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: For clarity's sake, I'm beginning chapter 19 today by repeating the last few lines of chapter 18, to give you some context for continuing the conversation. Happy reading!
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Sunday afternoon. On Pig River.
Carlo said. "My spies around Gainesville tell me Maynard has been selling things to raise drug money."
"That's not unusual. We know he's been busted in the past for possession, and we know he's a thief."
"Si, but the things he is selling right now are not Maynard's usual merchandise," said Carlo. "Is higher quality and in much better taste. Maynard leans more toward car radios and DVR's. Now, he's selling jade art and high-class Asian clothing."
Shep said, "David Zhang's possessions."
"Si, but one thing he has not sold is a laptop computer. I think, if Maynard wants money and he has something of value, like a laptop, he would not keep it for sentimental reasons," Carlo said. "He has not sold the computer, because he does not have it."
Shep thought for a few moments.
Zeus batted at a cluster of red berries hanging over the river on a slender stalk that bounced in the breeze.
"What if he hasn't sold the laptop because his usual clientele can't afford it?" Shep said.
"So, we come back to how much is that computer worth?"
"And that depends on what is on the computer and how useful it is to the person who wants it," Shep concluded.
No one spoke further. Both men concentrated on their paddling. Shep's unique, hand-crafted canoe moved so fast it could almost have pulled water skiers.
The trio arrived at Tom Rigby's property in less than an hour.
They beached the canoe at the spot where they had enjoyed a picnic lunch two weeks before. That had been the day they first met David and Felicia, the professor's teaching assistants.
It was the time they met Tom Rigby, visited Tom's sinkhole, and saw part of a tusk protruding from the earth, just a tantalizing two or three meters below ground level.
It was also the last time anybody saw David Zhang.
"A few weeks," Carlo mused. "In such a short time, David has gone missing, and many people are behaving strangely. I am thinking about Tom Rigby and David's professor, David's fellow teaching assistant, and David's roommate."
He went on, "And, I am thinking, if mammoth bones are worth three hundred thousand dollars, how much is David Zhang's laptop worth?"
"Good question." Shep knelt on the shore beside the bow of the canoe. "Especially since his doctoral dissertation is probably on it. ... Come on, if you're comin'!"
