Totally Buzzed (A Miller Sisters Mystery) by Gale Borger

would know.
    Between grapevine gossip and sauce talk at a local tavern, someone would have seen something and repeated it down at Sal's Diner.
    "I don't know about life insurance or inheritances, but it looks, so far, like we have no other motive outside the business, so our next step is to look inside the business."
    Malcolm looked up from his notes, "Yeah, you're right. Sorry I jumped the gun. Everyone wants to be a detective, you know."
    I replied dryly, "It ain't as cool as it looks, Mal."
    He looked like an eager puppy. "I'd really like to help, though. Maybe I can call the State of Wisconsin Crime Lab in Madison and ask if they know of anyone who could help us identify the seeds. I went to med school with the director up there." He jotted down another note to himself.
    I cocked my head and thought a minute. "Do they really have guys that do that now? I would bet they don't have Forensic Botanists just lying around at the crime lab waiting for someone to call."
    Malcolm sent me a telling look over the tops of his bifocals. I shut up. He continued. "We could also contact the university–they do everything there. In this day and age everyone borrows from everyone. I give the occasional lecture up there; they do some lab work for me that requires diagnostic capabilities, which are beyond my humble lab. The main thing is, we can't rule anything out, so if you agree this warrants a Forensic Botanist, I'll go ahead and try to find one. If this homicide involves the gardening industry, it would be good to make the acquaintance of the professional plant boys anyway."
    Although J.J. was nowhere around, I gave Malcolm the go-ahead to make the calls and ship some of the samples if the state boys could identify them. I thanked him and told him to call me when he wanted me to pick up the autopsy report, and to let me know what the crime lab had to say.
    "Oh, one more thing, Buzz. J.J. went out to the Graff place to break the news to Glenn. He said he'd call you later. Call me if you need me."
    "Thanks Malcolm. Will do."
    I was surprised to see Mag was in the parking lot, shifting back and forth on her feet next to my car, and looking grim.
    I lifted a brow. "What's up, Magpie?"
    She furrowed hers and glared at me. "Coffee," was all she said, and got into her car. 'Coffee' was a secret Miller Sisters word that was serious business. It could mean anything from, 'Yo Bitch, we have to talk', to 'I am devastated and need a shoulder', to 'I'm starving to death, let's eat'.
    I thought I was probably the 'Yo Bitch' as we climbed into our respective vehicles. We automatically drove to the small diner a couple of blocks from the morgue. Actually, the place was a geographical oddity, in that Salvador's Diner (as it is called) is a couple of blocks from anywhere in White Bass Lake. It's the heart of the town in more ways than one.
    The story goes that the owner, Sal Garcia, fell in love and married an American exchange student (Amy) twenty-some years ago. Sal always wanted to be a chef in a five-star restaurant, but after meeting up with prejudice and snobbery in the culinary world, he lowered his sights just a little. He and Amy settled in White Bass Lake, bought the diner, raised three kids, and they run the best little breakfast and lunch place in the Midwest. It is a standing-room-only gold mine, especially when the summer people invade our little hamlet.
    Sal bakes all his own pastries and experiments with different dishes. In front of a grill he is second to none. He is so fast that at times his hands are a blur. People come into his place just to watch him cook.
    We timed him once, and he cooked breakfast for six people in less than five minutes: we are talking pancakes, potatoes, French toast, and omelets. He is, in short, simply amazing.
    We go to Sal's for a number of reasons. First, they are all great people. Second, they don't care how long we sit and have coffee. Third, Sal's is 'gossip central' in White Bass Lake, so if you want to