Greedy Bones by Carolyn Haines Page A
Authors: Carolyn Haines
Tags: Fiction, General, detective, Suspense, Mystery & Detective, American Mystery & Suspense Fiction, Women Sleuths, Mystery, Mystery Fiction, Mystery & Detective - Women Sleuths, Women Private Investigators, Fiction - Mystery, Mississippi, Delaney; Sarah Booth (Fictitious Character), Women Private Investigators - Mississippi
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balcony.
"Have you discovered something?" I asked.
He looked past me at the crowd gathering on the steps. "The sheriff and Bonnie Louise are holding a press conference here in five minutes. Could we find a more private place?"
"Sure." I was curious why Peyton wasn't participating in the news orgy. Most people loved their fifteen minutes of glory in front of a television camera.
We went to the back vault of the chancery clerk's office, a place of old records and a few research tables--all vacant--because the court house offices had emptied to hear the press conference.
Certain that we were alone, I asked, "Did Bonnie Louise cut you out of the limelight?"
He shook his head. "I'm a scientist far happier running lab tests. I'm not interested in television interviews. Truthfully, she didn't want to do it, either, but I pulled rank on her. She's a good-looking woman, so she'll play well on the screen. When she realized she'd be standing beside the sheriff, she didn't object too much. She's taken more than a passing fancy to him. Beaucoup has noted that the sheriff's wife is AWOL."
"Beaucoup?" I couldn't help myself. Normally slang for "lots of," what did it mean in Bonnie's case?
"I gave her the nickname," he said, his smile charming. "Bonnie comes across a bit sour, but she's loaded with talent and smarts. I'm surprised, though, that she'sinterested in a married man. Beaucoup is normally by the book."
It wasn't my business to tell Peyton that Coleman had filed for divorce. "Did you want to tell me what you found?"
"I've spoken to the sheriff, and he made it clear that I should share this information with you."
My heart thudded. "What is it?"
"First of all, there's an issue with the cotton. It's a genetically engineered strand that allows for two growing seasons. The rapid growth is phenomenal. The cotton at the Carlisle place is nearing maturity."
Faster growing cotton wasn't so awful. Or was it? "You said genetically engineered--is that the problem? Were you able to reach Lester Ballard, the guy who manages the agricultural lease on the land?" The CDC might accomplish what I could not.
"Ballard is out of the country, and I've turned the search for him over to the sheriff. As to the genetically altered cotton, it's experimental but not dangerous, as far as I can tell. Were it not for the other problems at the Carlisle estate, the cotton could be harvested in a month, six weeks at most. But that's moot because of what's happening now."
"And that is?" I asked. Peyton's demeanor let me know this was serious.
"Boll weevils."
I thought he was joking. Boll weevils were a type of beetle that devastated the cotton crop from Texas to the Atlantic Ocean in the 1920s. The insect had been brought under control by effective methods of sterilization, improved species of cotton, cyclical planting, and some use of pesticides.
"Come on, Peyton, boll weevils?"
"In two days they've eaten the cotton plants at the Carlisle estate. Whole sections are stripped bare of leaves, Sarah Booth. This is devastating. The weevils are gnawing it to the ground. It's like a scourge."
I wasn't an authority on farming, but I did lease out the land around Dahlia House. Last time I'd looked, there was no sign of weevils on my property.
But every Delta child knew horror stories of the vermin that had destroyed an industry, an economy, and a way of life until they were brought under control.
"Weevils don't show until later on in the summer. If they eat the plants now, there's no place to hatch their young and . . ." I wasn't telling him anything he didn't know.
"Trust me. I'm as puzzled as you. These weevils aren't typical. They have a strange green color to them, almost like a pine beetle."
"How does this fit into what's wrong with Oscar and the others? Doc would have noticed if any of them were bitten by insects." I was having trouble connecting the dots .
"I'm not sure the weevils play a role in what's happening with Mr. Richmond and the other
"Have you discovered something?" I asked.
He looked past me at the crowd gathering on the steps. "The sheriff and Bonnie Louise are holding a press conference here in five minutes. Could we find a more private place?"
"Sure." I was curious why Peyton wasn't participating in the news orgy. Most people loved their fifteen minutes of glory in front of a television camera.
We went to the back vault of the chancery clerk's office, a place of old records and a few research tables--all vacant--because the court house offices had emptied to hear the press conference.
Certain that we were alone, I asked, "Did Bonnie Louise cut you out of the limelight?"
He shook his head. "I'm a scientist far happier running lab tests. I'm not interested in television interviews. Truthfully, she didn't want to do it, either, but I pulled rank on her. She's a good-looking woman, so she'll play well on the screen. When she realized she'd be standing beside the sheriff, she didn't object too much. She's taken more than a passing fancy to him. Beaucoup has noted that the sheriff's wife is AWOL."
"Beaucoup?" I couldn't help myself. Normally slang for "lots of," what did it mean in Bonnie's case?
"I gave her the nickname," he said, his smile charming. "Bonnie comes across a bit sour, but she's loaded with talent and smarts. I'm surprised, though, that she'sinterested in a married man. Beaucoup is normally by the book."
It wasn't my business to tell Peyton that Coleman had filed for divorce. "Did you want to tell me what you found?"
"I've spoken to the sheriff, and he made it clear that I should share this information with you."
My heart thudded. "What is it?"
"First of all, there's an issue with the cotton. It's a genetically engineered strand that allows for two growing seasons. The rapid growth is phenomenal. The cotton at the Carlisle place is nearing maturity."
Faster growing cotton wasn't so awful. Or was it? "You said genetically engineered--is that the problem? Were you able to reach Lester Ballard, the guy who manages the agricultural lease on the land?" The CDC might accomplish what I could not.
"Ballard is out of the country, and I've turned the search for him over to the sheriff. As to the genetically altered cotton, it's experimental but not dangerous, as far as I can tell. Were it not for the other problems at the Carlisle estate, the cotton could be harvested in a month, six weeks at most. But that's moot because of what's happening now."
"And that is?" I asked. Peyton's demeanor let me know this was serious.
"Boll weevils."
I thought he was joking. Boll weevils were a type of beetle that devastated the cotton crop from Texas to the Atlantic Ocean in the 1920s. The insect had been brought under control by effective methods of sterilization, improved species of cotton, cyclical planting, and some use of pesticides.
"Come on, Peyton, boll weevils?"
"In two days they've eaten the cotton plants at the Carlisle estate. Whole sections are stripped bare of leaves, Sarah Booth. This is devastating. The weevils are gnawing it to the ground. It's like a scourge."
I wasn't an authority on farming, but I did lease out the land around Dahlia House. Last time I'd looked, there was no sign of weevils on my property.
But every Delta child knew horror stories of the vermin that had destroyed an industry, an economy, and a way of life until they were brought under control.
"Weevils don't show until later on in the summer. If they eat the plants now, there's no place to hatch their young and . . ." I wasn't telling him anything he didn't know.
"Trust me. I'm as puzzled as you. These weevils aren't typical. They have a strange green color to them, almost like a pine beetle."
"How does this fit into what's wrong with Oscar and the others? Doc would have noticed if any of them were bitten by insects." I was having trouble connecting the dots .
"I'm not sure the weevils play a role in what's happening with Mr. Richmond and the other
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