Golden Malicious (Apple Orchard Mystery) by Sheila Connolly Page B
Authors: Sheila Connolly
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Jonas had a reason to kill him. I do know Jonas, and I’m not going to believe that. Besides, we still don’t know if Clapp’s death was even suspicious.”
“Is Marcus going to tell us? Or Art? I’m just throwing out ideas. I don’t know any of these people personally. Did you tell Jonas where we were going?” Meg asked, as they rode toward the forest plot.
“No. I thought we’d decided to hold off on that until we talked with Christopher,” Seth answered. “It could be a false alarm. What if he can’t find another one there?”
“I don’t know. I’m not even sure what I’m hoping for. If we don’t find another insect, I may look like an idiot, but only you and Christopher and Bree will know. If we do, Jonas may be in for a whole lot of trouble, and it’s not even his fault. I guess I’d rather find out I was hallucinating than that I set a massive government tree-cutting program in motion.”
“One step at a time, Meg,” Seth countered.
“I hope Detective Marcus has cleared the scene. I can’t imagine doing forensics out there in the open. How do you know which bits are important? How deep do you go? If you believe the television shows, someone can look at a maggot on a body and announce that the person was killed on Tuesday at 7:14 a.m. Is that really all it takes?”
Seth smiled, watching the road ahead. “Why are you asking me? I’ve had just about exactly as much experience with this as you have. Besides, there are other factors in determining when David Clapp died. For example, if he had a family, they must know when he went missing. Or if he was working with a logging team, they might have noticed if he disappeared while they were there, or if he didn’t leave with them.”
“True,” Meg admitted.
“Here we are.” Seth entered the parking area they’d visited the day before yesterday.
Christopher greeted them with his usual enthusiasm. “Ah, good, I see I’ve found the right place. Seth, nice to see you again. How is your charming mother?”
“She’s fine. I hope you don’t mind me trailing along today.”
“Of course not. The more eyes, the better. Meg, lead on!”
“Of course. We take that path.” Meg led the way and stopped when she came to the rise with the log at the top. There was no sign of any police activity, save for the trampled appearance of the dead leaves and low vegetation, so the area was clearly no longer considered a crime scene. “That’s where I sat down.” She pointed.
“And the insect was lying upon the log?” Christopher asked.
“Yes. I could see that it was dead when I sat down, but I didn’t want to sit too close to it so I scooched down to the other end.”
“You’re not alone in that, Meg. Many people are repelled by insects, and this one was particularly large, I assume?”
“Well, it looked large to me. Otherwise I probably wouldn’t have noticed it. I’m not usually squeamish about things like that.”
Christopher’s attention had turned to the tree canopy, and he was talking to himself. “Mixed forest, both hardwoods and softwoods. A scattering of maples, right.” He turned back to Meg and Seth. “And you say that this has been logged regularly?”
Seth answered. “I don’t know how often—you’d have to talk to Jonas Nash about that. By the way, I didn’t say anything about this to him. Didn’t want to worry him if it turned out to be nothing.”
“Of course, of course,” Christopher said absently. He stepped carefully up the slight slope and stopped at the top, taking another 360-degree survey. Then he looked carefully at the log where Meg had sat, then on both sides of it, kneeling in the leaves. “I assume the state police have done whatever it is they do here. I don’t see the creature—no, wait.” He reached under the log and emerged with something in his hand. Then he stood up, brushed off his knees, and returned to where Meg and Seth were standing. “At the risk of making a poor joke, here is
“Is Marcus going to tell us? Or Art? I’m just throwing out ideas. I don’t know any of these people personally. Did you tell Jonas where we were going?” Meg asked, as they rode toward the forest plot.
“No. I thought we’d decided to hold off on that until we talked with Christopher,” Seth answered. “It could be a false alarm. What if he can’t find another one there?”
“I don’t know. I’m not even sure what I’m hoping for. If we don’t find another insect, I may look like an idiot, but only you and Christopher and Bree will know. If we do, Jonas may be in for a whole lot of trouble, and it’s not even his fault. I guess I’d rather find out I was hallucinating than that I set a massive government tree-cutting program in motion.”
“One step at a time, Meg,” Seth countered.
“I hope Detective Marcus has cleared the scene. I can’t imagine doing forensics out there in the open. How do you know which bits are important? How deep do you go? If you believe the television shows, someone can look at a maggot on a body and announce that the person was killed on Tuesday at 7:14 a.m. Is that really all it takes?”
Seth smiled, watching the road ahead. “Why are you asking me? I’ve had just about exactly as much experience with this as you have. Besides, there are other factors in determining when David Clapp died. For example, if he had a family, they must know when he went missing. Or if he was working with a logging team, they might have noticed if he disappeared while they were there, or if he didn’t leave with them.”
“True,” Meg admitted.
“Here we are.” Seth entered the parking area they’d visited the day before yesterday.
Christopher greeted them with his usual enthusiasm. “Ah, good, I see I’ve found the right place. Seth, nice to see you again. How is your charming mother?”
“She’s fine. I hope you don’t mind me trailing along today.”
“Of course not. The more eyes, the better. Meg, lead on!”
“Of course. We take that path.” Meg led the way and stopped when she came to the rise with the log at the top. There was no sign of any police activity, save for the trampled appearance of the dead leaves and low vegetation, so the area was clearly no longer considered a crime scene. “That’s where I sat down.” She pointed.
“And the insect was lying upon the log?” Christopher asked.
“Yes. I could see that it was dead when I sat down, but I didn’t want to sit too close to it so I scooched down to the other end.”
“You’re not alone in that, Meg. Many people are repelled by insects, and this one was particularly large, I assume?”
“Well, it looked large to me. Otherwise I probably wouldn’t have noticed it. I’m not usually squeamish about things like that.”
Christopher’s attention had turned to the tree canopy, and he was talking to himself. “Mixed forest, both hardwoods and softwoods. A scattering of maples, right.” He turned back to Meg and Seth. “And you say that this has been logged regularly?”
Seth answered. “I don’t know how often—you’d have to talk to Jonas Nash about that. By the way, I didn’t say anything about this to him. Didn’t want to worry him if it turned out to be nothing.”
“Of course, of course,” Christopher said absently. He stepped carefully up the slight slope and stopped at the top, taking another 360-degree survey. Then he looked carefully at the log where Meg had sat, then on both sides of it, kneeling in the leaves. “I assume the state police have done whatever it is they do here. I don’t see the creature—no, wait.” He reached under the log and emerged with something in his hand. Then he stood up, brushed off his knees, and returned to where Meg and Seth were standing. “At the risk of making a poor joke, here is
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