Dead Set

by Vannetta Chapman

  “Are you worried about this, Tony?”

  “Not in the way you think.”

  “How do I think?”

  He stared out at the empty parking lot that would soon be filled with cars. “I’m not worried for your safety, or I would never have suggested it.”

  “Then?”

  “I’m worried that I’ll miss something. That Kolbe’s killer will be here and will slip by us.”

  “That’s the reason for the tape?”

  “Nope. That’s the reason for the frown.”

  Agatha made sure that Doc was grazing in her pasture. She didn’t want the mare frightened again. Her cat, Fonzi, didn’t seem impressed by their preparations, but then it takes a lot to impress a cat.

  By the time the clock struck noon, Agatha, Gina, and Tony were signing up people to hunt for treasure. It was crazy, the amount of people who showed up. It seemed absurd to Agatha that this many people were bored and willing to hunt for treasure on a Saturday afternoon. The temperature was in the 90s, and there was no breeze, but the August weather didn’t seem to dissuade anyone. Her parking area was filled with pick-up trucks, Jeeps, even motorcycles. They stretched to the edge of her property and then down the county road, parking on the grass, in the bar ditch, even in Tony’s driveway.

  “It’s a mob, for sure and certain,” she mumbled under her breath. Hopefully this wouldn’t backfire on them. What if all these people refused to leave?

  But everyone seemed good-natured.

  Then she heard Tony’s words of caution. I’m worried Kolbe’s killer will be here and will slip by...

  She leaned forward to look down the line of folks patiently waiting. No one looked like a killer. In fact, she couldn’t believe her eyes when her friend Becca pulled into her driveway, her husband, Saul, driving the buggy. Then she looked out toward the road and saw several other buggies in the line of vehicles waiting to pull in.

  She motioned Saul to park on the far side of the parking area. A few minutes later, they were standing in front of her table, several teenaged grandchildren in their wake. “What are you all doing here?”

  “Thought we’d come and help.” Becca pulled Agatha into a hug. “We decided to take turns. There will be at least three Amish families here at a time...”

  “To help you keep an eye on this thing.” Saul ran his fingers through his beard. “Also, the grands were bored. They thought a treasure hunt sounded like a fun idea.”

  “How did you even hear about it? Or do you have a social media account?” She laughed as she said it. The idea was ridiculous.

  Becca lowered her voice, though she was smiling as she confessed. “Actually I think one of my grands does. She uses an Englisch friend’s phone to log in and check her feed.”

  Why was everyone using that word in such an odd way? Agatha was pretty sure feed was what you gave a chicken.

  “Anyway. She saw it and told her mamm, who told me. You know how the Amish grapevine is. Once it gets going, information takes on a life of its own. Next thing I knew, people were taking two-hour slots so someone would always be here to help. Now, where do you want to put us?”

  Agatha almost laughed out loud. The day was taking on a carnival atmosphere, and she liked it. People of all ages showed up—a couple in their seventies, and pre-teens that were dropped off by their parents. Amish and Englisch. Friends and strangers.

  She assigned Becca’s family to an area near the river. The children raced off ahead, and Becca assured Agatha they’d check back with her before leaving.

  Tony had a large whiteboard where he’d drawn the same map that was on the sheets of paper they were giving folks. As treasure-hunters arrived, Gina handed them a sheet of paper, Tony assigned them a spot on the map, and Agatha offered them a cold drink and snack. A few had already returned after thoroughly checking their area. Tony would mark off the spot they’d searched on the large map, and thank them for their help.

  “Great idea, Agatha.” Justin Magee was an Uber driver who’d given Agatha a ride a couple of times when she needed to go farther than she wanted to take Doc. Usually Gina or Tony helped her with transportation, but there had been the occasional day when everyone was busy.

  “Thank you for coming, Justin.”

  “I was hoping to find those golden spurs.”

  “I had heard a pair was missing.”

  “No luck though. Still, this was a hoot. You should do it again soon.” Justin accepted two wrapped oatmeal cookies that Gina pushed into his hands. “Wouldn’t have minded if I’d won the baking, either. You’re cooking is as good as my mee-maw’s.”

  Most of the afternoon went like that. She didn’t see any disgruntled people or anyone who looked as if they were capable of stealing a horse. She did spot a clown entertaining children by making animal shapes from balloons. Had they hired a clown?

  “People just show up, Agatha.” Gina clumsily patted her shoulder. “That’s why it’s called a flash mob.”

  Someone else had brought their snow cone trailer and was selling all items at half price.

  “Why would he sell his cones at half-price?”

  “The stuff is made of water and syrup. It’s basically pure profit. Plus, he’ll sell more today than he would in a normal week. Have you noticed how many people are here?”

  Agatha turned in a circle. Her place looked more like a county fair site than a B&B.

  “I’m not too surprised to see her here.” Gina nodded in the direction of the front porch where Tamara Bishop and Cooper Knox were doing their thing. Tamara was overdressed for the occasion in heels, tight jeans, and a lion print sleeveless top. At the moment she was pushing a microphone in the face of two teens who were hamming it up for the camera.

  Agatha was determined to look on the bright side of things. “Maybe it’ll spread the word even more.”

  “The word?”

  “That we’re treasureless.”

  Lieutenant Bannister had stopped by, clearly displeased by their plan. “It’s not breaking and entering when you invite them in, so don’t call me when they break something.”

  “He’s a ray of sunshine,” Agatha had said to Tony, who had stopped by to see if she needed a break. “I’m fine though. You go on and survey the masses.”

  “Shout if you need me or if you see anything suspicious.” He’d waited until she nodded in agreement, then rushed off to stop two young boys who were climbing a tree to search for the treasure.

  The most exciting moment was when an old gent named Sam Hope found something with his metal detector. A large crowd surged toward Agatha’s garden, but Sam hadn’t found a diamond necklace, gold spurs, or a jewel-studded Stetson. The find turned out to be rusty garden tools. They must have been buried there for years, as Agatha had never seen them before. Ages ago someone had left them in the garden, forgotten about them, and over time they’d been covered with honeysuckle vine.

  Agatha thought they’d look lovely displayed next to the rose bushes in her garden, but the crowd didn’t care about that. Rusty tools weren’t a treasure in their eyes. Everyone wandered off, back to their positions.

  As the time crept toward six, the lot slowly emptied.

  Jonas and Minerva Schrock were among the last to leave. “You had a gut showing.”

  “We did.”

  “I assume the point was not to actually find treasure.”

  “To the best of my knowledge there is no treasure to find.”

  Jonas turned slowly in a circle. “But now the place has been thoroughly searched.”

  “By the people who are most curious.” Agatha waved Tony over. “It was Tony’s idea. We’re hoping that it will stop the break-ins.”

  “Bishop.” Tony shook Jonas’s hand and nodded hello to Minerva. “Nice touch having families from your community come out to help. I don’t think I’d have been able to keep an eye on everyone at the same time.”

  “The little girl stuck up in the hayloft was scared of heights. She went up with her bruders, then
they ran off to search somewhere else, and she was left to find her way down.” Jonas wiggled his eyebrows. “That was the worst of what we saw.”

  “Indeed, a cup of milk and two of your cookies calmed her right down.” Minerva shook her head in surprise. “How did you manage to cook so much?”

  “Gina helped. Gina always helps.”

  Jonas stuck his thumbs under his suspenders and grinned at Agatha. “She’s a gut friend to you. She and Tony both are.”

  If she wasn’t mistaken, Jonas winked at Tony when he said this. What did that mean? Did he suspect they had feelings for one another? She should probably speak to him about their relationship, but she just...she didn’t actually understand their relationship. She didn’t know where it was going, or if it was going anywhere. She felt foolish. Then she remembered Gina’s story about Ben and Ginger. Had they ever felt foolish? Uncertain? Scared?

  Jonas was saying that he’d see her at church the next day. As they walked away, Tony cupped her elbow in his hand. “Care to go inside and get off your feet for a few minutes?”

  “I’d love to, but there’s a lot to clean up here.”

  “The Callaway boys offered to do it in exchange for the remaining cookies.”

  “Deal.”

  Agatha hadn’t realized how exhausting the day had been until she stepped into her sitting room. The couch was calling her, but she really should see to dinner.

  “I’ve ordered pizza.” Gina walked in carrying three glasses of iced tea on a tray. She set it on the table and they each reached for a glass and took a long drink.

  “Pizza’s a gut idea. Danki.”

  “No problem. We’ve all been up since someone tried to steal Doc. I think we earned a dinner out...or in. You know what I mean.”

  “Indeed I do.” Agatha set her glass on the table and looked around the room.

  Fonzi was lying on the floor, playing with something caught under her bookcase, near where the skylight had been installed. Tony sat in the recliner, staring out her front window. Gina plopped onto the other end of the couch from Agatha.

  “So, are we considering this a success?” Agatha took another sip of the tea, felt the refreshingly cold liquid make its way down her throat.

  “I checked our original post as well as recent ones other people have added. You’re definitely trending.”

  “Trending.”

  “The general consensus is that if there were anything here to be found, it would have been found today.”

  “Hmm. That sounds like gut news to me, so why does Tony look so worried?”

  Tony seemed to pull himself back into the present. “Oh, I think it was a success in that respect.”

  “But...”

  “I was hoping to catch a lead on Kolbe’s killer.”

  The thought of Kolbe put a damper on the mood in the room. Then Fonzi fished out whatever he’d been attempting to reach under the bookcase and set to batting it around the room. One simply could not remain morose when watching a pet tackle an inanimate object. The yellow cat resembled a hockey player, batting the small sliver of paper across the room, racing in order to reach it when it stopped, then pouncing on it as if to keep it from getting away again.

  Fonzi continued in this fashion until they were all laughing. And then she did the strangest thing, or it seemed strange to Agatha, but then she’d never owned a cat before. She batted the paper in the direction of Agatha, walked over to where it landed, and sat primly, paws tucked up under her, green eyes staring at Agatha.

  “Your cat is trying to tell you something,” Gina said.

  “She wants you to accept her kill.” Tony shrugged. “It’s what cats do. Be glad it isn’t another live bunny.”

  Fonzi had brought in a live bunny and released it in the spring. It had taken the three of them an hour to catch the poor thing and release it. The old cat had walked off—offended by their response and refusing to come in for dinner.

  Agatha reached down and picked up the piece of paper. “Danki, Fonzi. I accept your gift.”

  She read the paper, which was actually a business card, turned it over, read the handwriting there, and then passed it to Tony.

  “Does this make any sense to you?”

  He stared at it a moment, flipped it over, and finally looked up. “I think Fonzi has found our first clue.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  The front of the card was simply embossed with the YO symbol—the brand was a capital Y connected to a flat O. Above the Y was the word RANCH, and below it in smaller font HEADQUARTERS.

  Tony didn’t know how it fit into the stolen goods and Kolbe’s murder, but some instinct born of years of experience told him that it did.

  Agatha sank back against the couch. “What’s the YO Ranch?”

  “Big place, even by Texas standards.” Gina tapped something into her phone and pulled up a picture of the ranch, then handed the phone to Agatha. “Kerrville. Rich folks.”

  “Pretty much sums it up.” Tony flipped the card over to the back side. Someone had written a phone number on it.

  Agatha returned the phone to Gina. “How is that card a clue? How is it connected to lost treasures or Waynard’s buckle or Kolbe’s death?”

  Instead of answering, Tony pulled out his phone, tapped in the number from the card, and then hit the speaker button.

  “You’ve reached Lester If you’re calling about the ranch hand work, all positions are filled at the moment. If you’d like to leave your name and number, we’ll contact you when a spot opens up.”

  This was followed by a beep.

  Tony disconnected the call and sat back.

  Gina popped off the couch. “I better get some writing supplies. I know that expression on Tony’s face.”

  She came back with a pad of paper and a pen. Agatha noticed the pizza delivery guy pull into the drive. “Let me get my purse...”

  “I’ve got this, Agatha.” Tony pulled two twenties from his wallet, stood, and opened the front door before the delivery guy had a chance to knock.

  “Need some change?”

  “Nope. Keep it.”

  Gina had returned to the kitchen to fetch plates, napkins, and more tea. Agatha cleared off the coffee table. Tony had eaten at Agatha’s many times. It was rare that she ate in the living room, but perhaps she was feeling the same pulse of intuition that he was. If anything, it felt like tonight the added proximity to one another might help.

  They spent the next fifteen minutes consuming calories. The pizza was hot and surprisingly good—pepperoni with mushrooms and spinach, which was Agatha’s favorite.

  Tony closed the lid on the box, picked up the paper and pen, then passed it to Agatha.

  “Let’s start with what we know.” Which they all understood would be a short list.

  Renovation started.

  Buckle found at B&B.

  Several break-ins to find other treasures?

  Kolbe killed not far from B&B

  Renovation stopped.

  “Pretty much sums it up.” Agatha tapped the pen against the pad of paper. “Hasn’t even been a week yet, but already we’re knee deep in this and have no idea what is happening.”

  Tony scrubbed a hand across his face, fighting against the exhaustion and carbs. He yawned, then leaned forward—elbows on his knees, hands interlocked. “We might know more than you think. This all started with the renovation, and now the renovation is stopped.”

  “So?”

  “So the Dewalds go on the top of the suspect list.” Gina placed a hand over her heart when Agatha gave her the look. “It’s only a list, Agatha. We’re not accusing them of anything.”

  Agatha rather reluctantly flipped to the second page and titled it Suspect List then added Derrick and Debbie Dewald.

  “We also need to put the construction workers on that list,” Tony said.

  “Why?” Agatha apparently had her doubts, but she wrote the words construction workers.

  “Well, they were here when you found the b
uckle. They knew the lay-out of your house, knew where to look, knew which walls had already been removed and which hadn’t been checked. More importantly, Kolbe was on the work crew and now he’s dead.”

  “Do we even know their names?” Gina closed her eyes as if that would help. “Can’t say as I heard anyone’s name.”

  Agatha tapped the pen against the pad. “There was Kolbe, of course. Also José Gomez and Hunter Mathis. Derrick introduced me to both of them.” She quickly added their names to the list.

  “And the guy in charge of the outdoor crew.” Gina snuggled into the corner of the couch. “Something Garrett?”

  “Garrett Jackson. He had seemed like such a nice guy—all the workers had.” After adding the name, Agatha tilted her head and studied the list. “Not much here.”

  “Let’s think timeline.” Tony stood and began pacing the room. “You scheduled a renovation with the Dewalds. Then the newspaper contacted you to do a feature. How did they know what you were doing?”

  “I don’t really know.”

  “Start a list of questions and put that one on the top.”

  “Okay, but it’s not that unusual to do a piece on Amish businesses. We’re still a bit of an anomaly around here.”

  Tony stuck his hands in his pockets and looked around the room, as if he were seeing it the morning the buckle was found. “Okay. Tamara interviews you, then you picked up the rubber mallet...”

  “Not at first. Derrick handed me a hard hat, which I refused. Then he gave me a sledgehammer, but I couldn’t pick it up, let alone swing it.”

  “And I gave you the rubber mallet.”

  “Right.”

  Gina snapped her fingers. “We should add the news crew to our list of suspects. Tamara Bishop strikes me as someone willing to do anything for the next scoop.”

  “Doesn’t make her a thief or a killer,” Tony pointed out. “But I agree her name as well as the cameraman’s should go on the list.”

  “The guy with the video recorder was tall, thin, kind of scraggly looking.” Agatha stared up at the ceiling. “What was his name?”

  “Something funny...”