Murder Grins and Bears It by Deb Baker Page A

family.”
    “ Why do you think he was
shot?”
    “ Your grandson was up to
something illegal, is why.”
    I gave Rolly a squinty-eyed, stern look.
“I’m not going to get into it with you over whether Little Donny
did it or not. I’m asking you if you know something that would
help.”
    “ Help what?”
    “ Help me figure this all
out and help me find Little Donny.”
    “ We’d all like to find that
kid.” Rolly opened his truck door and pulled himself in. I wedged
my body between him and the door so he couldn’t close
it.
    “ I hear Hendrick’s vehicle
was back in Marquette. How’d he get down here?”
    Rolly stuck a key in the ignition but didn’t
turn it. “Stay out of our business, Gertie. The kid did it and it’s
that simple.”
    “ If you know so much, you
can explain why he is supposed to have also killed Billy
Lundberg.”
    “ Sure, I can answer that,
but you aren’t going to like it. He killed one man and had his
first taste of human blood. He’s on a rampage and he’ll kill again,
just you wait and see.”
    Rolly is perfect for his job -
narrow-minded, obsessed with his own book of rules, and a true
backwoods fanatic. He doesn’t seem to mind that he’s ridiculed and
reviled all across Tamarack County.
    “ One more thing,” I said.
“Tell me about trapping birds.”
    “ What do you
mean?”
    “ Raptors. If I want one for
a pet can I go and trap one?”
    “ No! No! No!”
    I finally had his attention. He gripped the
steering wheel and pulled himself around to get a better look at
me. “You have to have a special license and to get that you need a
sponsor and--”
    “ Maybe I can buy a
bird.”
    “ No! No! No! They’re
protected and you can’t buy them. Get yourself a
parrot.”
    “ Can’t I buy one from
someone around here?”
    Rolly sighed and began reciting the rules.
“The only people that can have raptors are licensed falconers and
they can only have two birds unless they’re masters - then they can
have three. It’s illegal to buy or sell raptors or their eggs.
Every bird has a marker around its leg with a federal
identification bearing a serial number and if I catch you with one,
I’ll arrest you.”
    “ Who around here has a
bunch of them?”
    “ I just explained it to
you. No one has a bunch of them. It’s illegal.” Rolly started his
truck and I moved away so he could close the door.
    “ I hate my job,” I heard
him mutter before the door slammed shut.

    chapter 8

    Kitty and I were seated at Cora Mae’s
kitchen table comparing notes and planning the next step in our
quest to find Little Donny and the real killer. We were on our
third pot of coffee and I’d had my two’s-the-limit sugar
doughnuts.
    The feather decorated the center of the
table.
    “ We sure don’t have much,”
Kitty said, eyeing it.
    “ If we could trace
Hendricks’ steps in the last few days of his life, we’d be way
ahead of where we are now.” I reached for another doughnut. To heck
with limits. “But DNR agents run all over the place. He could have
been anywhere.” I picked up the bird feather. “This feather is my
only lead.”
    “ And he doesn’t have any
family around here at all?” Cora Mae held a minuscule doughnut
crumb between two manicured fingernails and touched it to her
tongue. Not an ounce of fat on that woman, but what she goes
through to stay that way isn’t worth it, in my book.
    “ A brother in Florida and
an ex-wife,” I said. “But they divorced twelve years
ago.”
    “ Ex-wives can hold a grudge
a long time,” Cora Mae observed.
    “ This ex lives out west and
her whereabouts have been confirmed by Blaze’s storm troopers.” I
licked sugar from my fingers and watched Kitty polish off her sixth
doughnut. “We have to have a lucky break soon.”
    “ Speaking of lucky,” Cora
Mae said, fluffing her hair. “Kitty and I are double-dating
tonight.”
    I sucked sugar down the wrong pipe and
started coughing. Even though Kitty claims she’s a big, as in