Read Nipped in the Bud for Free Online Page A

crowd, his fingers pointing with his demands.
    A satisfied look on his face, he strutted toward our table, looking Lisa and me over as if trying to decide something. “You both find the body?” he asked.
    I shook my head and explained how I found Bud and when Lisa showed up, adding that Lisa should be allowed to leave as soon as Perry arrived to take her home.
    “You, come with me,” he said.
    You? Did he just say you? Didn’t he recognize me? Or was he still miffed after all this time? “Paige. My name’s Paige Turner.”
    “Don’t worry, I remember you. How could I forget? Come on.” He latched onto my elbow and plodded across the open area to another table. “Sit.”
    I slowly lowered myself onto the bench. “Why’d you drag me over here? I need to stay with Lisa. She’s really upset.”
    “And I need to keep the two of you apart until we get both your statements.”
    I stood. “That’s just crazy. Lisa had nothing to do with this.”
    Mitch held out his hand. “This isn’t optional, Paige. Like it or not, your friend is part of this investigation. If you talk to her about what happened, one of you might change your story. Not on purpose, but it happens.”
    I gave Lisa one last look then settled onto the splintered bench. “What do you need?”
    He asked me a series of rapid-fire questions. First about Bud and exactly how I found him then about my whereabouts during the day. Though I was distraught, I calmly handled all of them until he chastised me for disturbing evidence. That’s when I finally snapped.
    “I already told you about that. I didn’t know he was under the chips until I used the shovel. The only other thing I did was feel his wrist for a pulse.”
    “Right, you did mention that.” Mitch’s face tightened, and his eyes narrowed in what must have been his practiced bad-cop glare. “I found several shovels inside the fence. All of them yours?”
    “All the tools are mine. I told you that before, too.”
    “When’s the last time you touched the shovel with the blue handle?”
    There were several shovels in the enclosure, but I knew exactly which one he meant. “I don’t know. Maybe when I put it in the truck or carried it over to the playground. I brought it along for Lisa. Since it has such a short handle, I don’t tend to use it much.”
    He studied my face, his eyes becoming hard and appraising. “You and Picklemann get along with each other okay?”
    “Where’s this coming from?” I stared at him until he shifted his feet and looked down at his oversized boots while I tried to classify him in the plant world, the only world that made sense to me most of the time.
    No doubt, he was bamboo—not the neat clumping variety I loved to have in my gardens, but the treacherous running type. He was stiff and wooden like bamboo stalks, aggressive and unstoppable with his questions running like roots through my life. Like a surprised mole in the garden, his head popped back up, a patronizing look planted on his face. “Let me rephrase my question. Any reason you might want to see Picklemann come to any harm?” The words were innocent enough, but his tone was loaded with accusation.
    Was this residual anger from high school or did he know about my fight with Bud this morning? If he’d talked to anyone in town, he surely heard. I couldn’t admit to fighting with Bud. Couldn’t form the words. Wait. Oh my goodness. Mitch knows I threatened Bud, too. He thinks I killed him.
    Unable to make my mouth move, I panicked and looked around.
    Mitch cleared his throat. “I’ll take your silence to mean you might have wished Picklemann some harm.”
    I jumped up and glared at him. “Who in this town didn’t? In fact, Charlie Sweeny was in the park today, too. He interrupted my conversation with Bud and threatened him.”
    “Now that’s what I need from you, Paige. Helpful information like that.”
    Whew! Maybe he didn’t think I did it. I relaxed a bit.
    Mitch ran a hand over his head,