Golden Malicious (Apple Orchard Mystery) by Sheila Connolly Read Free Book Online Page A

an Asian longhorned beetle. It’s an invasive species, probably carried into this country through wooden packing crates at a variety of ports. It eats a whole lot of tree species, and the only way anyone has come up with to stop them is to cut down all the infested trees and grind them up. Left alone, they kill the tree in a couple of years, or at least seriously weaken it. What’s worse, while they’re big and easy to see out in the open, they usually spend most of their life cycle inside a tree, mainly up at the crown level, so they’re hard to spot. Most of the infested areas have been identified because one of the beetles showed up in an ornamental tree in someone’s suburban yard. Like Christopher said, Worcester’s been hit hard, and they’re still finding new outbreaks there and in the surrounding communities. They just cut down another ten thousand trees in Shrewsbury. It’s pretty likely that if there were more people looking, they’d find a lot more.”
    “You’re certainly well informed.” Meg digested what Bree had told her. “So if it’s identified on the Nash property, what happens next?”
    “Well, first there’s an official identification process—there’s a government office that does that. If it’s confirmed, then the USDA gets involved, and the UMass extension service. And then basically crews go out and chop down a whole lot of trees.”
    “Which wouldn’t make Jonas Nash and his company very happy.”
    “Exactly. And it would be a shame, because they’ve been good about maintaining their land responsibly. I read about them as a case study when I was at school.”
    “Maybe it’s just a single beetle that flew in from somewhere else?”
    Bree shook her head. “Those suckers don’t fly very far or very fast. So if you see one, there are probably others nearby.” She made a quick scan around her. “I think we’re pretty much done for the day. You have plans for tonight?”
    “You mean with Seth? I don’t even know. Were you volunteering to cook dinner?” Meg ended hopefully.
    “If you insist.” Bree gave an exaggerated sigh. “I guess it’s my turn.”
    They ambled down the hill, and Bree peeled off for the kitchen door. Meg saw both Seth’s car and his van parked in the driveway, so she figured he was in his office, which was located in the old carpenter’s shop behind her house. She climbed the stairs up to his office space and rapped on the half-open door.
    Seth looked up and smiled. “Hi. Have I missed a meal or something?”
    Meg came in and dropped into a battered chair in front of his desk. “Not yet, unless you’re talking about lunch. Where’s Max?”
    “I left him over at Mom’s—she’s got an old dog run there, from when we were kids. I’m working on adding one at my place, but it’s not finished yet.”
    “Poor baby. Doesn’t he get lonely without you? Anyway, I wanted to talk to you about something Christopher just told me.”
    “Okay. Shoot.” Seth stretched and leaned back in his chair.
    “Let me back up and start from the beginning. Remember when I sat down to get that rock out of my shoe yesterday?” Seth nodded, so Meg went on, “There was this big insect on the log. Yeah, I know, woods, nature, et cetera, but this was a big, showy one—black and white, with long antennae. Did you notice anything like that?”
    He shook his head. “No, but I wasn’t looking, and then we got kind of distracted by the body. Why does it matter?”
    “Because I described it to Christopher today, and he knew exactly what it was: something called an Asian longhorned beetle. From what he and Bree have told me, it’s a nasty pest.”
    “And?”
    “If there’s an infestation on Jonas’s land, I gather that kicks in a whole official process that goes all the way up to the federal government. And the only way to deal with the insect is to cut down all the trees it likes to eat.”
    Seth’s expression turned serious. “Ah. I see the problem. If—it is