I could use all the help I can get. Alanza Speedwell’s death may be the death blow for Greener Pastures.”

“Alanza Speedwell. I knew I’d heard that name from somewhere besides the evening news. She called my office about a sugaring operation.”

“When was this?” Excitement buzzed in my brain, like a fly trapped against a sunny pane of glass.

“Let me think. I am pretty sure it was last week.”

“Can you be more specific?”

“She called just as I got back from my trip to the dentist for a filling. I get a little too into my work sometimes and test a bit more maple candy than is strictly necessary. I remember that I had a spot of trouble getting her to understand me at first because of the Novocain, but as the conversation went on, things improved. That would make it Thursday afternoon.” Thursday. What could have happened as a result of her conversation with the organic inspector that could have led to someone deciding to kill her?

“Do you remember what she asked you about?” It was worth a shot.

“Generally speaking, I wouldn’t feel comfortable telling you something like that. But seeing as how the dead woman has landed you in such a heap of trouble, I’ll tell you.”

“Thanks for stretching your limits.”

“Is that a short joke?”

“No sir. I am in no kind of position to be looking down on anyone else.”

“I’m just fooling. Where were we?”

“Alanza’s call. Her questions.”

“Right. Now let’s see. It was her second call to the office, now that I come to think of it. Such an unusual name, I should have thought of it right off, but my memory isn’t quite what it used to be.”

“When did she call the first time?”

“Maybe a month back. She wanted to know all about the rules regulating sugaring operations and how difficult it would be to start one up.” About a month earlier would have made it just around the same time she lost the snowmobile election.

“Difficult how?”

“Oh, permits, equipment, fertilizers, and tree maintenance issues.”

“So nothing out of the ordinary?”

“Nope, not really. I gave her a brief rundown of what was required in terms of equipment to get started. I told her not to get all worked up about spending on the most advanced stuff before she had tried her hand at it at all.”

“Was she listening to your advice, do you think?”

“Well, she called back again, didn’t she?”

“What would she have needed a second time?”

“Fertilizers.”

“Fertilizers?” There wasn’t too much call for fertilizers during the late fall in New Hampshire. And maple sugaring doesn’t rely heavily on fertilizers the same way many other commercial crops do.

“She wanted to know the average schedule for fertilizing a sugar bush.”

“What did you tell her?”

“I told her what you would expect, that a sugar bush doesn’t need too much in the way of fertilizers and that she would want to look for certain plants growing in the bush alongside the maples which indicate soil fertility. I recommended she hire a forester to give her property a once-over and make recommendations.”

“Did she ask anything else?”

“She wanted to know if pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers had to be registered with the state in order to be available or professionally applied.”

“They do, don’t they?” Our motto may be “Live Free or Die,” but we do have some limits.

“Of course. I told her there was a listing right on the website of all the registered fertilizers in the state, but when she asked me if I had heard of one in particular, I went ahead and checked it for her. It was easy enough for me to do instead of asking her to navigate the website herself.”

“Can you remember the name of the fertilizer?”

“It was kind of cutesy, with a funny spelling that stuck in my memory. Best Bett All in One. I wrote it down because there was nothing with that name listed and we are eager to track down people selling nonlicensed fertilizers or pesticides. Those things are regulated for a reason, missy.” The gnome harrumphed again, with an even more exaggerated throat clearing than before.