Catch As Cat Can

31

As the blue flame slowly sliced into the heavy lock of the safe, Rick Shaw allowed as how the last person he thought would be wielding a torch would be BoomBoom Craycroft. He readily agreed to her offer, otherwise he'd have to wait a day while the safe company flew in an expert to open the lock. The county budget prompted him to make use of local talent even though it meant destroying the lock, which resembled the hatch locks of submarines.

“Harry, you drive me crazy sometimes, you and your amateur detective crap, but I hand it to you on this suggestion.”

“Thanks, Sheriff.” She stood by the oxygen tank feeding the welding torch.

“She'll live off that compliment for a month,” Tucker remarked as she sat discreetly next to a finished stuffed elk's head on the floor.

Pewter, frightened by the noise of the welding torch, crouched behind Tucker. Mrs. Murphy perched on top of Donny's worktable. She remained motionless, since she didn't want to rouse the sheriff's attention either.

“Think Harry will stuff us when we go?” She laughed as she surveyed Donny's handiwork.

“Vile!” Pewter leaned harder on Tucker, who licked her head.

Coop stood well behind Boom.

Arms across her chest, Harry murmured, “Tell Booty?”

“Yeah. Rick did.”

“Did he know anything about the truck?”

“Said it was his but for farm use. Never took it off the farm. Didn't much use it anyway, he said. No license plate. You know, he took it like the soldier that he was. He asked if Marge knew and Rick said that I was with her. He got in his car and drove in her driveway just as I was leaving. Poor Marge. He was her only son.”

“Yeah.” Harry felt bad for Donny's mom, a much-liked woman.

Rick checked his watch. “Harry, tell me about the woodpecker.”

“I brought it in just before the Dogwood Festival and Donny said he'd get right on it. Business was always slower in the spring, the taxidermy business, I mean. His leather business was doing well and he was making coffee tables, too, out of license plates. One's over there.” She pointed it out. “He was bursting with ideas.”

“Did he seem like himself?”

“Yeah.” She shrugged.

“Did he look healthy?”

“Very.” She waited a moment. “Sheriff, what's going to happen to my woodpecker?”

“It's my woodpecker,” Pewter chirped up.

“Shut up. Don't attract Rick's attention,” Murphy counseled.

“For now, nothing. I told them to run it through an X-ray machine.” He turned to BoomBoom, who stopped for a moment, pushing up her protective face guard to check her work. “How you doing?”

“Another five minutes, I hope.” She slapped the mask down and resumed cutting.

“Find anything besides my woodpecker?”

“A Dallas Cowboys windbreaker just as Sean described it.” Cooper squinted when a shower of sparks flew off the safe. “And a matchbook from Roy and Nadine's restaurant in Lexington, Kentucky. Very colorful.”

“Any ideas?” Harry asked.

“That's what I was going to ask you.” Rick hitched up his belt. “You've known Clatterbuck all your life. Did you like him?”

“Yeah. Always seemed levelheaded. He didn't run with a bad crowd. Didn't have a lot of bad affairs with women. Stuff like that.”

“Huh.” Rick grunted.

“I guess you looked for the key to the safe?”

“Yes, we did. Why?”

“Oh.” Harry turned her palms up for a moment as if in supplication. “Hate to see the safe ruined.”

“It's not ruined. I can put it back together if Rick wants me to.” BoomBoom turned off the torch. She waited a moment, then pushed the heavy lock with her gloved hand. “Sheriff, if you grab one handle and I grab the other I think we can pull it out. I'm afraid if I try to do this by myself I'll push it into the safe and that might damage whatever's in there.”

“Good thinking.” He grabbed a brass handle.

They both pulled on the count of three and the heavy lock and spinning handle fell out on the floor with a clunk. Rick stepped aside as BoomBoom, gloves on, reached in and pulled open the door.

“Oh, my God!”

Each shelf contained bundles and bundles of crisp new bills, neatly stacked.

“That's a lot of stuffed deer heads,” Mrs. Murphy laconically observed.