“It is a common misconception that orchids are difficult to grow,” Chester said while sprinkling water here and there. “But the truth is, you just have to be aware of their needs. I think of orchids not as plants, but as a civilization—a culture whose customs I have come to know intimately. Do you enjoy gardening, Dr. Welcome?”

“Mr. Chester, forgive my impatience, but we have a very serious situation here,” Lou said. “Men have been killed in a field that you own, our friend among them.”

Chester stopped taking measurements, settled himself with a breath, and gave Lou a curious stare. “Dr. Welcome, I did not become a person of influence, possession, and power by not knowing precisely what was going on around me. As I told Chief Stone when he called, I have received no reports of any disturbances in any of my fields.”

Lou began to bristle. “I don’t care what reports you received or did not receive, Mr. Chester,” he said. “Our injuries can tell you what happened out there. Our stories coincide. We were ambushed and attacked with fists, with guns, and with a combine harvester. The area where it took place has been mown clear, and the bodies, including Anthony Brite’s, have been removed.”

Stone positioned himself between Lou and Chester, perhaps sensing the simmering exchange might boil over. “Bill,” Stone said, clearly wishing he were anyplace but there, “Dr. Welcome believes he has evidence that the spotlights they claim to have shot out were replaced.”

“I can’t believe it,” Chester snapped. “If such a thing transpired, I can assure you, none of my employees was involved.”

“Funny that these nonemployees knew how to drive your combine harvester,” Cap said.

Chester’s eyes flashed.

Lou almost cracked a smile, imagining what the man was thinking, being spoken to in such a way by someone he probably considered so far beneath his status.

Chester brushed the comment aside with a wave of his hand. “Believe me,” he said, “operating farming machinery is not nearly as difficult as growing these orchids, especially when the keys are left in the ignition slot, as is often the case here. I’ve warned my people against such practices, but alas, they don’t always listen.”

“Show him the glass,” Cap said to Lou.

Lou handed the jagged piece of broken glass to Chester, who inspected the heavy shard like a gemologist.

“And what do we think this is?” Chester asked.

“Floodlight glass,” Lou said. “As you know, the lights are on poles twenty feet above the ground. I found this at the base of one of the poles. Who besides one of your employees would and could repair the floodlight that George shot out?”

George broke in, “And why would your field be threshed after we left it? I’ll tell you why—” He pointed his finger at Chester. “—a cover-up, that’s why.”