Chapter 25
The Garden Exhales
At 1:52 p.m., the registry stamped the lawful deed.
Thirty affordable flats proceeded on the car park. The meadow remained in trust. The luxury annex disappeared with Wren Leisure Holdings, three resignations and Beatrice's political career.
She pleaded guilty to manslaughter, evidence tampering and fraud. Thomas confessed publicly to the old collision and funded the survivor's care without buying silence. Owen was cleared of Arthur's death and disciplined for removing evidence. He accepted both outcomes.
Mabel replanted the foxgloves where no visitor could reach them.
"I protected my son instead of trusting him," she told June.
"I investigated my friend instead of speaking to her."
"Yours was more annoying."
Their version of forgiveness sounded exactly that sharp.
Elsie won her course place with an honest portfolio. The first image in it showed seeds scattered across a potting-room floor, every small object appearing random until viewed from above.
Six weeks later, June reopened the Marigold Library reading room for a monthly mystery club. On the first table sat a seed packet she had not placed there.
No sender. No fingerprints. No plant name.
Only the purple oval of the retired library stamp, including the chipped left leg of the W.
This one was real.
You've finished The Garden Club Alibi.
