alibis from the family members on the property? It almost killed me to have Leroy fill the sheriff in on everything Zak, Jeremy, and I had discovered. I had a deeply felt need to be the one to put everything together and solve the mystery, but even I didn’t want to stand in the way of finding justice for Charles and Dolly’s deaths. I still hadn’t figured out how the murder fit in with the hijacked turkeys. I supposed it was possible Charles found out what was going on and the person who was stealing the birds killed him to protect his secret, but why kill Dolly?
“I should get home and relieve Zak,” I informed Jeremy. “Call me if you hear anything new. Chances are, our turkey thief, whoever he or she may be, will hear of our discovery and the replacing of turkeys will cease. Still, I’d be interested in getting the whole story.”
“I’ll keep my ears open,” Jeremy promised.
Chapter 12
By the next day , Maggie was doing much better, able to nurse the puppies on her own. Zak had an appointment to sign the final paperwork on the estate but promised to look in on the dogs while I was gone. I was glad Zak was officially buying the house next to mine, but I missed his company on the long drive to and from the farm. At least I only had a few days left. The turkeys were being loaded for transport to the processing facility on Sunday, they would be slaughtered there on Monday, and they’d be distributed to customers who had prepurchased the birds on Tuesday. I couldn’t believe it was going to be Thanksgiving on Thursday of next week.
“I tried to call you, but your cell was off,” Jeremy said when he greeted me with a laugh. “It’s nice to know some things never change. They’ve arrested Bill Parker and a couple of other guys for switching out the birds.”
I remembered that Bill had been the farm manager.
“Did they confess to killing Charles and Dolly?”
“Quite the opposite. Bill and the others confessed to the switch, but everyone involved swears he isn’t guilty of either death.”
“Do we believe them?”
“I don’t know, do we?” Jeremy asked. “You’re the amateur sleuth. I’m just the sidekick.”
I thought about the situation. “Okay,” I said, working through the scenario, “Bill Parker has been Charles’s farm manager for quite some time. He comes up with a plan to switch out the birds, making a tidy profit with each switch. He gets away with it for a while, probably only switching birds ordered by turkey novices who wouldn’t notice. Everything is going well until he gets greedy when Raymond Wells places a large order during the slow season. Wells discovers the switch and sues Charles. Charles realizes what happened, settles out of court, then does his own investigation and discovers Bill’s scheme.”
“Makes sense.”
“He fires Bill and his entire crew once he has his proof,” I continued. “The question is, why would Bill come back a week later and kill Charles in his kitchen? He must have known that if the switch came out he’d be a suspect, so why continue with the ruse after we took over?”
“Maybe he, like everyone else, believed that Charles died by accident, and you and I, novices that we are, would never notice the difference between the birds.”
“Exactly,” I agreed. “If Bill killed him, he would know that Charles had been murdered and wouldn’t have risked continuing to make the switches. He must have figured that, although he no longer controlled shipping and distribution, he could make a few bucks with the flock by switching them out before they were transferred. If he kept an accurate count and the turkeys he brought in weren’t sick, it would have worked.”
“Okay, so if Bill didn’t kill Charles and Dolly, who did?” Jeremy asked.
“I don’t know, but I intend to find out.”
As Jeremy and I went through our tasks, which had become something of a routine, I tried to figure out what the connection might be between
“I should get home and relieve Zak,” I informed Jeremy. “Call me if you hear anything new. Chances are, our turkey thief, whoever he or she may be, will hear of our discovery and the replacing of turkeys will cease. Still, I’d be interested in getting the whole story.”
“I’ll keep my ears open,” Jeremy promised.
Chapter 12
By the next day , Maggie was doing much better, able to nurse the puppies on her own. Zak had an appointment to sign the final paperwork on the estate but promised to look in on the dogs while I was gone. I was glad Zak was officially buying the house next to mine, but I missed his company on the long drive to and from the farm. At least I only had a few days left. The turkeys were being loaded for transport to the processing facility on Sunday, they would be slaughtered there on Monday, and they’d be distributed to customers who had prepurchased the birds on Tuesday. I couldn’t believe it was going to be Thanksgiving on Thursday of next week.
“I tried to call you, but your cell was off,” Jeremy said when he greeted me with a laugh. “It’s nice to know some things never change. They’ve arrested Bill Parker and a couple of other guys for switching out the birds.”
I remembered that Bill had been the farm manager.
“Did they confess to killing Charles and Dolly?”
“Quite the opposite. Bill and the others confessed to the switch, but everyone involved swears he isn’t guilty of either death.”
“Do we believe them?”
“I don’t know, do we?” Jeremy asked. “You’re the amateur sleuth. I’m just the sidekick.”
I thought about the situation. “Okay,” I said, working through the scenario, “Bill Parker has been Charles’s farm manager for quite some time. He comes up with a plan to switch out the birds, making a tidy profit with each switch. He gets away with it for a while, probably only switching birds ordered by turkey novices who wouldn’t notice. Everything is going well until he gets greedy when Raymond Wells places a large order during the slow season. Wells discovers the switch and sues Charles. Charles realizes what happened, settles out of court, then does his own investigation and discovers Bill’s scheme.”
“Makes sense.”
“He fires Bill and his entire crew once he has his proof,” I continued. “The question is, why would Bill come back a week later and kill Charles in his kitchen? He must have known that if the switch came out he’d be a suspect, so why continue with the ruse after we took over?”
“Maybe he, like everyone else, believed that Charles died by accident, and you and I, novices that we are, would never notice the difference between the birds.”
“Exactly,” I agreed. “If Bill killed him, he would know that Charles had been murdered and wouldn’t have risked continuing to make the switches. He must have figured that, although he no longer controlled shipping and distribution, he could make a few bucks with the flock by switching them out before they were transferred. If he kept an accurate count and the turkeys he brought in weren’t sick, it would have worked.”
“Okay, so if Bill didn’t kill Charles and Dolly, who did?” Jeremy asked.
“I don’t know, but I intend to find out.”
As Jeremy and I went through our tasks, which had become something of a routine, I tried to figure out what the connection might be between
Similar Books
