Track of the Beast: A Brock Stone Adventure

“No. I mean, oh never mind.” Alex marched up to the counter, paid for his soda pop, and drank it in silence while Deb and Vince filled them in on what they knew about Trinity.

“She seems like a bright girl, a bit hard-headed. I like her,” Vince said.

Deb turned and frowned. “Since when have you liked hard-headed women?”

Vince cocked his head, frowned, and then his shoulders sagged beneath his wife’s stern gaze.

“How about I let you tell the story?” he said.

“I think that would be for the best. Have a Coca Cola, dear.” Deb patted her husband on the shoulder and gave him a gentle shove toward the drink cooler. “You’ll have to excuse him. The storm last week wiped out most of his herb garden.”

“About Trinity?” Constance prompted.

“Like you said, she asks a lot of questions, so many in fact that it’s hard to know which answers she’s actually interested in. She stopped in a few times, visited the saloon at least once. She slept at the boarding house, but usually came in late and left early.”

“Did you get any sense of what she was actually investigating?” Constance asked.

“Judging by what I’ve heard from people who come into the store, not that I asked, mind you, she was interested in two things: local logging business, and the Bigfoot.”

“The what?” Moses asked.

“The Indians call him Sasquatch. He’s a big, hairy ape man who lives in the mountains.”

“Have you seen this giant ape man?” Moses asked.

Deb shrugged. “I’ve never gotten a good look at him, but I’ve seen things moving through the forest that aren’t any known creature that lives out here. And trust me, I’m no tenderfoot.”

“But she never told us which lumber camps she was investigating, or where she might have gone to look for a Bigfoot,” Vince said.

“I thought I was telling the story.” Deb hooked a thumb in the direction of her husband. “What he just said.”

“If you were hunting a Bigfoot, where would you look?” Stone asked.

“I wouldn’t,” Deb said flatly. “I’m not joking about that. Even if it doesn’t exist, this wilderness alone is too much for most people.”

“I understand,” Stone assured her. “I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t important.”

“It’s just not something we get into,” Deb said. “If customers mention it, we pretend to listen out of politeness.”

“How about the logging camps?” Stone asked. “Do you know if any of them are owned by a man named Kane?”

“Didn’t know that name when your friend asked me, and it still doesn’t ring a bell,” Deb said. “I’m sorry, but I really can’t tell you anything else. She hasn’t been around in several days. Her room was empty, so we figured whatever business she had out here, she was finished with it.”

“She only left behind the book she borrowed from me,” Vince offered.

“What book was that?” Constance asked.

“A book about Lewis and Clark. There’s a rumor that they discovered a treasure cave in these parts. Miss Paige was quite interested.”

“I think she was being polite,” Deb said.

Vince ignored her, but the twinkle in his eye said he had not missed her rejoinder. “I told her about a spot not far from here where Lewis and Clark made camp.” He paused, scratched his chin. “Come to think of it, she asked if there was a lumber camp near there, and I told her that Davis and his outfit have set up on that very site.”

Stone smiled. Finally, a lead!

“Be careful around Davis and his outfit, if that’s where you’re headed,” Deb warned.

“Why is that?” Stone asked.

“Almost everyone around here gets along fairly well. We’re all in the same boat, cutting down trees for a living or making a living off the people who do the cutting. But Davis and his crew, they’re just different. They’re standoffish, and they don’t hire locals. And those Germans that work with them.” She shivered. “I can’t put my finger on it, but they aren’t right. I hope your friend didn’t run afoul of them. We truly did believe she had left town.”

“Hopefully she has,” Constance said. “Thank you for your help.”

Alex was waiting for them beside the truck. “What’s the plan, boss?”

“I think it’s time we split up. We’ve got two clear lines of inquiry. One is Kane’s lumber camp, which seems to coincide with the Lewis and Clark clue from Trinity’s note. Moses and I will follow up on that one.”

“Which leaves us to ask around about Bigfoot,” Alex groaned.

“Look on the bright side,” Constance said. “You get to spend the evening in the company of an intelligent woman.”

“Both women and intelligence are in short supply at our hose, so that sounds lovely.” Arm in arm, they headed across the street to the speakeasy.

16- The Lumber Camp Again

Stone ignored the stares as he and Moses strode into the logging camp. In any event, he doubted many of the looks were for him. Unlike the other lumberjacks he’d seen in Rockmire, there was not a brown face among this crew.