As the days went by, though, the the gardener was not as attentive to his duties as he was at the start. Sometimes on Saturday, he was a little too hungover after a Friday night out with his friends. Sometimes he worked late. The neighbor knew all this, of course, because her brother-in-law's, best friend's father was a PI and comparatively cheap. Sometimes she would see him in the yard watering and tell him "Hey, I haven't seen you in a few days. I thought maybe something happened to you." And he smiled sheepishly, knowing he had not been diligent at watering his trees.