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pink marigold? Surely Dr. Eastman, who was so knowledgeable about plant patents, wouldn’t play the sort of trick Jane was thinking of. Turning around, she glanced at Geneva Jackson, who had remained in her chair at the back of the room. Geneva was smiling.
    “How did you do that?“ Miss Martha Winstead asked in awed tones.
    “Through long and tedious cross-breeding,“ Dr. Eastman said. “Tomorrow I’ll bring a copy of my data that you can glance over to get an idea of how it is arranged and the detailing that’s necessary as well as what the patent applications look like.“
    “This is truly sensational, and that’s not a word I use lightly,“ Martha said. “When will they be available to the public?“
    “Not for another two years or maybe three. Since they have to be asexually produced, I’ll have to hire out the growing to all the plant growers I can find. Fortunately, we have the advantage of cloning now. It’s far more expensive, but much faster. Marigolds aren’t prone to rooting from slips.”
    Nobody in the room could tear their eyes away from the astonishing plants.
    “I’ll be the first to buy them,“ Ursula said. “They’re amazing and will look so good in with my herbs.”
    Eastman nodded to Bryan, the helper, who carefully set the top of the box back in place and carried it away.

Six

    As Shelley and Jane headed out from the community center to have lunch at their favorite Mexican restaurant, they gushed about the extraordinary pink marigold.
    “Just think how much work went into creating such a thing,“ Shelley said. “I would never have the patience to do all that. Didn’t someone have a long-running contest for a pure white marigold?“
    “I remember that, too. I don’t think they ever got anything whiter than a light cream color.“
    “Nor would I even have thought of trying to get a pink one if I were in that business.“
    “You know, that’s the thing about this morning that surprised me most,“ Jane said. “That it is a business. A very serious one. I always thought that new plants were much easier to come up with than it appears. There must be big money involved or nobody’d wait years.“
    “I wouldn’t be surprised. When the pink marigold hits the nurseries, it’ll sell in millions. I wonder how we could ask about the money part.”
    Jane looked down her cast, which was already getting grubby around the toes. “Did you notice that Geneva Jackson didn’t come up to look at the plants?“
    “I didn’t. But she has more important things on her mind.“
    “But she was smiling as we gawked.“
    “Was she really?“ Shelley said, taking a corner so fast that it made the wheels of her van squeal.
    “Didn’t you have the feeling that Dr. Eastman knew her pretty well?“ Jane asked in a shaky voice. The worst thing about the broken foot was having to be Shelley’s passenger.
    “Which one of them?“
    “Both Julie and Geneva, it sounded like.“
    “Come to think of it, it did seem that way,“ Shelley said, beating out another van for the last parking place in front of the restaurant and waving cheerily at the other driver.
    “You can’t park here,“ Jane said. “It’s a handicapped parking spot and I forgot to bring along the sticker they gave me to hang on the rearview mirror.“
    “You’re obviously handicapped, if only for a little while.“
    “I think Geneva might be one of his ‘secret’ growers. If so, it would explain why she didn’t come look at the plants. She’s probably seen hundreds of them.”
    Jane struggled out of the van, coming down a little too hard on her injured foot. But it was worth it to be free of Shelley’s driving.
    They got their favorite booth near the front window and made much of studying the menu, even though both of them had it pretty well memorized from their many previous visits.
    The waitress saw Jane’s crutches and exclaimed, “What in the world did you do to yourself?“
    “I tripped on a curb.”
    The waitress