Page 30 of A Poisonous Plot

Seren shook her head, causing a lock of red hair to fall from her messy bun. “Can you imagine trying to do a good deed and then making people ill? Whoever sent them must feel terrible. I wonder if they’ll come forward.”

“I don’t think it was an accident,” Lily whispered.

Seren narrowed her eyes as she loaded the drinks onto a tray. “How do you mean?”

“I think someone deliberately delivered contaminated food. They wanted to make people ill.”

“Why would someone do that?” Seren’s eyes shone with disbelief.

“I’m not entirely sure, but I think someone has a grudge against newcomers to the island.”

“Are you serious?”

Lily gave a curt nod and took out her phone, clicking into the reviews of Dante’s restaurant. “I think the person who delivered the baskets also tried to sabotage Dante’s business.”

She wrinkled her nose. “Who?”

“Dante Accardi. He owns the new Italian restaurant. His food has been making people ill, and he asked me to look into it. I didn’t think much of it at first.” She handed the phone to Seren, showing the review which bothered her the most. “I’d really like to find out who posted this.”

Seren chewed on her lip as she scanned the review. “The Secret B,” she muttered, reading the name of the reviewer.

“I don’t suppose you have any idea who it could be?”

“I do, actually.” Seren handed the phone back. “Do an internet search for The Secret Botanist. Add Isles of Scilly into the search and see what pops up. I’ll be right back.” She slid the tray from the bar and set off across the room.

Lily typed frantically on her phone, then clicked on the first link that came up. The blog was a simple layout with a banner across the top of the page and a list of hyperlinked blog post titles, each with a thumbnail picture of different plants. She clicked one entitled ‘Edible Flowers’ and immediately straightened her shoulders.

“What the heck is this?” she asked when Seren returned.

“The Secret Botanist is a local who blogs about gardening.”

Lily’s eyes bulged. “Whoever wrote this article was at the garden centre earlier. I saw a bunch of notes and sketches at the garden centre. The drawings were just like these.” Lily angled the phone screen towards Seren.

“That makes sense.”

“Does it?”

“Of course.” She leaned against the bar. “The identity of the secret botanist is the island’s worst kept secret. It’s Arthur Penrose.”

“Arthur from the garden centre?”

Seren nodded. “The blog has been going for years. At first he had some notions about keeping his identity a mystery. I’m not sure why. Anyway, since he can’t stop talking about it, he didn’t keep it a secret for long. He’s very proud of it.”

“He has a list of poisonous plants.” A rush of adrenaline tingled through Lily. “Why would he have a list of poisonous plants?”

“For his blog, I imagine.”

Lily clicked out of the blog post and scrolled through the list. She didn’t scroll very far.

“Poisonous plants in your garden,” she said, reading the heading aloud before she clicked into it. “Oh, my goodness.” Her eyes skimmed over the text and accompanying sketches and photos. Alongside the common plants and flowers were the ways they could make you ill, including symptoms. “Someone is really poisoning people,” Lily muttered.

“Lily!” Seren said, snapping her from her trance. “What are you talking about? Why do you think someone is poisoning people?”

“Because of Dante’s restaurant, and then the welcome baskets being delivered anonymously.”

“I think you need to slow down.” Seren lowered her eyebrows. “Are you sure you’re not getting carried away and seeing things that aren’t there? Because this all seems pretty coincidental to me.”

“I thought so at first as well,” Lily said in a rush. “But I got ill too.”

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