The Dog Who Ate the Crossbow

By Edward Coburn

It's been snowing in Canary Corners for three days and, basically, everything has ground to a standstill. Even Marti's school closed it's doors. This gives Adam and Marti the perfect opportunity to go snowmobiling. Unfortunately as they are traversing a valley, Marti hears a gun shot and a deer stagers down the hill and drops dead right in front of them. While helping the game warden, park ranger, and sheriff figure out who the poacher was, another killing takes place and this time it is not a wild animal that is killed but an animal of the human species and now it is up to Bagel to give Adam and Marti clues to help them ferret out the guilty party.

This book series will never have any profanity (not one word), any overt sex (the most is the ocassional smile, wink and maybe slight innuendo), or overt bloodshed (someone is always murdered, but, as the reader, you only find out after the fact. You will not be a witness to the murder).

Mine are "Gentle" books that a young person can read and pass to a parent without embarrassment or a parent can read the book first and then pass it to a young person.

There will (eventually) be 26 books in this series (one for each letter of the alphabet).

• Language: English
• Publisher: Edward Coburn
• Release date: Dec 23, 2012
• ISBN: 9781301806607

Edward Coburn

Edward J. Coburn is a computer programmer and a long-time writer. He began his writing career while teaching college when he started writing textbooks. Now, with many textbooks to his credit, he began seriously writing fiction in about 1996. His first book, Order of the White Feather: The sword of Dalamar may be purchased at Smashwords along with his latest book The Last Killer Standing. He is now writing a new alphabetical series of books beginning with The Dog Who Ate The Airplane: An Adam And Bagel Mystery Book 1. The Dog Who Ate The Burglar: An Adam And Bagel Mystery Book 2 was released in November 2012 and The Dog Who Ate The Crossbow: An Adam And Bagel Mystery Book 3 was released December 2012. The Dog Who Ate The Drawing: An Adam And Bagel Mystery Book 4 was released April 2013, The Dog Who Age The Elephant: An Adam And Bagel Mystery Book 5 was released September 2013 and the short story Bagel Helps Find Robin Hood was also released September 2013. His wizard book Aaron Franks Attends the Montana Academy for Advanced Magic and Wizard Studies The Order of Magic: Book 1 was released January 2014. His second Wizard book Aaron Franks and the Treasure of Leonardo was released September 2014.

Book preview

Everyone in Canary Corners, West Virginia knew Adam Martin Swope as Ram, the acronym he used as an occasional columnist and blog writer for the local newspaper, the Tweet. He wanted everyone to know him as Robert Adam Madigan, or Ram, because he was hiding. Not hiding from anything illegal or even bad, but rather hiding from a past he no longer cared to live. He’d been hiding behind the name Robert Adam Madigan, because, even though he’d originally gloried at the notoriety of winning two lotteries and being a finder, he’d grown tired of the emotional strain being a finder cost and didn't want to be a finder anymore. Therefore, he’d moved from his hometown of Chicago, to Canary Corners, West Virginia to work for his longtime friend, Larry Archibald. Larry had left Chicago for his health and bought the Canary Corners newspaper, the Tweet. Thus far, at least, he’d been able to make a go of it. Larry freely admitted having Adam work for him had definitely given a boost to the paper’s circulation. Work in this case turned out to be a bit of a misnomer considering Larry had not been paying Adam for his writing. They’d agreed that because Adam had won $80 million and $50 million in two successive lotteries, that whatever Larry would be able to pay him would almost be an insult and the newspaper could put the money to better use.

Early November had brought the snow. It had been falling steadily for two days into this, the third. Fortunately, no wind drove the snow so the storm couldn’t be called a blizzard, and drifting didn’t seem to be a problem. Yet at the rate of a quarter inch an hour, more than a foot of snow had accumulated virtually everywhere. The plows had cleared the street in front of Adam’s rental house for the second time fifteen minutes earlier. That would’ve surprised no one, considering the mayor's house sat a couple of blocks farther down on Political Drive. Adam had decided to rent the house he'd used for a few days to trap the burglar who had been plaguing Canary Corners and had killed a prominent citizen and his bodyguard. Thus, he became the grateful recipient of the same road services lavished on the mayor.

The burglar’s victim, Mathew Trimble, had been old and ill, but Adam felt, like most people do, nobody deserves to be murdered. Mathew’s large fortune had been derived from the sale of a gold mine discovered and worked by Mathew’s father before his father’s death in a cave-in. Mathew had been donating a lot of that fortune anonymously; therefore, when Adam interviewed him for the Tweet, he changed his will and left most of his considerable estate to the Rambling Foundation.

Adam had started the Rambling Foundation to distribute much of his wealth to those in need who he and his foundation’s manager, Debbie Harvard, considered worthy. Now that the foundation had been infused with more than $130 million from Mathew's estate, the foundation had been funding even more requests.

Adam had been sitting on the couch reading his playbook for A Christmas Carol to Bagel and Butter, his two beagles. They seemed to like the sound of his voice, regardless of what he read aloud. His mother, who’d recently died of cancer, left Bagel, a male, to him. Butter, on the other hand, a female, had been rescued from one of the local restaurants called the Mason Jar. Butter had occupied a permanent position beside the cash register and it had become a tradition for customers to feed her any butter left over from their meal. When Adam convinced the owner of the Mason Jar, Darla Harrison, to let him take Butter as a companion for Bagel, he immediately put Butter on a regime of half the normal dog food ration and, of course, stopped feeding her butter. He’d also made sure she got as much exercise as his busy schedule allowed. Bagel helped with forcing Butter to exercise. It had taken a while, but he’d finally started to see the results of his and Bagel’s efforts.

About eleven thirty that Thursday morning, his cell phone rang. He looked at the caller ID.

Oh no, not today, he thought. But he said, in his normal, pleasant voice, Good morning, Chief, what can I do for you? The call was from Daniel Stibbens, the county sheriff and the police chief of Canary Corners.

I know you’ve told me in no uncertain terms that you don’t want to be a finder anymore, but we have a situation.

I knew it had to happen sooner or later, Adam thought. Oh, was all he said. He’d told Daniel, soon after moving to Canary Corners, about his abilities as a finder, under the condition that the sheriff would keep his secret. Thus far, the sheriff had been able to live up to that promise, even though Adam had helped him solve a number of crimes over the past few months. That’s why Adam had told the sheriff his secret in the first place. He enjoyed playing a part in solving crimes and was good at it because of his special finder abilities and his one skill that even most finders did not have: his ability to tell when someone told less than the truth.

Yes, we have a missing person and, considering what the weather is still doing, I have a hunch if we don’t find him soon, we won’t find him until spring.

Who’s missing? Adam had been listening to the radio earlier but they hadn’t announced anything about a missing person.

Not anyone you know, I don’t believe. His name is David Miller and he’s fairly new to the area. He bought the Hansen ranch north of town about two months ago.

Well, what’s the story? Adam went to the desk for a pad of paper and pen in case he needed to take notes.

According to his wife, he’d gone out to feed and check on some cows sometime around two yesterday and never came back. As you might imagine, she’s becoming a bit frantic.

Odd, he thought. So he’s been missing all afternoon and all night in a snowstorm and she finally decided to report him missing at, he looked at the clock, almost noon the following day?

Apparently she hadn’t started worrying until last night. She said that sometimes he’d be gone for hours if a cow got out of a pasture or a fence got damaged, or anything else had gone wrong, so she wasn’t concerned until he’d missed supper. Then she’d been waiting for him to come home last night but fell asleep and didn’t wake up until about seven this morning. Since then, she’s driven their snowmobile out to the pasture area and found his pickup, but couldn’t find any trace of him. Any footprints there might have been were probably covered over by the snow, so she didn’t have any trail to follow. Apparently, she spent several hours driving around the fenced-in pasture area with no luck. She says she thinks she found where he fed the cattle, but there wasn’t any indication of where he went from there. Do you think you might be able to help? Daniel pleaded. Adam could detect a bit of concern in the chief’s normally calm demeanor.

No, no, no, I won’t do it, Adam thought, shaking his head vigorously. Instead, he said, Okay, I’ll try to help under two conditions.

Which are?

That you send whoever else is in the search party off on their own so you and I can look by ourselves. I want no one around but you when I do what I can do, if I’ll actually be able to do anything at all. And that if we do find him, I’m left totally out of it. Supposedly, I'm only going along to interview the wife and David, did you say?

Yes, David Miller. And I can live with both of those conditions, Daniel said. How soon will you be able to leave?

Adam glanced at the clock again. That depends.

Adam heard Daniel sigh. What now?

Relax, Adam thought. Nothing much. I just need to know how we’re going to search. On foot?

Some, probably, but we’ll start out, at least, on snowmobiles.

Okay, what do you think would be appropriate to wear then? I don’t know that I have anything to keep me warm on a snowmobile.

Waterproof clothes are always best when doing snowmobiling, especially as it’s still snowing. But, if you don’t have anything like that, I’d say just wear the warmest clothes you have.

Okay, thanks for that. But I also haven’t eaten lunch yet, so I’ll need to go grab a quick bite. I can meet you at your office in about a half hour or so. Have you eaten?

Actually, I haven’t and I only had a cup of coffee and a stale doughnut for breakfast. Are you offering? He sounded hopeful.

Adam never minded buying lunch or any other meal for anyone. He preferred not eating alone. Sure, why not. Is Canary Burgers okay? Not my favorite, Adam thought, but not terrible. He knew they served fairly quickly. He also thought that street would probably be clear.

Okay by me. How about I meet you there in about fifteen minutes, if the street is clear, of course?

Okay, see you there.

Adam knew he didn’t have waterproof clothes for the adventure before him so he did as Daniel suggested and put on the warmest clothes he had.

When Adam drove up, Daniel was already there, standing beside his car. Adam parked and they walked into the restaurant together. Adam hadn't been to Canary Burgers for a while, so when he walked up to the counter, he recognized the thirty-something woman taking orders, but couldn't place her. Don't I know you? Adam asked.

You do, but I know you better than you know me. I'm Monica Swarthmore.

Of course you are. I remember meeting you out in front of Canary House. How's Britney doing? Britney Swarthmore was the first person helped by the Rambling Foundation. She’d had operable cancer and the foundation paid for her surgery and gave the Swarthmores $20,000 extra to help them with their expenses.

She's doing much better, but it's still a struggle. She has to go in once a week for chemotherapy for at least another year. But the good news is the doctors don't think she'll have further problems with cancer.

That's really good to hear. But now I think the sheriff and I need to order because we have somewhere we need to be.

Yes, of course. What would you like?

I'll have a Canary single and fries with a bottle of Sweetwater.

I'll have the same, Daniel said, except I'll have soda to drink.

When Adam and Daniel got their food, Daniel led Adam to the farthest corner of the small restaurant to a booth. Who else is in the search party? Adam asked quietly, though there wasn't anyone else in the restaurant.

George and Eugene, of course, and Poppy Seed. I think you know him, don't you?

"Yes, I know Poppy. He’s an electrician and a member of the theater troupe. He’s in A Christmas Carol." Adam didn't mention that Poppy was there during the fire when the theater burned because he didn't want to open that topic of conversation. Adam had gone into the burning building to rescue a small boy who’d been separated from his mother in pursuit of his favorite teddy bear.

The last person we could round up on the spur of the moment is Jeremiah Kinsman, who’s one of the DJs on WVST, West Virginia Star radio.

I also know Jeremiah. He interviewed me on his afternoon show once. I'm surprised he volunteered. Isn't he on the radio virtually every day?

Apparently he's off on Thursday. Somebody had called him and told him David was missing, and he called me to volunteer. I guess he knows David and his wife because he was friends with old man Hansen before he died.

Good for him, to volunteer, that is. But we'd better get our lunch eaten. Where are we meeting the others? At the office?

Daniel took a big bite of his burger and nodded as he chewed.

When they finished, they both drove their cars to the sheriff's office where a pickup waited with a trailer attached. Three two-person snowmobiles were on the trailer. George was cleaning the freshly fallen snow from the windshield. Adam and Daniel each greeted the four men and then they were off, Adam and Daniel in the pickup and George, Eugene, Poppy, and Jeremiah in a SUV that belonged to the sheriff’s department.

Daniel and Adam drove in silence until they arrived in front of David Miller's ranch house. They’d barely stopped the pickup when a young, attractive woman came out of the front door. Adam could see her red rimmed eyes even at a distance. She walked right up to Daniel as he got out of the pickup.

You’re Sheriff Stibbens, I presume? I’m Molly Miller.

Yes, Mrs. Miller. We talked on the phone. Do you have any news?

She shook her head. Nothing more than what I told you on the phone. I've not heard from David and try as I might, I could find no trace of him being in the pasture.

Well, if you can either point us to the pasture or guide us there, we'll begin our search as soon as we can get our snowmobiles off the trailer. I hope you haven’t messed anything up, Daniel thought.

I think I’d better guide you to the pasture. While you get your snowmobiles off the trailer, I'll go get mine. She turned and walked toward the garage next to the house.

Works for me, Daniel said to her back as she walked away.

As George, Eugene, and Daniel drove the snowmobiles off the trailer, Molly drove up on hers. Are you ready? she said.

Wait one minutes, Daniel shouted above the noise of the snowmobiles. Then, turning to Poppy, he said, Why don't you join Eugene on that snowmobile? He pointed at Eugene. Then, looking at Jeremiah, he said, You can ride with George.

Adam got on the back of Daniel's snowmobile. All set? Daniel asked. When Eugene and George both nodded, he started his snowmobile and upon seeing him do this, Molly revved hers and started toward the back of the house, following an existing path.

They followed Molly to the back of the house, where she turned left and followed what looked to be a dirt road covered with snow. There were tire tracks and the track of a snowmobile on the road as far as Adam’s eyes could see. The tracks were slowly being obscured by the still falling snow. Every so often, a snowmobile track led off the road, stopping by the gate that allowed access to that particular pasture area. Molly continued to travel down the road for about a mile and then turned right, where she went about fifty yards farther until she stopped beside an orange pickup. There she shut off her snowmobile and got off. Daniel stopped his, and George and Eugene did likewise. Everyone gathered around the pickup, noticing there were no footprints or other proof that anyone had been there other than the snowmobile track that passed by the driver’s side of the pickup. Must be her track from when she searched for David earlier, Adam mused.

Daniel voiced what Adam was thinking. I presume this track is yours from this morning.

It is. She nodded. You can see where it goes through the gate into that pasture. She pointed at the gate about ten yards away. About twenty cattle were in the pasture, huddled close to one another for warmth.

Okay, Daniel said. You can go back home and we can take it from here. You’re certainly welcome to stay and help us with the search if you want, but I don’t think it’s necessary right now. And you…

I do need to get back home, she interrupted. I need to make lunch for Sammy. He’s my four-year-old and he’s alone right now. She looked in the direction of the house.

Then by all means, go make lunch for your son. We’ll be sure to let you know if we find anything at all.

Do you have my phone number? I presume you have a cell phone.

Yes on both accounts. Daniel pulled out his cell phone and showed it to her.

Please make sure not to let any of the cattle out when you open the gate.

We’ll be careful.

See you later, then, she said, starting up her snowmobile and giving a small, sad wave before driving back in the direction of the house.

Chapter 2

All right, Daniel said, looking directly at Eugene. Why don’t you guys drive into the pasture, carefully, and see if you can see anything at all. I presume he walked into the pasture because the pickup was left out here. He must’ve taken some hay or something into the pasture to feed the cattle, so look for any signs where the cattle may have gathered to eat. Maybe there’ll be some footprints from that point. Just be very careful as you drive around that you don’t inadvertently run over some footprints or other indication.

All of them nodded and Eugene said, We’ll be careful. What are you going to do?

Adam and I’ll hang back for a few minutes to see if we can find anything here that might give us a clue about where he might have gone.

Okay, Eugene said, turning to Poppy. Are you ready? Poppy nodded. Eugene settled himself on the snowmobile and Poppy got on behind him after brushing the fresh snow off the seat. George and Jeremiah did likewise and all four of them drove quickly away. When they stopped in front of the gate, Poppy jumped off and opened the gate so the two snowmobiles could drive through. When they were on the other side, Poppy re-latched the gate and got back on behind Eugene before the two snowmobiles moved slowly forward, everybody scanning the ground for any signs David had passed that way.

I presume you want me to see if I can sense anything from the pickup, Adam said, looking seriously at Daniel. I really hope I can, Adam thought.

Daniel nodded. I do. I know you’ve told me in the past that your visions generally only come if there has been some strong emotional event associated with whatever you touch and, in the case of the pickup, I can’t see how there could have been, but it’s worth a try. After all, we don’t have anything else.

Agreed, Adam said. I can certainly try. Walking to the pickup, he cleaned a small spot, took off his glove, and placed his hand on the door. He left his hand on the door for more than a minute before taking it away, shaking his head. No. Sorry. Nothing. Too bad, Adam thought, it would’ve been nice.

I thought not, Daniel said, considering your face didn’t turn red. When Adam experienced a vision, his cheeks got fiery red and his shoulders twitched slightly. His visions could be representative of some event from the past, present, or future. He never knew which type would overtake him or when.

Well, what now, Chief?

I think we should do as I said and look the pickup over to see if David left some clue behind to indicate what he might’ve had in mind. Adam nodded, brushing the snow away and opening the pickup door. Wait, Daniel said. Perhaps I should climb in the cab.

Adam nodded and moved aside. Sorry, I wasn’t trying to intrude.

No worries, Daniel said, stepping on the running board and looking in the bed of the pickup. There are remnants of hay in the back, mostly covered by snow. Maybe that’s what he was feeding the cattle.

Probably, Adam agreed, looking over the side into the bed of the pickup.

Why don’t you scout around the area while I look inside? If you see anything at all, just holler.

Okay, I can do that. Adam walked to the back of the pickup carefully, watching his step lest he disturb something. On the passenger side of the pickup, Adam did see some boot prints under the edge of the pickup, as if David had stood there to get something out of the back. A few small pieces of hay were sticking up through the snow, like small spears. Adam surmised they must’ve fallen from whatever feed David had pulled from the pickup. Any tracks that had originally led to or away from the prints under the edge of the pickup had been filled in by the snow that had fallen since the tracks were left. Adam could see no trace nor could he see any pieces of hay beyond the few beside the pickup.

Adam waited until Daniel came out of the cab. Daniel carefully walked to the front of the pickup, watching the ground. Anything? Adam asked.

Unfortunately, no. Daniel shook his head. And I haven’t seen any tracks.

There are some impressions under this edge of the pickup, and a few pieces of hay on the ground, Adam said and waited for Daniel to arrive at his location before he pointed. Unfortunately, the snow has covered any other prints or pieces of hay there might’ve been.

Daniel leaned down and brushed some snow away from the edge of what appeared to be another print. Here’s the trace of another print, but it really doesn’t tell us anything. There’s no clue of directionality. Daniel subtly moved some more snow near the tracks, but after a few seconds got back up. It’s no use. The snow’s just too powdery. There’s no way to move it aside enough to uncover a print and whatever prints there might have been had to have been filled in.

Too bad, Adam said. What now?

I guess we’ll go out and join the others in the pasture. There doesn’t seem to be anything for us here.

Just a second, Chief. Let me try… Adam took off his glove, brushed the snow off, and placed his hand on the side of the pickup bed. He closed his eyes. Suddenly, his face got red and his shoulder twitched slightly, as if he had a nervous tic.

Good, Daniel thought, I hope he’s seeing something that’ll help. When Adam opened his eyes, Daniel said, What did you see?

Nothing much, I’m afraid. I saw someone’s hands, David’s I’d presume, pulling a bale of hay from the back of the pickup and then the vision faded. All we can surmise is that the boot prints under the edge are David’s and the pieces of hay on the ground came from the bale he took from the back.

I’d say those are reasonable conclusions. But now, he sighed heavily, walking to the snowmobile and getting on, I guess we’d better go see if the guys found anything in the pasture.

Adam nodded and got on behind Daniel. When they reached the gate, Adam unlatched it, waited until Daniel had driven through, and then re-latched it before rejoining Daniel on the snowmobile. Looks like they’ve found something. Daniel pointed, shouting to be heard above the noise of the snowmobile.

Adam nodded and Daniel started out again. He drove to where the other four seemed to be examining the ground, pulling up behind the other snowmobiles before he stopped. Got something guys? Daniel asked.

George pointed to an area of indentation on the other side of the fence. We think maybe he crossed the fence here for some reason. There aren’t any tracks leading up to this spot, but they were probably covered over by the snow. I think the spot on the other side is visible because some grass was exposed and one of the cows was eating it through the fence. You know the old saying, ‘The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.’ George smiled slightly.

That may be true, Jeremiah said, but that grass is brown.

All right, enough of the chin music. We need to find whatever there is to find, and I’d agree with your assessment, Daniel said. It does look a bit like someone stood there. Daniel turned to Eugene. Eugene, why don’t you and Poppy stay here so we’ll know where this spot is? The rest of us will go to the other side of the fence so we can examine whatever’s there more closely.

Okay, Eugene said. Then, I presume, we’ll join you out there. He pointed at the indentation.

Unless there seems to be some clue out there pointing back inside the fence.

With that, Daniel and Adam got on their snowmobile and George and Jeremiah got on theirs. George followed Daniel to the gate where they both stopped. Adam got off, opened the gate, let Daniel and George drive through, and then closed the gate again.

Daniel drove along the fence line until he found another gate beyond the boundary of the first pasture. We ought to be able to go in here, he shouted over his shoulder before stopping. After he did, Adam repeated the gate-opening process on this one. A few minutes later, all four of them were examining the spot that had been found.

If that doesn’t beat all, Daniel thought. I don't know about the rest of you, he said, scratching his head, which wasn’t easy with his heavy gloves on, but I see two distinct boot patterns here.

I agree, George said. What do you make of that?

I don't know what to make of it, Daniel said. It almost appears as if someone met David here.

Daniel walked around the area, watching the ground and then said, There aren't any other prints that I can see. He looked up at the sky. Stupid snow.

Shall we spread out and see if we can find where the other guy came from? George pointed at the trees beyond where they were standing. That's forest service land behind the pasture and there are lots of trees. Maybe we'll find some tracks under them. The trees probably will have blocked at least some of the snow.

I guess that's about all we can do, Daniel said, sitting astride his snowmobile again. Eugene, you and Poppy come around and then you can continue off to the west. Be sure to come in and stay within the fence. George, you and Jeremiah go to the east, and Ram and I’ll go north. I presume you two have your cell phones.

I do, Eugene said.

As do I, George said.

Good. Call if you find anything and we’ll do likewise. Now, let's get going. With that, Daniel started his snowmobile again and drove away from the spot slowly, keeping his eyes on the snow in case there were any tracks.

It wasn't long before Daniel's cell phone rang. Yes, Eugene. He listened for a few seconds and then said, Maybe you'd better, then you can guide them to your location. I'm pretty sure I can find you by following the fence line. We'll be there shortly.

Daniel shut off the snowmobile so he didn't have to shout. Eugene found a trail that led from the edge of the trees to a spot where he's fairly certain a pickup was sitting. He thinks that whoever David met must’ve come in the pickup and then they left together. We'll go to where they are and see for ourselves. I'll drive down to the fence and follow it. The pickup was apparently parked just beyond another gate.

Works for me, Adam said.

Well, Daniel said when he and Adam arrived, sure looks like pickup tracks to me.

And there’s obviously two sets of footprints leading to where the pickup was sitting.

There is indeed, Eugene said.

What now? Adam asked. I really wonder what's going on, he thought. Who in the world would want to be out on a night like last night?

I haven't the foggiest, Daniel said. I think there's more to this missing person business than first met the eye and I think we’d better talk to Molly again. Maybe she knows more than she let on, he thought.

I think perhaps you're right, but shouldn't we follow the tracks of the pickup to see where it went? Eugene said, pointing at the pickup tracks.

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