A Mammoth Murder by Bill Crider Page A

and hawed and finally said he believed that the land was owned by Gerald Bolton. Rhodes had suspected as much. The bones had been found not far from Big Woods.
    â€œI’ll try to get in touch with him if he’s in the phone book,” Vance said. “A dig would be interesting for my students, and maybe some of the local science teachers would like to get involved. It would even bring the county some good publicity.”
    At the word “publicity,” Rhodes looked at Jennifer Loam, who was jotting some notes on a notepad rather than relying on her little recorder. Maybe she didn’t trust technology. That seemed to Rhodes to be a sensible attitude. He didn’t trust technology himself.
    She must have noticed Rhodes looking at her, because she stopped writing and said, “Speaking of publicity, do you think there’s any connection between the mammoth bones and the murder?”
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    If Jennifer had been trying to get everyone’s attention, she’d certainly succeeded.
    Tom Vance turned to her and said, “Murder?”
    â€œA man named Larry Colley was killed in the vicinity of Gerald Bolton’s property yesterday,” Jennifer said. “I believe murder is suspected. Isn’t that right, Sheriff?”
    Rhodes said that it was but that as far as he knew, there was no connection between the mammoth and the murder. He didn’t see how there could be.
    â€œIt seems like a strange coincidence, then,” Jennifer said. “A mammoth’s bones are found, and a man is killed not far away on the same day.”
    Rhodes wasn’t fond of coincidences, but as far as he could tell that’s what they were dealing with.
    â€œHave you made any progress in your investigation?” Jennifer asked.
    â€œSome,” Rhodes said. He noticed Hack looking at him from across the room. “Not much, though,” he added.
    For Vance’s benefit, he went on to explain about what had happened to Larry Colley.
    â€œIt shouldn’t interfere with whatever you want to do,” Rhodes said. “In fact, I have to see Gerald Bolton, so I’ll ask him about the dig.”
    Vance didn’t appear to be very happy with the turn of events. Murder was bad enough, but Rhodes had also happened to mention the feral hogs that roamed the area.
    â€œMaybe we should just forget about the dig,” Vance said. “It sounds as if you might be inconvenienced. And I don’t like the idea that feral hogs are running around out there. They could destroy the dig without half trying, and they might hurt someone. There might be liability questions.”

    â€œYou don’t have to worry about interfering,” Rhodes said. “Probably not about the hogs, either. They don’t come out of the woods much in the daylight, and maybe you could put a fence up around the dig. That might keep them away. Why don’t we ride out and have a look at the place where the bones are. I’m sure Bud would be willing to show it to us. Isn’t that right, Bud?”
    Turley hemmed and hawed some more and appeared more reluctant than ever to give up his secret, but eventually he agreed. He must have known that sooner or later he’d have to tell someone where the bones were.
    â€œI’m going, too,” Jennifer said. “I want some pictures for the paper.”
    Rhodes had a feeling she wanted more than that. She wanted to pump him about Colley’s death.
    â€œCan you not print the location for a while?” Vance asked her. “People have a way of trampling all over the place and spoiling things, and they like to take souvenirs. They could really mess things up. Not as bad as feral hogs would, but bad enough.”
    Jennifer thought it over before saying, “All right. I won’t print the location.”
    â€œNo pictures, either,” Vance said. “People could figure out the location from them.”
    â€œFine. But people will find