Deadly Places: A Mapleton Mystery Novella by Terry Odell

Author:Terry Odell [Odell, Terry]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3, mobi
Publisher: Terry Odell
Published: 2015-11-09T07:00:00+00:00

As Ed went through his morning routine, he attempted to convince himself that no news was good news. No messages from Paula’s Places reminding him his time was running out for his deadbeat dad email. Nothing from Sam Fischer or Detective Rosen in his work account. Not even anything from Colfax. The night reports included a storage shed with its door ripped off. Damage indicated the culprit was a bear. The address wasn’t far from Adele Menard’s house, and Ed hoped it was the same one that had absconded with her downspout. One bear roaming the streets of Mapleton was one bear too many. There was a note for Dispatch to follow up with the state wildlife officers. A quick check with Connie in Dispatch confirmed the information had been relayed.

“You see the pictures?” Connie asked.

“What pictures?”

“Adele Menard posted pictures of her chewed up downspout on her Facebook page.”

“Adele Menard has a Facebook page?” He clamped his open mouth shut.

“Doesn’t everyone?” Connie said.

“Not everyone,” Ed said, and continued to his office. Adele Menard. Flight instructor. Facebook page. Damn, he had her all wrong. What next? Maybe he ought to start listening for more zebras.

Ed had returned from crossing guard duty when Laurie tapped on his door jamb, a wide grin lighting up her face. “Vehicle computers will be here Monday.”

“Fantastic. I’ll get some training sessions on the calendar starting next Tuesday.” He did some mental calculations as to timing, since he didn’t have the overtime budget to have officers training after shifts. The county deputies used the same software, so he might be able to juggle things around so the deputies already assigned here could show his officers the ropes. It wasn’t like any of his staff didn’t know how to use a computer.

He spent the better part of the next hour with the duty rosters, then called Connie. “Ask Deputy Horacek to check in with me next time he’s in the station. I have a couple questions, nothing urgent, so no need to pull him off patrol.”

With Connie’s words about Adele Menard still buzzing through his head, Ed went to the Facebook website and plugged in the woman’s name. But in order to see her profile, he had to sign up for his own account. Facebook wasn’t somewhere he wanted to go. He had enough trouble keeping his life private. Once again, he called on Laurie.

“Sure, I have an account,” she said. “You don’t?” She looked at him as if he had sprouted little green antennae.

“No, I don’t, and I don’t want one. But will you go to Adele Menard’s page and see what she’s posting about the bear who visited her yard, please.”

Laurie clicked a few keys. “I’ll have to add her as a friend to see her profile. I don’t know how fast she’ll respond.”

“So, if Connie saw her pictures, that means the two of them are already friends, right?”

“Right. I think Connie’s friends with half the population of Mapleton.”

But Connie’s computer in Dispatch didn’t give her access to surfing the net.

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