This is the twenty-sixth part in a series, so if you have not already done so, you might want to read Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, Part VI, Part VII, Part VIII, Part IX, Part X, Part XI, Part XII, Part XIII, Part XIV, Part XV, Part XVI, Part XVII, Part XVIII, Part XIX, Part XX, Part XXI, Part XXII, Part XXIII, Part XXIV, and Part XXV before continuing.
“I knew it!” Uncle Phil kicked at the ground, then started pacing back and forth while listing off all the awful things he was going to do to Ledd.
Michael and I quickly got in front of him, holding our hands out to prevent him from doing anything stupid.
“You cannot confront him,” I said.
“The hell I can’t!”
“Charlie’s right, if you go onto his property, you’ll be at a disadvantage. You don’t know what he has over there.”
“Didn’t you say he threatened you when you confronted him about this the other day?”
“Yeah, and now we know why.”
“He’s not going to take it any better if you go over there now,” I said.
“We have to build a case.”
Uncle Phil looked at Michael like he was a monkey who had started speaking English. “Build a case? Are you a lawyer now?”
“No. I just play one on TV.”
I laughed, but Uncle Phil did not see the humor in it.
“Oh, for Pete’s sake!” He started to head for the road, but Michael and I blocked him off again.
“OK, OK. I’m sorry,” Michael said.
“He’s right though,” I said.
Uncle Phil rounded on me. “I’m sorry. I don’t recall you going to law school, either.”
“No, but I’ve spent the past fifteen years working at a law firm. You can’t hang out with lawyers all day and not pick up a few things, especially when you’re writing about their cases for their website. You can’t just accuse him of stealing without evidence.”
“We just saw him drive off with my cattle.”
“Actually, Michael recognized the truck. He couldn’t get a good enough look to identify any of the men. Someone could have stolen the truck. We need to prove it was Ledd.”
“And how do you suggest we do that?”
I looked at Michael and said, “We do some reconnaissance.”
“How?”
“We use the hole in your fence that he put there. You and Michael can sneak into his pasture and see if you can find any cattle with your tags on them. I’ll keep him busy at his house.”
“You mean I can’t confront him, but you can?”
“I’m not going to confront him. Just distract him while you get your evidence.”
“And what’s your grand plan for distracting him?”
I smiled and said, “That’s easy. Play the dumb city girl who got lost in the country.”
To be continued…