Chapter 23. Alibis and Apple Pies #2
As I watched her go, I had to wonder if the woman who was so vehemently opposed to the death of animals might not be so opposed to the death of a human if he challenged her beliefs.
It wouldn’t be the first time someone did something diametrically opposed to their purported values.
Several male members of the clergy who preached “thou shalt not kill” had murdered their wives.
The infamous Eric Rudolph, who was purportedly pro-life, had planted a bomb at an abortion clinic.
Many a politician who’d portrayed himself as family man had been caught having an affair or soliciting a prostitute.
The same went for some female politicians who’d portrayed themselves as devoted wives and mothers.
Maybe Deborah thought that Tyler planned to denigrate her values in some way, or dismiss them and promote the consumption of meat—animal cruelty, the environment, and constipation be damned.
I wish I knew exactly how Tyler’s interview with Deborah had gone.
One of Deborah’s sisters ended up bringing the coffee and pie to me, and I decided to seize the chance to get more information. “By any chance did you or anyone else sit in on Tyler Yee’s interview with Deborah?”
“No,” she said. “The rest of us had to keep the restaurant going. Why?”
“I was just curious whether he was receptive to the idea of a plant-based diet. It can be hard for people to change their ways. I have to admit that I’ve been surprised how good the food is here, and what a variety you serve.”
“We hear that all the time. People are coming around. It just takes time for them to overcome their habits and preconceptions, and to listen and learn. Circuses are dropping their animal acts. SeaWorld has stopped breeding captive orcas. Things are evolving. People used to make fun of animal welfare advocates and environmentalists. They called us fanatics, or crazy cat ladies, or tree-huggers. But these days, with our planet on fire and lifespans decreasing, conscientiousness and compassion are cool. Those who don’t care about the world around them are considered ignorant cavemen. ”
“I’m glad to hear that,” I said. “I want a better world for my child.” One in which they could enjoy four seasons and breathe fresh air.
“Deborah mentioned you were expecting. My granny said that, back in her day, they put a ring on a string and dangled it over the pregnant woman’s stomach. If the ring swings in circles, it’s a girl. If it swings back and forth in a straight line, it’s a boy.”
I doubted the accuracy of this procedure, but I knew she was offering the information only as small talk. “I’ll have to give it a try.”
She handed me a fresh fork and spoon. “Enjoy your pie.”
I did. Every bite. The crust was perfectly flaky, and the filling was just the right amount of sweet. The half-caff coffee gave me a nice little energy boost, too.
On the drive to the board meeting, I listened a second time to Tyler’s podcast about the rise of electric co-ops and recent scandals.
I thought about what Detective Alonzo had said, that Tyler had spoken with a woman in the co-op’s billing department, purportedly about a summer rock-climbing camp.
Had he specifically targeted the billing department for some reason, or had he simply chatted with the woman in passing while on his way to speak to someone higher up in the administration?
Nobody from the Middle Tennessee Electric co-op’s billing department was quoted in the podcast, and there were no implications that anything untoward was happening there.
Rather, the conversation between Tyler and the CEO included in the podcast was upbeat.
They talked about new chargers they’d installed at their facility for electric vehicles and an essay contest the co-op sponsored for high schoolers, with the winner getting an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C.
They also mentioned a Lineman Rodeo event in which their linemen competed in tests of knowledge, skill, and safety, with all proceeds going to a fund that helped fallen and injured linemen and their families through hardship.
I arrived early and took a seat on the front row.
I placed my hard hat on the seat next to me to save it for Detective Alonzo.
An unnecessary gesture, as it turned out.
When the board members filed in and took their seats at the front of the room, only a handful of people were in the audience.
I soon learned why. The co-op might deliver electricity, but the board meeting was hardly electrifying.
The CEO presented a report in which he noted that the co-op had hired several new linemen to keep up with the increasing demand caused by the rise in development.
He reviewed the co-op’s budget and noted that there had been no significant variances.
The board then moved on to discuss the effect the installation of solar panels by homeowners was having on the co-op’s bottom line.
Though I jotted down the talking points as Detective Alonzo had asked me to, nothing struck me as unusual or suspicious.
Thirty minutes in, Alonzo still hadn’t arrived and the effects of the small amount of caffeine I’d ingested after my dinner had begun to wane.
I felt myself slumping down in the seat.
My head flopped forward as I nodded off, and I jerked awake.
I’d dropped my pen and paper on the floor.
I looked around to see if anyone had noticed.
Thankfully, no one was looking my way. I sat up straight and shook my head to wake myself back up.
The next thing I knew, I was being jarred awake again, this time by an elbow in my ribs. I sat up and blinked. Alonzo had taken the seat next to me, and held out my hard hat. I took it from her and slid it under my chair.
Knowing it would be rude to talk during the meeting, even in a whisper, I jotted a note on my pad: Did TG have his pin?
She took the pad from me and scrawled a response: No. Says it might have fallen to carpet and housekeeper could have sucked it up with vacuum.
I knew from vacuuming up stray screws and nails that a vacuum let you know when it sucked up something hard. I wrote back: Wouldn’t she have heard it rattling around?
Her response read: He says she wears earbuds when she works and may not have noticed. She cleaned two days ago. His trash pickup was yesterday.
If his story was true, his pin might have joined my booties in the landfill. I wondered how much other potential evidence garbage collectors unknowingly picked up and dumped each day.
The frustration pulling at Alonzo’s face told me she hadn’t arrested him. She must have felt the evidence was too weak. I was starting to wonder whether we’d ever know who killed Tyler Yee.
We sat through the rest of the board meeting. When it was over, we walked out to the parking lot.
She sighed. “Nothing I heard tonight made a blip on my radar.”
“Mine, either. What now?”
“I’ll check with the Bakers, see if they happened to see Gentry leave the sales trailer.”
It sounded like a long shot, but at least it was a shot. “If nothing comes of it, will you contact the other platinum members of Redemption Fellowship?”
“I’ll contact the ones who’ve invested in River Valley Ranch.
Maybe one of them drove down the easement thinking it was a road and ended up at the horse stable.
They could have realized it was vacant and stopped to take a look around.
Maybe they lost their pin then. Who knows?
The pin seems like less of a clue now and more of a rabbit hole. ”
With that, she climbed into her car, her shoulders slouched in defeat.
I, too, felt defeated. I’d been so excited to find the pin in my boot, yet it hadn’t seemed to get us any closer to finding Yee’s killer.
But those boots were made for working, and that’s just what I’d do.
Keep working on the barn and keep working on the case.