Maple Fools' Day: A Newfound Lake Cozy Mystery by Virginia K. Bennett

Author:Virginia K. Bennett [Bennett, Virginia K.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-03-12T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 6

The Update

They ended the call as Rebecca entered the center of town. Though it wasn’t time for the library to open yet, she had some more online investigating to do. With her choice of parking spots open, she backed into one closest to the road. The flashbacks of finding Jeremy lying on the ground meant she’d never park in the same spot again.

There were no new books in the drop box, and everything was in order for the start of the day, so she turned on the computer in the office to figure out who either Warren or Bobby were. The library had a database for anyone who had ever taken out a library card, and there were only three men named Warren. Making a few assumptions, Rebecca figured she would start with a man named Warren Mitchell who lived on the town line between Bristol and Hill. Once she had a name, she started searching online for any information about Mr. Mitchell.

As it turned out, Mr. Mitchell also had a maple syrup business along with his own farm. According to an article from two years ago, he had done all of the updating that Joseph wasn’t interested in doing. The pictures showed the gravity-fed tubing system he put in place during the previous summer and the collection barrels. His claim was that the profits would pay off the upgrades in less than five years.

Rebecca checked the clock, did the mental math, and took off for the front door. She left the computer on, locked up and raced for her car. The drive to Warren’s farm was under ten minutes. He had a state-of-the-art building that could have been a home. When she pulled into the parking lot, she noticed they were still in the swing of things as far as turning sap into syrup. There was currently a truck with a large tank in the back depositing sap into a holding tank on the outside of the building.

“Excuse me,” Rebecca said as she walked in the direction of the building. “Is Mr. Warren Mitchell here?”

The tall man who appeared to be in his early twenties responded, “He’s inside,” and went straight back to work.

Rebecca entered through the front door with an open sign displayed in the window and a hand-carved sign that read Sugarmakers. If she thought the outside of the structure was stunning, the inside was opulent. The vaulted ceiling with exposed beams screamed money. Everything in the center of the room was silver and polished to a white-glove standard. There were knobs and tubes and pipes and vats weaving magically throughout the space.

A door at the back of the room swung open, and a sturdy man with a full salt-and-pepper beard walked toward Rebecca wearing a red and black checkered flannel shirt and Carhartt work pants. “How can I help you?”

“I’m looking for Warren Mitchell. My name’s Rebecca Ramsey, and I am the librarian in town.”

“Good morning, afternoon, which is it?” he said in a gruff tone but with a friendly smile.

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