Marjorie Thelen - High Desert Detective

“I’m not blind yet,” said Jake.

“Didn’t think so,” said Hoover. “I walked around in the pasture and saw the cow pies. There was a herd there but they aren’t there anymore.”

“Nothing wrong with your eyes either,” said Jake. He continued working on the piece of equipment.

“Opal hasn’t pressed charges against Glory.”

“Doubt she will. Fiona won’t either.”

“We’re going to have to charge him with something. Setting fires is called arson in the law books. Is he doing okay?”

“Doing great. Still looks like a herd of cows stomped on him but he’s back working again. He’s guarding the cows during the day. He says he has sworn off the bottle. We’ll see. He’s said that before. Sweet guards the cows at night.”

“I saw you cleared a fire break. Are you getting ready for fire season?”

That’s when Jake told him about Tillie and her threats. And about Reese.

“Reese Crawford?”

“That’s the one. One of Opal’s long lost relatives seems to have resurfaced. Tillie said he was her backer to buy the ranch, but no one has seen him. Sammie called Doc and some of the other relatives, who might know. If they’ve seen or heard of him, no one is saying.”

“Reese Crawford,” said Hoover again.

“Have you heard any news of him?”

Hoover slowly shook his head. “He’s as mysterious as Hank Little’s wives. Or the bones in the hot spring.”

“How’s that investigation going?”

“The DNA doesn’t match either of Little’s wives. There are cut marks on the rib bones which indicate the victim may have been stabbed. We might never know who those bones belong to. But we found the girl Brewster thought might be missing. I followed up on those leads Fiona gave me, and the girl is living over in Enterprise. That is one mystery cleared up.” He hesitated. “I was a little hard on Fiona the one day she came in to share information with me.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I was having a bad day, too much to do, not enough help and she seemed to be doing my job for me, and I wasn’t in the mood.” He sighed. “She can be persistent.”

Jake laughed, nodding.

Hoover looked wryly at Jake. “Maybe I should offer her a job.”

That stopped Jake in his work. He looked at Hoover to see if he was serious. It looked like he was. Jake said, “Don’t even mention it to her if you value your life.”

Hoover laughed. “She’s got a pretty good detective head on her shoulders.”

“You heard me,” said Jake with a warning tone.

Hoover laughed again. “Calm down, ole buddy. Are you going to marry the pretty little lady?”

“I’ve proposed but she hasn’t said yes yet.”

“Then I still have a chance.”

“When bulls fly. So, butt out, Big Dog,” Jake said, calling Hoover by his nickname. He smiled and shook his head.

Hoover studied the sky. “I’ll keep my eye out for flying bulls. You wouldn’t want to be under one at the wrong time. That could be messy.”

“Don’t you have a job to do?”

“Yeah, but I had to stop by and give you a chance to make my day.”

Jake wiped his hands on a rag. “Want a cup of coffee?”

“I come all this way, it’s the least you could offer me.”

They walked up to the house and went into the kitchen through the back door.

Coffee pot was on the warmer, and Jake poured them each a mug. No one else was around. They leaned against the kitchen counter.

“Reese Crawford,” Hoover said, getting back to their conversation. “Wasn’t he an only child?”

Jake shook his head. “No, he had a sister.”

“Has anyone tried to find her?”

“Sammie tried a number one of the relations came up with, but no one answered the phone.”

“Where’s the sister?”

“The phone number is in California somewhere.”

“You’ll never find her if she’s in California. What’s her name? I’ll look her up.”

“Sammie can give you the name and number. She’s around here somewhere. Fiona took Opal to town this morning.”

“How’s it going with Opal? Does she have a chance?”

Jake shrugged. “Not much according to what Sammie and Fiona tell me. The treatments are pretty strong, I guess, and she’s been feeling pretty sick.”

Hoover shook his head. “It won’t be the same world without Opal Crawford in it.”

“No, it won’t.”

“Are you going to buy the ranch?” Hoover asked.

“If Tillie doesn’t screw things up, I am.”

Later that afternoon, Paul came back in Olympia’s fancy Rover, and she came up for air to greet him, much to Fiona’s surprise. Olympia made Paul wait till she cleaned herself up and acted real happy to see him. Fiona told him it was pretty serious if Olympia interrupted her writing for Paul. Jake didn’t know. Sometimes the way women acted around men didn’t make any sense to him.

That evening Reese Crawford himself showed up. Jake and Fiona were having a sit on the porch after dinner, enjoying the cool of the evening. Sammie was helping Opal get ready for bed. Olympia and Paul had gone for a drive. A car Jake didn’t recognize came in the road. A shiny black Mercedes Benz with California license plates pulled in at the old hitching rail in front of the house. Jake didn’t know anyone in the valley who owned a Mercedes. One neighbor he knew had bought an old used diesel Mercedes at a car auction but had pulled the motor and put it in his truck. This Mercedes could only mean trouble.

A lone man got out. He was average size and wore a business suit which immediately set off a warning bell in Jake’s head. A car like that and a man dressed like that never came by here. He didn’t much trust a man that had to hide behind a fancy car and suit. The guy looked familiar and somehow Jake knew it was Reese.

“Good evening, folks,” the man said. “I’m Reese Crawford, one of Opal’s nephews.”

Jake stood to shake hands with him as he came up onto the porch. “I’m Jake, and this is Fiona.”

Reese’s smile was a little too toothy for Jake and his hand a little too soft. Reese had become a fancy city slicker. No wonder nobody had kept track of him.

“I remember you, Jake. It’s been a long time.”

Jake nodded, waiting.

“Is Opal here?”

“She’s resting in her room. She hasn’t been well,” said Jake.

“I understand she has leukemia.”

“That’s correct.”

Reese’s smile collapsed into a good rendition of compassion for the terminally ill. “I’m sorry to hear of it.”

“Is there something I can help you with?”

Reese’s smile returned. “I was hoping to speak with Opal directly.”

Jake looked at Fiona. “Darlin’, would you see if Opal is receiving visitors?”

Fiona, who had remained silent, went inside. That left Jake and Reese sizing each other up.

Jake said, “Like to have a seat?”

“Yes, thank you.” Reese sat down across from Jake and took out a pack of smokes and offered one to Jake.

Jake shook his head. “I gave it up.”

“I try but so far it’s been a losing battle.” He lighted up and sat back, looking like he was starting to enjoy himself. “From what I can see of the place it looks real good. I guess you have a lot to do with that.”

“I manage the ranch for Opal. I’ve had a hand in keeping it going all these years.”

“How many cows does she run?”

“Depends on the time of year.”

“I saw the pivots. How much hay to you put up a year?”

“Depends on the year and the weather.”

“I understand. I know a little bit about ranching. I have a ranch in California.”

Jake nodded. He wasn’t about to share any more information than necessary about the ranch. He knew the numbers as well as Opal did. After all, she had trained him.