A Mammoth Murder by Bill Crider

feet.”
    â€œBigfoot,” Turley said. His face broke out in a wide grin. “I knew it.”
    â€œI said the animal had big feet,” Vance told him. “Not that it was Bigfoot.”
    Turley’s grin disappeared. “It’s not?”
    â€œNo. That’s a tooth from a Columbian mammoth.”
    Rhodes knew next to nothing about mammoths. In fact, as far as he could remember, he knew only one thing: that they were woolly.
    â€œA woolly mammoth?” he said.
    Vance disappointed him.
    â€œNo. There were never any woolly mammoths in Texas. The Columbian mammoth was an even bigger animal. Bigger than any Bigfoot, I promise you. They could stand as high as twelve to thirteen feet at the shoulder. A woolly mammoth would have been about three feet shorter.”
    So Rhodes had known even less about mammoths than he’d thought. He said, “All right. We know it’s not Bigfoot. I didn’t ever think it was.”
    He didn’t look at Turley, who said, “Is this a valuable find?”
    Vance did look at Turley. “I’m sorry to have to tell you that it’s not very valuable. Mammoths are a dime a dozen in Texas. People find their remains all the time when they’re building highways or digging foundations. Where was this one found?”

    â€œDown on Pittman Creek,” Turley said.
    He didn’t sound happy about the fact that his Bigfoot dream had been shattered, but then he had other things to be unhappy about, including the death of his best friend.
    â€œAnd that’s in Blacklin County?” Vance said.
    â€œYeah, the southern part.”
    â€œThat at least makes it interesting, because as far as I know, there’s never been a mammoth find in this county.” Vance reached out and touched the tooth. “Besides that, this one seems to be in a very good state of preservation, which would make it worth more.”
    â€œHow old is it?” Turley said.
    â€œI don’t really know. I’d say at least ten or twelve thousand years old. Maybe much older. But if it’s from more recent times, say ten thousand years ago, there’s a bare chance that we’ll find that it was in some way associated with humans. The Clovis people, to be specific.”
    Rhodes didn’t think ten thousand years ago was exactly recent times, but then he wasn’t thinking in terms of geologic eras.
    â€œLarry Colley and I found some Clovis points in that area a few years ago,” Turley said.
    â€œIf we could find Clovis points associated with the bones, that would add to the historical value,” Vance said.
    â€œHow much money are we talking about?”
    â€œHard to say. If the tusks are there, they’re valuable for their ivory. People love to make pistol grips from them. If the skull is intact and well preserved, then you’re talking about something worth still more, and it’s more interesting besides. But even at that, you’re not talking about huge amounts of money. The main interest would be purely scientific, but I wouldn’t mind doing the dig.”
    Turley didn’t look too pleased with that idea. “A dig?” he said.
    â€œA proper one. In some ways, this is even better than Bigfoot. It’s from something real, something that can tell us about the history of this county.”
    â€œIt won’t tell us anything about Bigfoot, though,” Turley said. “That’s what I was hoping for.”
    â€œI don’t think you should hope too hard,” Vance said. “As a scientist, I can tell you that there’s not much likelihood of a Bigfoot ever turning up here. Or anywhere else.”
    Turley opened his mouth to say something, then closed it and shook his head.
    â€œI think a dig for the mammoth bones would be a good idea,” Vance continued. “We’d have to find out who owns the land first, and then get permission. Do you know, Mr. Turley?”
    Turley hemmed