subtitle: Minokee Mysteries, Book Two. This is the sequel to Finding Miranda, which is book one in the Minokee Mysteries series.
Shep and Miranda canoe downriver from Minokee, to view a new sinkhole that has opened up on Tom Rigby's farm. A profes...
AUTHOR NOTE: You may recall from your classical studies that Mammon was the mythical god of wealth. For centuries, the word "mammon" has come to mean money, riches, or the treasures of the world. So, it's no surprise that this chapter is called The Mammon: this chapter is all about money. How much would you pay for the skeleton of a mammoth? Happy reading!
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When Rocket told the men who Tom Rigby's visitor was, they did not reply immediately. After a moment, Carlo murmured, "It has to be about the mammoth."
Shep said, "And, the last time anybody saw David Zhang was the trip to Tom Rigby's sinkhole — where Tom found the bones."
"You want me to stay on the visitor or start watching Rigby?" asked Rocket.
"Stay on the visitor," said Shep.
"Get pictures of them on Rigby's farm together, if you can," Carlo added. "It could be important."
"Roger that," Rocket said, with a crisp salute in his voice.
"We will," said Shep, "but we also need to know more about that mammoth, and why certain people have taken an interest in it. Maybe we'll find out the same thing David Zhang must've found out. Then we may be able to find him."
"You think Zhang is dead?"
"I won't know what to think until we've done a little more digging. No pun intended."
Rocket Man snapped several pictures of Tom Rigby's visitor when the two stood together on Tom's back steps, saying their farewells. Rocket kicked himself for failing to set up his parabolic microphone. He would have given half of his moon rock collection to know what those two were saying.
Rocket would have been even more curious if he had known Tom's visitor was saying, "Has anybody talked to you about David Zhang?"
"David? I met him at the university, and again when that Audubon canoeing group came to see the sinkhole, it'd be ... two weeks ago Saturday. Don't know nothin' 'bout him, though. And, I ain't seen him since."
"Nobody has. David disappeared after that Audubon trip."
"Well, ain't that the dang'dest thing! What coulda happened to 'im?"
"No idea. But if you hear from him, or hear anything about him, give us a call, okay?"
"Sure, sure. Don't 'spect he'd come here ... But then, I wasn't expectin' you today, neither." Tom laughed.
The visitor laughed, too, and initiated a farewell handshake. "That's right. Now, don't say anything to anybody about that mammoth. There are people who know what something like that is worth, and they'd steal it right out from under you, if they knew about it."
