The Case of the Ill-Gotten Goat by Claudia Bishop Page A

the desire is anybody’s guess. But other than Marietta—there’s nobody.”
    We were both silent, looking over the duck pond. I had married late in life, astounding my colleagues who had thought me a confirmed bachelor at fifty. The children Madeline and I both wished for had not come. But our lives had been enriched by the long procession of students who had eaten at our table and become part of our lives for the time they had been at school.
    â€œAt any rate, Doucetta runs the place with an iron fist, or cane rather. Have you seen that goat-headed stick she carries? Of course you have, you were there when she thumped Abrahamson in the shins at the guild meeting. The kids are all petrified of her. And she keeps the purse strings open just enough so that it’d take real character to walk away from the place.”
    â€œAt ninety-four,” I began.
    â€œYes. At ninety-four, Doucetta’s not immortal. I don’t know who’ll take over the operation after she goes. Nobody does. Caterina’s husband probably has big ideas, but the guy’s a real loser. She never got past sixth grade, Doucetta didn’t. She combines this amazing genius for business with peasant superstitions.” He tugged his beard. “My guess, the whole thing will dwindle away once she’s gone. In the meantime, she keeps the milk right on coming.”
    â€œI’m surprised no one’s offered to buy her out. One of the big cheese companies, perhaps.”
    â€œIt’d make sense,” Neville said. “But I don’t know a thing about it. Doucetta had me doing the necessary vet work at the dairy when Luisa and I were first married, but I haven’t set foot in the place for years—nor have I talked to Doucetta other than Christmas and birthdays.”
    â€œWhen did you stop treating the goats?”
    â€œMost of us drop clinical in favor of the teaching and research. You know that better than anybody does. But even if I had kept up private practice, I couldn’t have worked with her. We crossed swords early on. She’s got notions about handling animals I don’t approve of…and don’t want to know about, frankly.”
    I wasn’t sure whether I should pursue this lead at the moment, or not. If Doucetta were engaging in unseemly practices, I would see that for myself. I made a brief note and said, “Which brings us to the high somatic cell count.”
    â€œYeah, I thought we’d get there.” Neville tugged at his beard with both hands. “I’ll tell you what I think, Austin. I think it’s sabotage.”
    I was somewhat nonplussed. “By whom? And why? Or perhaps my first question should be: Are you sure? Broadly speaking, the cytokines critical in the early recruitment of PMN to the mammary gland are created in response to mastitis pathogens. Are there cases of mastitis in the Tre Sorelle goats?”
    â€œIt’s truer for cows than goats,” Neville said. “Estrus, season, and milk yield raise the cell count in goats. Even the breed and the geographic area can affect the count in goats. Everyone has had a guess at why. Nobody’s got much on how to fix it.”
    â€œTroublesome,” I said. “And quite interesting.” My primary contribution to animal research had been a series of landmark studies on bovine back fat. To be truthful, at the time of my retirement, the subspecialty had been pretty well mined out. This area of caprine study was new to me. And intriguing. “Is anyone engaged in field studies?”
    â€œEverybody who’s anybody in the field is having a whack at it,” Neville said. “But you know the problems with funding.”
    How well I knew the problems of funding!
    â€œThe Europeans have a lot more going on than we do, at the moment. More goats over there.”
    â€œAnd you say some breeds seem more prone to the problem than others?”
    â€œApparently. But we