Just Another Day

IX

"N-night howlers?" He gulps. "Aren't those the things that turned animals savage? We used ta use 'em to keep the bugs away, but mama couldn't after seeing the horrible things on the T.V."
"Very good." I reply lazily. "So you stopped growing them? Do you know of anyone who's been growing a weird amount?" *Click* goes the carrot pen.

"N-no, sir. I really only see them at the Hopps farm, and they only grow a little bit." His eyes are honest, nervous, but honest. Not that I'd trust anyone on such meager proof. I flip the notebook shut and stop the carrot pens recorder. Oh well. On to the next name. "Thank you for your time, Mr. Grey. You've been very helpful."
"I-I have?" He looks surprised.
"Yes." I shake his paw. He goes back inside after watching me stroll back down the road.
Judy told me that a elderly fox, Gideon's grandfather actually, lives alone. He has a mean streak, which has made him an outcast among his family, apparently. It's been said he'll do anything for the right amount if money.

I find him sprawled in a rocking chair, watching a couple of geese picking the vegetables in his fields.
"Faster, McHonk! I'm not paying you by the hour!"
"Yes, Mr. Gray, sir." One unlucky goose starts picking overtime. You would think green beans were delicious at the rate he was plucking them.
"It's no use farming carrots. The rabbits have the market cornered there. Who wants to buy carrots from a FOX? How can I help you?"
"Are you talking to me?"
He turns a pair of orangey-brown eyes on me that practically glow with impatience.
"No, the grass and I were having a conversation. Of course you, thickwit! Get talking. I'm very busy."
I glance at his rocking chair. "I can see that, sir. I came to ask you what you know about night howlers. He shifts in the chair and I click the pen.
"Sure I do. Best bug repellant you can plant. Cheap, reliable. I grow them all around my fields." He gestures, and I see VAST quantities of the flowers.
"Wow. You sure take pest control seriously." I make a note in my pad.
"Yep. If bugs attack, I stand ta lose a lotta crop."

"Thank you, Mr. Gray. That's all I needed to know. Have a nice day." I gotta tell Judy that we have our first suspect.