Transparency: Bio-Tech Cavern Secrets Untold by D.K. Matthews Page A

are no wolves in California to speak of.” Bibby shook his head and continued, “Anyway, the next morning when I went out to feed Shack he was gone.”
    “How did he get out of the dog run?”
    “He’s scaled the fence in the past. We didn’t find Shack’s body. I suppose the coyotes could have dragged him off.”
    Bibby didn’t seem so sure of himself all of a sudden. Halliday said, “Lamar had an altercation at Genevive Labs?”
    “He wouldn’t talk about it. Said he didn’t want to put any of us in danger. In my opinion detective, Lamar may have been overstepping his bounds. It gets back to what I said earlier about Lamar’s demons .”
    He saw a battle simmer in Bibby’s face. It wasn’t clear who the combatants were.
    Halliday struggled, too. Part of him yearned to solve Lamar Festus’s mystery. Part of him just wanted the Genevive issue to go away.
    “Something on your mind detective?”
    “Why would Lamar tell me that Shack had been murdered in the forest west of Genevieve Labs?”
    “Can’t tell you, detective. I hope you find Lamar.”
    Halliday shook his head. He had worked around academic types in the past. Lamar Festus didn’t fit the mold. Chuck Bibby did. “Did Lamar have any contact with Genevive personnel other than the recent provocation?”
    “Lamar told me that a Genevieve scientist had confided in him. The man said that Genevive security had absconded with four young calves from the Halverstad Ranch last week. The scientist told Lamar that scientists were performing unusual experiments on them. It involved some sort of super-secret defense project.”
    He thought it would make more sense for the rich corporation to purchase the animals. “Did Lamar give you a name?”
    “Lamar said that the scientist got fired. Said he left the area.”
    “Did the owner of Halverstad Ranch file a police report?”
    “No.”
    “Why?”
    “I suggest you ask Roy Halverstad.”
    Halliday looked at his watch. He had to wrap things up. “Do you consider yourself an activist?”
    “I’m a social activist. Today, that just means you believe in something. If you don’t take a stand on your beliefs you’ll get steamrolled like the Miwoks and the citizens of this town have. Do I have a basement full of arms ready to attack the establishment? No sir, I’m a peace loving man. In my heart I believe justice will come to those who deserve it.”
    Halliday pondered Bibby’s last statement for a moment but let it go. He eyed the tall wood pole. “Does the totem have any significance?”
    “James A. Bibby planted it there over a hundred and fifty years ago. He stole it from up north, the town of Ione. This house sits on the site of the original log cabin, which I burnt down. I scattered the ashes around the totem before I built this place forty-some years ago. The totem will never leave.”
    “Any relation?”
    “Yes, I’m a direct descendent of James A. Bibby,” he said without taking any pride in the admission.
    Halliday had never before felt like such an outsider.

Chapter Nine

Halliday had lost the capability to shut his office door for privacy over a year ago. Boxes of archived cases lined up against the wall reached to the ceiling. Detective Leo Bergman had the conference room tied up this morning so he couldn’t go there. At 8:00 a.m. , everyone in Cindy’s Diner would be all ears.
    Gladstone stood next to Halliday’s desk with a coffee cup in one hand. A folder in his other hand whacked his thigh.
    “What did you say to Sheriff Barnes?” Halliday said in a low voice.
    “Did he give you the cold shoulder?”
    “He tried to throw me out of his office for no damn reason.”
    “No shit?”
    Inexperience mixed with political distraction formed a bad combination. “Yes, shit. Now what did you say to him?”
    “Hey boss… Halliday. Barnes asked where you were from. I told him New York. That’s all.”
    “Why does he believe I’m an agent with the Department of Defense?”
    Gladstone