Farmcall Fatality (Mandy Bell DVM Series Book 1)

by Abby Deuel

  “How cool. I’ve never seen a bobcat,” said Gillian.

  “Me neither. And, depending on how young and how sick it is, you guys may all get your wish. I’ve always wanted to rehab and release a bobcat and I have never had the opportunity. The whole process could take months,” said Mandy.

  “That is wonderful news! For now, let’s all sit down and have a meal together,” said Merv.

  No one needed a second nudge to start eating. All that could be heard was the clanking of serving forks and spoons on serving dishes as everyone piled their plates high. After such a dramatic day, Mandy was certainly famished.

  “Tell us the whole story,” said Rhonda. “We want to know how you managed to figure it out and save the town all in one day. Of course, in between bites of this delicious spread thanks to Merv and Myrna.”

  “Well, I knew that there was something we were all missing. I just kept thinking about the day that I went to have my haircut and how odd Dennis acted. See, I had seen a tan line on his wrist as if he was missing something - a watch, bracelet, or something like that. I asked him about it and he became very cagey when he answered. He said he must have just misplaced it. He acted so weird, though. Then, I was going through Anna’s things and kept finding a link between Anna and Dennis. All evidence was pointing to Dennis. He had just come into town and Dennis was a wild card to everyone. I couldn’t get much information about him. I kept trying to find a motive for him. I found out some discrepancies with the deed to Anna’s property. And he kept hounding me for something from Anna’s house. He just seemed like the perfect fit.”

  “So, how did you get from Dennis to the cattle yards?” asked Gillian.

  “First of all, I had studied Dennis’s feet. I knew that size 13 shoe prints were found at the murder scene. Dennis, on the other hand, had size 14 shoes. I managed to sneak a peek at an impression of his shoes in the sand at the softball game. While someone could have worn bigger shoes to throw off the investigation, Dennis would never have been able to squeeze his feet into a smaller shoe and walk all the way out there.”

  “I’m so glad that the murder has been solved because everyone keeps giving me very strange looks,” said Dennis.

  “We know you are innocent but Mandy did have some interesting reasons to suspect you,” said Gillian.

  “Well, if everyone must know, I am the one who gave Fred my watch as a token of appreciation for him letting me stay at his place. He had always admired it. I only acted odd because a man giving another man a watch is a little strange and then he went and lost it anyway.”

  “Oh, he didn’t lose it. That’s why I went out to the cattle yards. The image of the murder scene was ingrained in my mind and I kept going over it and over it for clues. I knew I had seen something shiny that was out of place and it took me a while to put it altogether. I knew I would find that watch there. Fred wouldn’t lose the watch. He cherished it. He had taken it off to avoid gun powder residue and then forgot to pick it up or it fell out of his pocket or something. He couldn’t go back out to get it until everybody started going about normal business and not loitering around the yards with the investigation, so he was waiting,” said Mandy.

  “I still don’t understand how you knew it was Fred,” said Rhonda.

  “Bear with me. I’m getting to it. I had been digging around in Anna’s things, trying to find an heir to Anna’s estate. I also perused library archives. I came across Dennis and Anna’s relationship from years ago. But what we had all missed in that relationship was a jealous third party. In all of the years of information I went through, I never once found any special someone in Fred’s life. All along, he had been waiting for Dennis. He couldn’t handle that Dennis wouldn’t love him back but he still wanted Dennis to be happy. Buck had always been the undoing of Dennis and Anna ever getting together. Fred was trying to protect Dennis from the heartache of seeing Buck again so he murdered him before they crossed paths again.”

  “Whoa. That is all very convoluted,” Dennis said.

  “Indeed. The other missing factor to consider is that Fred was mad as a March hare. His form of logic was clearly neither linear nor sane. While love can do a lot of strange things, I’m guessing Fred’s secret life was hard for him his whole life. He just snapped,” said Mandy.

  “That is absolutely dreadful. We may be a small town but we certainly don’t judge people’s choice of love, even if it is unrequited,” said Rhonda.

  “Very true. We accept everybody here. Poor guy,” said Gillian.

  “There’s one thing I still don’t know the answer to,” said Mandy. “What on earth was so important for you to get from Anna’s?” she asked Dennis.

  “I just wanted to get a few odds and ends, a sweatshirt I gave her when we were back in high school, a few pictures. I did want to check the deed to make sure we were all square,” said Dennis.

  “You sure made it seem like the earth would end if you didn’t retrieve the items you wanted,” said Mandy.

  “Sorry about that,” said Dennis.

  “So, Gerry, how did you know to go rescue Mandy?” asked Rhonda.

  “She had left me a message on my phone that she was going out there to check something. I didn’t anticipate how much danger she would be in. I just didn’t want her to be exploring anything on her own. Unfortunately, I was too late and Fred had already led her out of eyesight. I knew she was around somewhere because her Jeep was there. Lyle led us to her so we could save the day,” said Gerry.

  “I’m so glad everyone had their Sherlock Holmes sleuthing caps on, including Lyle,” said Gillian. “Perhaps life can get back to normal now, or as normal as it ever was around here!”

  “I hate to eat and run. It’s about time to meet the lady with the bobcat. A few hours just flew by,” said Mandy.

  “On behalf of the town, thanks for your bravery today. You have helped to restore Crestview to the safe, quaint town it was supposed to be,” said Gerry.

  Mandy rose, bowed with a wink, and left with Lyle by her side.

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Mandy and Lyle returned to the clinic stuffed to the gills with the wonderful meal. They fed Emma and Jimbo, giving them a little moist kitten food as a treat.

  “Nobody should miss out on the feasting today,” said Mandy.

  As they were making the rounds to check on patients in the hospital, Gillian and Hamish joined them.

  “You sneaked out rather fast. You didn’t think we were going to miss the bobcat,” said Gillian.

  “I wasn’t trying to sneak. I am just so excited about this bobcat. I am convinced that it will be just a Maine Coon kitten or something like that. Plus, with all of the excitement today, my patients haven’t received the care they deserve from me.”

  “Hamish and I checked in on them before dinner. I think everyone is doing well,” Gillian said.

  “Thanks for doing that. Yes, I think we can discharge Trixie and Reggie tomorrow. We can do the amputation tomorrow, too. We need to clear out this hospital to make room for the next onslaught of patients. They tend to come in waves. Let’s get a few things ready for the new addition. Fluids, a heating pad. Do we have any kitten or puppy formula?”

  “I have some of each in the freezer. I’ll go grab it,” said Gillian.

  “Great. We may need to mix them together because neither is perfect for bobcats. I will set up a cage in my office. I don’t want it exposed to the hustle and bustle of the clinic or the diseases of other animals,” Mandy said, almost skipping as she went to her office.

  “They’re here,” said Gillian, as she opened the door.

  Karen and Ted walked in with a box draped with a wool blanket. They set it on the table and stepped back. They were the town trappers, living way on the outskirts of town. They looked the part, almost like they had stepped out of the wilds of Alaska. They each had on neutral toned clothing that had become naturally camouflaged due to the years of dirt and wear. Their hats were made from offcuts of fur from various mammals. They
smelled fragrantly of a combination of pine, dirt, animal fat, and grease. Their eyes were completely focused on the little box.

  “So, what do we have here?” Mandy asked rhetorically as she opened the box.

  “We were trapping out West of town and came across a mama bobcat in one of the traps. We didn’t aim to trap her. We have been out there trying to relocate some coons that have been wreaking havoc. We use a small live trap so that we don’t catch things like bobcats. This mama must have been desperate from the drought for food that she got in and got captured,” Karen said.

  “Unfortunately, she panicked and broke her neck. We found her deceased with little kitten trembling beside her,” said Ted. “We couldn’t bear to see it not make it and we heard you have the know-how to get the little guy back to the wild. We searched for others and there was only this one kitten, if that’s even what you call them.”

  “It’s unusual to have a litter this late in the season so I’m not surprised there was only one. Poor mama. It happens though and you did the responsible thing by bringing it in,” said Mandy.

  She pulled the little ball of fur out onto the rug she had on the table. She examined it thoroughly and found no wounds. Its little ears were still flat against its head. Its eyes were barely starting to open. She checked and it was a little boy. He seemed very weak and dehydrated. She got him on the heating pad after she weighed him at 320 grams. Even though he was so small, he was clearly not a domestic cat. His markings were designed for him to be invisible in the Fall ground cover. He had little stripes along his back and sides and a smattering of dots along his belly. His fur was dense, almost like a goat or sheep, instead of a cat. His claws were already gigantic compared to a normal cat. One of them inadvertently hooked into Mandy’s skin as she checked him over. It was definitely a bobcat.

  “I can’t make any promises here. I always take wildlife day by day. We will get him warmed up and on some fluids and then see about starting some formula tomorrow. Poor guy has had a harder day than me, and that’s saying something,” said Mandy.

  “Oh, we heard about your day. Thanks for your bravery, Dr. Bell. And thank you for giving this guy a go in life,” said Ted.

  “And if you need anything, please call us. Gillian knows how to get a hold of us. We can help arrange food if you need fresh meat. And we can help with release when the time comes,” said Karen.

  “That’s great. We won’t need meat for quite a while but fresh is always best,” said Mandy.

  Gillian led Karen and Ted back out. She raced back to the table to get her own close-up look at the new patient.

  “That is truly amazing. They are built to be athletes from birth. Look at those feet!” said Gillian. Hamish was staring wide-eyed beside her. People can live in Illinois their whole lives and never see a bobcat, much less a baby one. This was a real treat for everyone.

  “Rule number one. This is an animal that should be afraid of people. We have to do our best not to imprint it. No loud talking around him. We wear leather gloves when we handle him. We do as little handling as possible. Ok?” said Mandy.

  “Aye, aye, captain. What can we do to help?” asked Gillian.

  “Let’s get some fluids into him. We can do shifts through the night. I’ll take the first few nights to get him stabilized and then you guys can take a few nights. He will need to be fed several times through the night. For tonight, I will just do electrolytes until we correct his hydration status. We’ll get a portable cage set up so we can transport him without changing his environment. We’ll need a stuffed animal for him to bond with and a little clock for him.”

  “A clock?” asked Hamish quietly.

  “The ticking helps mimic the heartbeat of a mama. They find it soothing,” said Mandy.

  “That’s clever,” said Hamish.

  They gathered around while Mandy gave some fluids under the skin. He was so weak that he made no attempt to swallow when she tried oral fluids. He didn’t even fight when the needle went under his skin for the fluids.

  “Rule number two. Try not to get emotionally attached. Wildlife is very hard. Sometimes they don’t make it. We all need to be prepared for that and take it day by day,” said Mandy.

  “We are on board, Dr. Bell,” said Hamish. Lyle had been through this drill before but she sat at attention listening to every word Mandy had to say. She was an indispensable nurse in the first few weeks of care for an infant animal. She kept Mandy company during the late night checks. She also helped wake Mandy up if she overslept one of her shifts.

  “Let’s all get some rest now. It’s been a long day. I will bring him to the RV with me tonight and check him in a few hours for more fluids,” said Mandy.

  “I’ll be back bright and early to get the hospital patients taken care of and the surgery ready,” said Gillian. “Anything else we can do?”

  “Grab the doors for me and get some rest,” said Mandy. They all filed out of the clinic. It seemed fitting that a new adventure should begin before the previous one had ended. Never a dull moment at a vet clinic.

  The End

  Synopsis

  In this first book of the Mandy Bell DVM series, Mandy is summoned to a small Midwestern town called Crestview. A colleague and classmate from vet school has passed away and left her veterinary clinic and house to Mandy. While Mandy has always been a traveling vet in her motor home, she finds herself drawn to the Midwestern hospitality that the town shows her and her sidekick Border collie, Lyle. Unfortunately, on one of her farmcalls, she discovers a body that turns out to have been murdered. She is determined to solve the murder to clear the name of the quaint little town. She uses her own intuition and careful questioning of townspeople and clients to piece together the culprit at fault. Lyle is by her side through the whole book, including at the town’s Halloween Hoedown, where she gets into trouble of her own. Read on to experience life as a small town veterinarian with a knack for solving murders.

  About the Author

  Abby Deuel is a practicing veterinarian in a small town in the Midwest. She worked in the Dairy farming industry in New Zealand before attending vet school there. After graduating and practicing as a mixed animal vet in the North Island of New Zealand, she moved back to America. Deuel served as a relief vet for several years, until she set up her own practice.

  While she pulls from real life experiences for some of the cases and characters for this series, everything is very much fictional. The only exception is that she too has a Border collie named Lyle that continues to serve as inspiration for upcoming books as well as a constant companion.

  Acknowledgments

  I would like to extend gratitude to friend Vivian McGeehon for her continuous encouragement to finish the book that was started as a few chapters five years ago. Without her guidance, this book would have remained a fruitless hobby. In addition, a big thank you is in order for Chau Schroeder who inadvertently volunteered to edit the first book in the series about Dr. Mandy Bell. Cheers to Kane Deuel for crafting the perfect bumble bee costume for Lyle to bring the book’s description to life and for providing editing recommendations. And, thanks to Britt Bailey whose photographic talents allowed the creation of an eye-catching book cover, featuring none other than Lyle. Lastly, thanks to Lyle for being my soul mate. We have been through thick and thin together and you continue to inspire me. Dogs are in fact the center of my universe.

  Book One: Farmcall Fatality

  Published June 2014

  In this first book of the Mandy Bell DVM series, Mandy is summoned to a small Midwestern town called Crestview. A colleague and classmate from vet school has passed away and left her veterinary clinic and house to Mandy. While Mandy has always been a traveling vet in her motor home, she finds herself drawn to the Midwestern hospitality that the town shows her and her sidekick Border collie, Lyle. Unfortunately, on one of her farmcalls, she discovers a body that turns out to have been murdered. She is determined to solve the murder to clear the name of the quaint little town. She use
s her own intuition and careful questioning of townspeople and clients to piece together the culprit at fault. Lyle is by her side through the whole book, including at the town’s Halloween Hoedown, where she gets into trouble of her own. Read on to experience life as a small town veterinarian with a knack for solving murders.

  Book Two: Pasture Postmortem

  Published November 2014

  In the second book of the Mandy Bell DVM Mystery Series, Mandy’s life is action-packed from page one. First, her RV floods, waking her up. Then she finds herself in a sea of ailing cattle after a cattle truck has been struck by a train. Recovering from the drama of that disaster, Mandy then has to treat over ten dogs who all get overdosed with cattle pour-on.

  Trying to take a break from it all, Mandy takes Lyle, her constant companion and Border collie, to a friend’s farm to frolic with sheep. Instead of a day off, Mandy discovers a dead body, which turns out to be the most mysterious death the Crestview police department has ever seen. Mandy’s reluctance to stay in Crestview is pushed aside as she devotes herself to solving this potential murder.

  Book Three: Coming soon!

  Watch and like the Mandy Bell Facebook page for more information.

  www.facebook.com/MandyBellSeries