Returning to patrol work seemed to be a great relief to Officer Barnes. But, things seemed to be just as quiet as on the days during the school year that we weren’t assigned to the DARE work. And that was a bigger relief. There was no major things, and after a terrorist attack on the station and an attempted hostage situation, the last thing Officer Barnes and I wanted was to be drawn into a major criminal investigation. We were both happy to work on small routine cases.
However, with the school year now over, Officer Barnes and I both still had the major issue of dealing with potential drug problems. People who had their Meth Labs that tried to use the rough terrain outside the town to hide them. Officer Barnes had even told me that there was even someone who had been growing Marijuana in his basement one time.
And our first major call was drug related. A local rancher who had bought a portion of Beauregard’s land after Beauregard’s fall had apparently come across something that he claimed to be a Meth Lab.
“Are you sure about this?” Officer Barnes asked the rancher as he lead us toward the site.
“Yeah, I came out because my cattle were acting all weird and I found all this stuff lying around,” the rancher replied, “and it smelled bad.”
We both nodded. I tilted one ear to hear the cattle “mooing” in the distance. As I looked around, I saw that they were in a small fenced in area. They weren’t in the main field we were walking through. I guessed that was because of the problems the cattle had from the scent of this Meth Lab.
We soon came to the area that the rancher said was the Meth Lab. And it did smell bad. I could smell it well before we could see it.
“Grngh!” I groaned as I caught the scent.
It smelled like gasoline mixed with bleach and other cleaning agents and all swirled together.
“Smells bad, don’t it?” the rancher asked.
“I can assure you, it smells worse to me,” I told him. He only chuckled.
And the site was obviously some sort of Meth Lab. A gas burner was tucked in by a rock that protruded from a muddy patch. A couple of empty gasoline cans were also present as well as bottles of industrial cleaners were also there. Officer Barnes and I began to survey the scene. Moving away from the lab site I moved toward a muddy patch near a small stock pond.
“You said you found this when you came out to check on your cattle?” I asked the rancher.
“Yes.”
“Did you see anyone leaving the area?” I asked again.
“What have you found, George?” Officer Barnes asked.
“Two sets of tracts,” I answered, “look like tennis shoes.”
“I didn’t see anyone,” the rancher answered.
“Well… you must have spooked the guys who created the lab,” I replied, “they fled when they heard you come.”
“It wouldn’t surprise me,” the rancher sighed, “a lot of this sort of stuff has declined since Beauregard fell.”
He had some truth there. Beauregard had bought up a large amount of land to increase his business matters. And to my knowledge he tried to lean on the City Council to have Officer Howard patrol the edges of his land fairly heavily. He might have even had Frank Rhoer patrol the property for him. And now that was gone, and criminals that ran these Meth Labs moved in.
“Do you have a scent, George?” Officer Barnes asked.
“The scent of stuff from the “lab” is masking too much,” I answered, “and by now, they’re both long gone. Even if I had the scent, I can not just go around Columbia Falls sniffing people.”
“You can’t?” the rancher asked, sounding surprise.
“Well… physically I obviously can,” I shrugged, “but people will tend to think I’m out to eat them… and even if they don’t, there is the personal space issue. I will not get “up in someone’s face” unless I have to.”
“Oh,” the rancher blinked, “so what will you do?”
“For now?” Officer Barnes replied, “collect the equipment and make a mark that your ranch is being used by crooks to manufacture Methamphetamines. Until we can get a physical description them, we can’t do much more.”
“I see,” the rancher sighed.
“We will try to catch them, though,” I told him, “I assure you.”
The rancher nodded as Officer Barnes and I began collecting the evidence the drug “makers” had left behind.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++
“I have a surprise for you!” Molly said with a smile when I returned to Bandhavgarh Cabin that evening.
“A surprise?” I asked, “will I like it?”
“You’ll love it,” Molly smiled, “I got it for us.”
This got me fairly curious as I followed her through the central hallway. She seemed fairly excited about it, and that made me even more curious. As we approached the backdoor, Molly then moved around to be behind me. She then put her paws over my eyes. All I could see pad on Molly’s palm where her fingers met the rest of her hand.
“Molly…”
“It’s a surprise, George,” Molly insisted.
I sighed and accepted the position she had me in. After fumbling with the doorknob, I took a few steps out into the backyard with Molly following to keep my eyes covered. Once we were both out, she removed them.
“Ta da!”
“It’s a pool,” I said slowly.
And sitting in our backyard was a pool. It was above ground and made of plastic, but it was a pool. Near the door was a large and very sturdy looking stepstool, which was probably to give Molly and I the ability to get in and out without either breaking the walls of the pool or making too big a splash. It had a small stepladder on a side, but I didn’t think it would hold our weight.
“Yeah,” Molly smiled, “a pool. The Summer Sun program doesn’t start for another day or two, so I still had free time... And Tabby and I went down to Kalispell while you were at work and got it from Wal-Mart. It’ll give us a place to cool off in during the summer.”
“And I thought you liked crouching in the shower,” I joked.
“Only if you like cleaning our fur out of the drain,” Molly joked back.
I chuckled a little at that, “You got me there.”
I then moved forward to take a look at the pool and found that it was empty. There was no water in it.
“I only just finished putting it together when you got home,” Molly explained, “I haven’t had time to put water in yet.”
“We can fill it when we need to,” I shrugged, “this wont set us back, much, will it?”
“No, in fact my new salary as a teacher will cover this,” Molly answered.
“Good to hear,” I returned her smile, “so how was Tabby? You two have a good time?”
“We had a great time,” Molly smiled, “though her first “debate” with Hireman is tomorrow.”
I nodded.
“Do you want to watch?” Molly asked.
“If only to see Hireman shoot himself in the foot,” I responded.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The debate was held in the same room that the School Board met in, and a fair number of people did attend it. Two chairs were set for Tabby and Hireman to sit in was at the head of the room, while rows of chairs were arranged so the people could watch the debate. Molly and I chose to stand near the rear, as neither of us trusted the chairs to support or muscle mass. I also personally preferred the rear of the crowd as Patten was there to be the moderator.
When the time of the debate’s start was reached, Patten stood up and approached the central position between Tabby and Hireman.
“The first debate concerning the 2012 School District Superintendent’s Election will no commence,” Patten announced, “we will begin with the customary question about what each candidate feels is the most important. Tabitha Choir, as the challenger, you may go first.”
“Thank you,” Tabby answered, “the most important thing this school district can address is the example we set for our children. For nearly a year, Wayne Hireman and Bill Williams pursued policies in accordance with Ranchers Against Molly, or R.A.M. for short. Williams took it as far as to attack both the school and the police. Hireman has brought up the issue of firing Molly Wayne at nearly every meeting, and certainly at every opportunity. Why? Because Molly Wayne is a bit furrier then the rest of us.”
Tabby paused for a moment and then continued.
“And what is that?” Molly then questioned, “the answer is racism. And it is nothing more then a distraction from what is really important… securing the money to educate our children or to bring good teachers to our town. The district superintendent has engaged in a racist policy because of his own personal bigotry. And what does that teach our children?”
Tabby then leaned forward.
“It only teaches them that racism is okay,” Tabby finished, “it teaches them it okay to hate others for the most absurd of reasons. And that is not a good example.”
Tabby then sat down.
“Thank you,” Patten said politely and turned to Hireman, “Superintendent, the same question now goes to you.”
“Thank you,” Hireman replied, “the most important issue we have is safety. It has always been so and always will be so. Everything I have done is for the best interests of the students of Columbia Falls. I want them to be able to grow up safely from fear wild men and from wild animals. For if the threats to our children are not dealt with… then our town will have deep sorrows to confront. I will protect your children.”
“Thank you,” Patten spoke, “the next question will go to you, Superintendent. You speak of threats. What threats are there to the students?”
“Two adult tigers,” Hireman answered firmly, “George and Molly Wayne. Now Molly, herself, isn’t that dangerous... But her husband is a completely different matter, and I will present an expert character witness to back this up… evidence of the threat George Wayne poses.”
Hireman then presented a small tape recorder and pressed a button. What followed was a word for word repetition of what Patten had said to me. Patten’s eyes widened in surprise at hearing his own words being used by Patten.
“As you can see, you yourself agree that George Wayne is a threat to EVERYONE,” Hireman answered, “and what makes matters worse, is that he totally dominates his wife, Molly. How else could you explain the fact that she has not tossed this racist and idiotic bully out on his ass? …Unless she actually agrees with him…”
Hireman then paused and leaned forward.
“And if that is the case, she is just as aggressive and just as evil as George Wayne,” Hireman finished, “but has simply been better at concealing her intentions better. The good person everyone loves is nothing but a sham. A cover used to further her and her husband’s plan to kill us all. And without my efforts, they would have done so by now.”
Both Molly and I had to keep from snarling at the man as the debate went on. And it went in much that way. It focused mostly on Molly’s position in the school, and time and time again, Hireman used Patten’s incomplete and inaccurate assessment of me as his weapon to discredit Molly. And the tactic largely worked. Tabby was unable to counter it really, and most of the questions asked to her from the people were about why she even supported Molly and I at all.
Aside from Molly and Tabby, the only person who seemed the most surprised by all of this, was Patten. It was clear to me that he never intended for his own words to be used as a political weapon. The campaign was not off to a good start for Tabby.