Something Suspicious in Sask

by Dayle Gaetz

  Her stomach turned over. She should have figured things out by now. She should have done something to prevent all of this from happening. What kind of detective was she anyway? The answer was right there in front of her eyes, she was sure of it, but still she couldn’t quite see it. You’re missing something Detective Katie, Emily had told her less than a half hour ago. And Emily was right. But what? What was she missing?

  Was Megan as forgetful and dangerous as she seemed?

  Was Scott out to get revenge?

  What was Cliff’s role in all of this?

  Katie’s head spun. Her shoulder and stomach hurt where the seat belt had yanked her back. Her neck ached. She could not think clearly.

  18

  Katie ached from head to heels, and her eyes were so heavy she could barely keep them open. If she weren’t so hungry she would crawl into bed right now. It was late evening. Katie and Rusty had been examined at the Humboldt hospital and released.

  Both were bruised and sore but otherwise fine. Now everyone was gathered around the table devouring a huge plate of sandwiches made by Katie’s mom and Aunt Sarah.

  Katie let her eyes wander around the table. Even though he looked as tired and sore as she felt, Rusty bit hungrily into a roast beef sandwich. Head down, Megan pulled a sandwich apart and nibbled on a piece of chicken. The adults were quietly preoccupied with drinking coffee and eating.

  They had waited at the hospital for hours until Aunt Margaret was finally released. The doctors said she had suffered an anxiety attack, a serious condition that mimics the symptoms of a heart attack. And no wonder, thought Katie, with everything that had happened to her lately. It was enough to give anyone an anxiety attack.

  Her face gray with exhaustion, Aunt Margaret looked even more worried than before. She used both hands to lift her coffee mug, but it shook so badly she couldn’t drink and put it down again. “I thought I was having a heart attack,” she whispered into the quiet room, “just like Al.”

  “What happened?” Katie asked. She spoke softly and tried not to turn her head because the slightest movement brought instant pain that started in her skull and shot down her neck into her right shoulder.

  So she held her sandwich in her left hand and took tiny bites because chewing made her face hurt.

  “I was clearing a field of rocks,” Aunt Margaret said. “I figured I’d collect a nice, big stack to keep GJ busy as long as possible.” She looked fondly at her father. “When I had a full load, I backed the rock picker up to the truck and raised the bucket as high as it would go. Suddenly wham! The whole thing crashed down. Rocks, dirt, bucket, everything toppled toward the tractor. A huge rock bounced forward and smashed the window in front of my face. For a minute, I thought I’d been shot. Then a terrible pain began in my chest, so bad I doubled over and could hardly breathe. I don’t know what happened after that.”

  “When Margaret didn’t show up for lunch, we took lunch to her,” GJ continued the story. “We found her slumped over the steering wheel.”

  “Well, it’s over and done with now.” Aunt Margaret smiled weakly. “And I’m none the worse for wear.”

  “That’s not the way we see it,” Katie’s mom said.

  “Your doctor says you’re ruining your health. You need a rest, Margaret.”

  “How can I rest? I have a farm to run.”

  “We talked it over while you were in Emergency.

  We’re taking you home with us the day after tomorrow.”“I can’t, Laura. I need to stay here and keep the farm going.”

  “The farm will be fine. Cliff offered to take over now, instead of waiting a year.”

  “And we have loads of room in our house,” GJ said. “Your mother and I have been rattling around in it for years.”

  “If you won’t do it for yourself, do it for Megan.

  She needs to get away from here,” Gram said. “And she can finish school in Victoria.”

  Aunt Margaret glanced at Cliff. “No, I can’t ask Cliff to do that; there are too many problems right now. The farm machinery is falling apart by the day, and there’s that threat about GM canola I told you about. I need to deal with it.”

  “Don’t you worry about that,” Cliff said. “I can handle everything. You didn’t want GM canola, and I respect your choice, even if I do believe it’s the way of the future. Trust me, there wasn’t one GM seed in the mix—not unless Scott put it there.” His hand on the table formed a fist. “I know exactly who’s behind the phone calls and I plan to take care of him.”

  “You still think it’s Scott?”

  “I know it’s Scott. The police are questioning him right now. He’s behind the accidents too. The RCMP helped me round up the cows and we found where the fence had been cut.”

  “When could Scott have done that?” Katie asked.

  Cliff ignored her. “Scott must have sneaked onto the property after Megan last used the rock picker and damaged it before you used it today.”

  Katie cleared her throat. Before Cliff could speak again, she asked, “Is that what you were working on this morning in the shop?”

  He looked at her and laughed. “What does a city girl know about farm machines? You don’t even know what a rock picker is. I was working on the cutter bar today.”

  “But…”

  “If you do all this for us,” Aunt Margaret said, “I’ll need to sell you the farm at a drastically reduced price.”

  Cliff nodded. “I’m sure we’ll reach an agreement when the time comes.”

  “But…,” Katie said again. She tried to think through the pain that crashed inside her head.

  “Do you have something else to say, Katie?” Cliff asked politely.

  Did she? Something nagged at the back of her mind, but she couldn’t quite remember what it was.

  She turned her head slightly and pain screamed through her body. “No,” she whispered.

  “I don’t understand why Scott would do this to us,” Aunt Margaret said.

  “If you ask me, that boy’s crazy. He’s got a grudge against you and he’ll do anything to get even. I knew we should have called the police when we caught him stealing your necklace.”

  “I guess you’re right,” Aunt Margaret agreed. “But I wanted to give him a second chance. He always seemed like such a nice boy.”

  “He’s a good actor,” Cliff said. “He has most people fooled, but he can’t fool me.”

  Megan jumped to her feet and tossed her napkin on the table. “Don’t you people get it?” she screamed. “It was me! I started the fire! I left the wire in the field! Maybe I didn’t cut those fence wires, but I didn’t bother to check the fence this morning and I almost killed my best friend!” She placed both hands against the sides of her head. “I must have wrecked the rock picker too. I forgot to tell you it wasn’t working right the last time I used it. So, if anyone’s crazy, it’s me, not Scott!”

  She ran from the room and charged up the stairs two at a time. Everyone sat in stunned silence, waiting for the inevitable slam of the door and the crash that would make the house shudder.

  It never came.

  “I’ll tell you one thing,” Rusty said into the silence.

  “This place isn’t near as boring as I thought it would be.”

  To Katie’s amazement, the adults burst into laughter. Even Aunt Margaret smiled, when only a moment ago she looked as if she would dissolve in tears.

  Cliff grabbed a couple of sandwiches and stood up. “If you don’t mind, I’ll take these with me. I’ve got a ton of paperwork to do.”

  “What’s all this paperwork Cliff does?” Katie asked after he left the room. “I thought he did repairs and farm-type jobs.”

  “Cliff volunteered to take over the accounts because he knows how much I hate doing that part of farm work. I was always stuck doing the books when Al was alive, but now Cliff does most of the ordering and pays all the bills. It’s wonderful!”

  “All the bills?” Katie asked. She knew this was important, although, at
the moment, she couldn’t remember why.

  Aunt Margaret nodded.

  “Do you think that’s wise?” GJ asked. “I mean, are you sure he knows what he’s doing? He seems awfully young to me.”

  “Are you kidding?” Rusty asked. “I bet Cliff’s older than my fifth grade teacher, and he was ancient!”

  “Right.” Rusty’s mom laughed. “He must have been at least twenty-five!”

  “Cliff is only twenty-six,” Aunt Margaret said, “but he’s very competent. He went to Ag College.”

  “What’s Ag College?” Rusty asked.

  “It’s where you study agriculture. Cliff knows all the latest techniques to get the most out of the land.

  He’s also continuing the work Al started, to produce better canola seeds.”

  Something still nagged at Katie, something she’d been trying to sort out since this morning, but the accident had knocked it clear out of her consciousness. Now it kept creeping back, lingering at the edges of her mind, hazy and incomplete. She was so completely exhausted her brain seemed to be shutting down. Her eyes closed, her head drooped. “Can I go to bed now?”

  “Do you want a nice hot bath first?” her mom asked. “It would soothe your aches and help you relax.”

  Katie considered. A hot bath would feel wonderful. “I don’t have enough energy to relax,” she said.

  “You’ll feel better after a good sleep.” Her mom opened a tiny brown envelope. “Here, take this little pill. The doctor said to take one at bedtime.”

  Katie swallowed the pill with the last of her milk.

  Her mom started to get up. “I’ll come upstairs with you.”

  “No, Mom, I’ll be fine.” Katie got up slowly, stood for a moment to clear her head and then dragged herself to the stairs. She clung to the railing and raised one heavy foot to the first step. Then the other, one step at a time, until at last she reached the top. She walked down the hall to Megan’s room. Pushed open the door. Sank in a heap on her cot.

  “Where did you go with Emily?” Megan asked, her voice loud and abrupt.

  “Huh?”

  “You heard me. Where did you go in Emily’s truck?”

  “To see Scott,” Katie whispered without opening her eyes.

  “Why?”

  “…solve case.”

  “So, you blame Scott too? Why can’t you see it’s me behind everything? Me and my stupid brain.”

  Katie forced her eyes to open. Forced her mind to focus. “You made those phone calls and threatened your mom?”

  “What are you talking about? There was only one.

  On my birthday when I wasn’t even home.”

  “Didn’t your mom tell you about the other calls?

  Someone’s been threatening her.”

  “Are you kidding? That must be why she had an anxiety attack! My mother keeps everything bad to herself. She thinks she needs to protect me.”

  The thought lurking in the back of Katie’s mind became so clear she almost had it. She tried to focus; she needed to ask one more question. “Would your mom tell Cliff?”

  “No way. She’s always reminding me how hard he works and how much he’s done for us. She never wants to bother him with any extra problems.” Megan lowered her voice and added, “Like, for instance, me.” In the faintest of whispers she said, “Mom won’t have me to worry about much longer. There’s no way I’m going to Victoria. She’ll be better off without me. So will Emily.”

  “But Emily will be fine. She just has a mild concussion and a broken leg.”

  “Know what really sucks?” Megan continued. “I was so rude to her. How could I treat my best friend like that?”

  Katie thought of Sheila and a sick feeling settled in her stomach. “Phone Emily,” she tried to say. “Don’t run away.” But she wasn’t sure if she said the words out loud or simply thought them.

  Everything was falling apart. Aunt Margaret was about to give up. Megan was too. Katie tried to think, tried to fit everything together, but that little pill her mother gave her was doing its job. She drifted into sleep.

  19

  Katie awoke with a start. What was that sound? She lay with her eyes closed, listening, afraid Megan was already on her way, sneaking out before anyone else woke up. Then, from across the room, she heard Megan’s soft breathing, in and out.

  Tomorrow Megan and Aunt Margaret were supposed to fly to Victoria. But by then Megan wouldn’t be here, Katie was sure of it, and while she might not miss Megan too much, Aunt Margaret would be devastated. So would Gram and GJ and the rest of the family. Which meant it was up to her to get to the truth. Today.

  Her headache was gone and her entire body felt relaxed. She smiled and turned over in bed. It was time to do some serious thinking. Then she heard it again. The crunch of a footstep on gravel, so quiet she couldn’t believe it woke her up. She opened her eyes. Deep purple curtains pulled back from the square of open window revealed the early morning sky, a washed-out shade of blue. The sound came again and Katie slipped out of bed. She padded to the open window.

  Below her Cliff disappeared around the corner of the house, walking on the gravel path that led from his door around to the driveway. Katie looked longingly back at her bed. Her eyes shifted from the bed, back toward the window. They stopped in between, at Megan’s desk.

  Scattered across it were several books, a crumpled black T-shirt and Megan’s new lipstick and nail polish. Her tape recorder sat on top of the bird book, with a little stack of tapes beside it. Katie studied the tape recorder, an idea forming in her mind. She glanced at Megan, but her cousin was turned away, facing the wall, and sleeping soundly.

  Katie picked up the tape recorder, its book of instructions and two tapes. She dressed quickly in shorts and a T-shirt, grabbed her notebook, sneakers and some clean white socks and tiptoed from Megan’s room. Soundlessly she made her way along the hall and down the stairs. She stopped at the office door and tapped softy.

  There was no reply, so she pushed the door open a few inches. Rusty had been sleeping down here since their mothers arrived. “Rusty!” she whispered through the crack. “You awake?”

  Still no answer. She stepped into the room and closed the door behind her. Rusty lay curled on the loveseat, covered up to his shoulders in a light blanket, snoring peacefully.

  Katie bent close to his ear. “Rusty! You awake?”

  His body jerked. His eyes flew open.

  “Rusty, I’m so glad you’re awake. I need your help.”

  “Go away,” Rusty moaned. He started to raise the blanket over his head.

  Katie grabbed it and pulled, but Rusty hung on tight.

  “I told you, I need your help. I’m going out to question Cliff, and you need to come with me. I think he’s our man.”

  He looked up at her. “Why?”

  “Wire cutters, phone bills and threats,” she said.

  Rusty let go of the blanket. “What?”

  Katie smiled because she knew he was hooked.

  Rusty had a curious streak, just like she did. “I’ll tell you on the way. Meet you in the kitchen.”

  The early morning sun shone in their eyes. Every little pebble on the driveway cast a long, bullet-shaped shadow, pointed toward the house. The ping-ping-ping of metal tapping metal rang through the still air.

  “Cliff sure starts work early.” Rusty yawned.

  “That’s what farmers do.”

  “Gee, thanks for explaining. I never would have guessed.” He yawned again. “I’m tired and my body aches from the roots of my hair right down to my toenails. So, are you planning on telling me why we’re out here so early when I’d rather be sleeping?”

  “Quit complaining, Rusty. I was in the accident too, remember? And I don’t feel too wonderful either, but we have a job to do.” She lowered her voice. “So, here’s what I want you to do.” They stopped beside the shop while Katie whispered every detail of her plan. Then they moved around to the front.

  Cliff stood at his workbench,
his back to the door.

  He picked up a wrench, turned and crouched beside the bright red harvest header that covered the cutter bar. He must have noticed Katie’s long shadow flick across the cement floor because he stood up suddenly.“Ah!” he said, “you again. You’ve got to stop sneaking up on me, Katie-girl. People can get hurt that way.”

  “I didn’t sneak.”

  “What brings you out here so early in the morning?

  I thought you’d sleep until noon after the way you looked last night.”

  “I couldn’t sleep. I heard you walk along the path and I needed to talk to you.”

  He rubbed a hand impatiently over his forehead.

  “Didn’t we do that yesterday? I’ve got work to do here.”

  “I know, but it won’t take long. There are a couple things that don’t make sense anymore, so I thought you could help me figure them out.”

  Cliff smiled. “So, is our clever young detective unable to solve the case of who’s behind all the accidents and threatening phone calls?” Then he frowned. “What do you mean they don’t make sense anymore? What’s changed since yesterday?”

  “For starters, there were two more accidents: one with a cow and one with a rock picker. Also, I questioned Scott yesterday, and his story is way different from yours.”

  “That’s no huge surprise. Did you expect him to admit he’s been creeping around here, sabotaging equipment and endangering lives? I knew that kid was trouble even before he stole the necklace.”

  “Okay, but Scott said he never took the necklace.

  He said, if he were a thief, he wouldn’t be stupid enough to leave it in his room where Aunt Margaret would be sure to find it.”

  Cliff grunted and sat down on a high stool near his workbench. “All right, let’s assume he didn’t take it. Let’s say it happened the way your aunt suggested and Megan accidentally dropped the necklace. That would mean he got fired for no reason. Don’t you think he’d be mad enough to seek revenge?”