Probable Claws

9

January 1, 2017

Sunday

Snow curled off the snow blade, a white cascade. A large blade attached to the 80 HP John Deere tractor handled the eight to ten inches of snow from last night. The snow stopped but the mercury edged ever downward and the sky remained dark gray. The depth varied according to wind exposure. Fair needed to go over the long drive twice, clear out the path to the barn. Then he went out on the road, no traffic, performed the same clearing for Cooper, who rented the old Jones place. That farm, two miles from Harry, was considered a close neighbor in the country. No lights shone in the kitchen, the electricity was still out. Horse chores done, Harry slowly followed her husband in her 1978 Ford F-150. Old, no computer chips, you had to turn the hubcap centers to lock the wheels in four-wheel drive, the gearshift was in the center of the cab. Thanks to an extra low gear, almost a creep gear, she churned through the snow. She could pretty much get through anything with the old truck. Also the ground clearance was helpful. Even with plowing off two inches, snow packed in places, stuck to the roads.

Parking near Coop’s back door, she moved the cats, who were grumpy about it, to grab two large shopping bags filled with food. She put them on the snow for a moment, lifted out the cats. Tucker had already jumped down. She waved to her husband, who waved back.

Knocking on the door, the four waited. The temperature wouldn’t budge off twenty-two degrees, Fahrenheit. Well, it was better than below zero.

The door opened. Cooper, in a heavy sweater, smiled. “Happy New Year.”

“Happy New Year. I figured you worked late last night. Brought food. You can heat the casserole on your stove.”

“Thank God for gas.” Cooper eagerly took the two bags as Harry unburdened herself of a few layers of clothing.

A fire heated the room. All the old houses built before electricity had fireplaces. With a steady wood supply, a person could still get through winter without other sources of heat. The trick was keeping the fire going.

“Tuna puffs?” Pewter eagerly asked.

“I’ll take a Milk-Bone. Cold makes me hungry,” Tucker chimed in.

Cooper smacked the casserole onto a burner after spooning a lot out into a large frying pan. Frying anything pasta that had been cooked, to her, was better than eating a dish fresh.

“I feel faint.” Pewter flopped on her side, eyes imploring pity.

“Harry, you know where the treats are. I’d hate for your animals to perish in my house.” The tall woman laughed.

Harry opened the cabinet door, handed out enough to shut everyone up.

“Your husband is the best. I did manage to crawl down the drive last night, snow halfway up the wheels.”

“Lots of wrecks?”

“No. Surprisingly most people had the sense to stay in. I would have called you but no power, no phones, and my cell’s not working, either.”

“Neither is mine. Sometimes the weather is bad and the cells work. Other times not. I have no idea why.” Harry handed out a second set of treats then sat at the tiny kitchen table.

“First question. Do you remember how many of those file books, the big ones with the marbled exteriors, Gary had? The ones on the lower shelf.”

“A lot. Other than that, I don’t know.”

“Found the file books.”

“Where?” Harry sat upright.

“In a car, looked as though it had slid to the side of the road. With all the snow I wouldn’t swear to that. No driver. No personal items. It was a Yaris, a rent-a-car from Enterprise. The stuff was in the trunk.”

“Any name?”

“Yeah, the paperwork was in the glove compartment. Henrietta Bolander from Richmond had rented the car. Well, I hopped on that, holiday or not.” Cooper paused. “Her license was a fake and a damned good one.”

“Weird.” Harry pursed her lips. “You looked in the files?”

“Gloves on, I opened a box. Building codes. Like you said. We’ll need to go through all of the boxes just to be sure. A lot of building codes, I can tell you that. For just about any county in central Virginia and the counties around Richmond. Year after year. Dabney will go through it along with me once we can get to work. But I am not sure of the number of file boxes or books. Sure look like big books.”

“Easy. Once you’ve gone through everything, bring it all back to Gary’s office. We’ll put them on the shelf. If one is missing we’ll know.”

Cooper smiled. “You are so smart.”

“No she’s not. Neither are you. Humans just think they’re smart.” Pewter, full, jumped on a kitchen chair.

“I wouldn’t insult someone who just gave me a treat,” Mrs. Murphy corrected Pewter.

“O la.” The gray cat preened. “They don’t know what we’re saying. You can call a human a fat, disgusting pig. All they hear is a meow.”

It was on the tip of Tucker’s tongue to ask who was calling who fat. She thought better of it.

Harry asked, “Did someone have a key to Gary’s office or break in? That can’t be classified information.”

“No key. Whoever got in there had locksmith skills. Some marks marred the outside door, the metal surround also, but not much. They knew how to push back the tongue. Whoever this is knows things, practical things, and is bold.”

Fair knocked, opened the door. They’d heard him cut off the tractor a few moments before.

“Happy New Year.”

Cooper, dishing out casserole, said, “Happy New Year back. I’m feeding you your wife’s cooking. Bet you two are hungry now.”

“Cold makes you hungry.” Fair unwound his scarf, pulled off the heavy lined gloves, unzipped his Filson winter jacket, unzipped another layer under that. “The thing that gets me about winter is how long it takes to dress and undress.”

“We move like snails.” Harry smiled. “Coop, want help with that?”

“No, I’ve got plates. You can pour the coffee. Shenandoah Joe.”

“Sure smells good.” Harry rose, lifted the coffee pot off the burner, pulled down heavy mugs. “We’ve got some good roasting places now. Even Lovingston has one.” She named the county seat of Nelson County, southwest of Crozet.

Nelson, not a popular county, was growing like every other place in the area. The views of the Blue Ridge thrilled people. The counties north of Albemarle and east were growing faster than those south or west on the other side of the mountains. East lay Richmond. North lay Washington. People commuted. A few owned small planes, which certainly made for an easier commute if you could afford it.

Fair sat down, a plate put in front of him of hot casserole: fresh tiny potatoes, chicken, parsley, carrots, peas, tiny bacon pieces. Harry loaded the casserole up.

Pewter, chin on the table, worked her adoring but hungry look. Her long dark gray whiskers twitched forward.

Tucker, by Harry’s chair leg, whispered to Mrs. Murphy, “God, what a ham.”

“I heard that,” Pewter snapped.

“Pewter, be quiet or I’ll make you get off that chair.” Harry glared at her.

Pewter glared back but she did shut up.

Cooper told Fair about the file boxes.

“I vaguely remember those boxes in his drafting room. Beautiful, those old things, aren’t they? Now people stuff files in plastic boxes. They can’t have been too valuable, they were left in the car. Some people don’t even keep paper anymore. Everything is on the computer. ’ Course, they don’t think of days like today. No electricity. No satellite signal.”

“Fair, we don’t know if they were all in the car. I expect we’ll know this week as your wife has made the sensible suggestion that we take them back to his office, put them on the shelf, and see if any are missing.”

“Were they missing when you were there to see his plans?” Fair asked his wife.

“No, everything looked like always.”

He paused. “Someone came back. After Gary was shot. There must be something in them more valuable or dangerous than building codes.”

“That thought had occurred to me.” Cooper remembered she hadn’t put out napkins. “But we will search the office more thoroughly now.” She pushed back her chair, opened a drawer, pulling out nice paper napkins.

“Thank you.” Harry unfolded hers. “Candles next?”

“Well, if it grows any darker, yes,” Cooper replied. “I haven’t checked the weather. Can’t. I use the weather app on my cellphone all the time.”

“Same for us. I bet we’re in for more snow but how much, I don’t know.” Harry cleaned her plate. “Wanna bet?”

“With a country girl? No.” Cooper held up her forefinger. “No.”

“Well, I thought I’d beat the odds there. A big win.” Harry appeared disappointed then changed the subject. “No Henrietta Bolander. A fake name but a woman. Women attract less attention than men.”

“That depends on the woman and what she’s wearing,” Fair posited.

Both women looked at him, then each other and shrugged.

A hum began. The lights came on.

“Hooray. The rest of my house is about fifty-two degrees, Fahrenheit,” Cooper told them.

“You’re very precise.” Fair smiled at her.

“Thermometer for outside and inside in the upstairs bedroom. Helps me know how to dress.”

“It’s fifty-two degrees. You have a fireplace up there,” Harry added.

“Yes, but I was so pooped out I slept straight through the night. It went out.”

“I do that sometimes, too,” Harry confessed. “Put a proper stove up there.”

Fair leaned back in his chair, finished the bracing coffee. “Fake driver’s license, files still in the car. Puzzling. Murder. Astonishing.”

Cooper thought, then said, “Millions of dollars are made in construction. Perhaps one of those early projects violated a code.”

“It would have to be one hell of a violation.”

“Whatever, if the files are the answer, I don’t know, but Gary was killed. We know it wasn’t for love.” Cooper shrugged.

“Millions?” Harry’s voice rose.

“If one of those buildings he worked on has a huge structural flaw and people die, it’s possible the construction company could be sued for enormous sums. The other possibility is that someone took money under the table to look the other way during construction or the company paid money under the table to get the job in the first place. Big jobs like office buildings, hotels, even converting the tobacco warehouse and apartments are usually bid. Money under the table could save a bid. Given the millions of dollars to build, the millions in profits, that’s a big incentive.”

“When I think of government I am reminded we are in this mess because government gives contracts to the lowest bidder. If that’s the case, and supposedly it is, why are we billions of dollars in debt?” Harry threw up her hands in frustration.

“Because every time money changes hands it sticks to them.” Fair’s lip curled upward slightly. “Applies to private enterprise even more than government, but it’s more shocking when government corruption is unmasked.”

“Should we be like Diogenes? Go through the streets of Athens holding a lantern looking for an honest man?” Cooper shook her head.

“Well, you see where it got him. He wound up living with the dogs,” Fair said.

“Hey,” Tucker barked.

“He was right. Dogs never lie to you. The powers that be in Athens were like the powers that be everywhere. You can’t trust them, but I can trust Tucker.”

“Me, too,” Pewter interjected.

“Pewter, you don’t care.” Mrs. Murphy flicked her tail.

“I didn’t say I cared but you can trust me.”

“True enough.” Mrs. Murphy laughed at her sidekick.

“Let me get home before it turns even darker. Thank you.” Fair got up, carried his plate, cup, and saucer to the sink.

“I’ll wash them,” Harry offered.

“No. I’ll do it. When we’ve gone through everything in the boxes, fingerprinted stuff, I’ll call you.”

“I’ll be there.” Harry checked the window over the sink. “Little snowflakes. Just started.” She put on her scarf and coat. “Coop, whatever this is it seems to be well thought out, doesn’t it?”

“Does.”

“The impulse killings are easy, aren’t they?”

“Sure are.”

“I think you’ve got your work cut out for you.” Harry kissed Coop on the cheek. “I’ll help any way I can. Happy New Year.”