Chapter 425

When the party was over I followed Ching Lee to her office. She filled me in on the conversation with Sherman; he was not a happy camper, but understood the need for no changes until our investigation was completed in a few days. He was thankful for Andy and the 10 men with him.

The hair samples were already at the lab and we were to have the DNA printout tonight. The fingerprints were already given to Robert to run through the system.

Andy had his 10 people re-positioning and adding more cameras, also doing a revaluation of the entrances to the college grounds based on the little information we had from the map.

We had finished supper and cleaning it up; it was nearly dusk and the hunters should be back any time. By Maryland law hunting ended at dusk. Jenny and my cell phones went crazy.

It had been a successful hunt and they were sending us pictures. Dad had killed a nice buck; he was sitting behind it holding the rack with an ear to ear grin. He had been hunting a dozen times this year and this was the first time he had bagged one. I wondered what made difference now.

Bob and Jason each had a big doe and equally big grins. Robin, on the other hand, had a very big buck with a huge rack. She was on her knees beside the deer holding the rack, with a smile so big there were no words to describe it.

The text said, “On our way to the gun club to weigh them in and meeting the taxidermist there. Robin wants to find out how much it will cost to have the head mounted - it’s the biggest buck she has ever shot - then on to the butcher shop.

We decided to meet them at the gun club. I wondered how my girls would take to seeing Bambi dead in the back of a truck. Jenny was no problem; Jason had mounted the deer on one wall in his study that he had bagged over the years.

When we got there the deer had already been weighed and checked in to the state log books. The Department of Natural Resources wanted a count of all the deer killed in the county. They used these counts against the live estimate to determine the length of the second hunting season and the black powder season.

They also used the sex to determine if there should be a limit on bucks in those last two seasons. A buck needed a harem of 10 to 15 does to stay healthy. Too many does and the bucks wasted away and the does would fight each other for attention, ending up hurt.

Too many deer overall led to them getting killed on the highways and moving to the developments, eating flowers to upset the rich folks. The state highway had crews dedicated to picking up the carcasses off the roadways.

The taxidermist was there measuring the antlers and recording the number, and then worked a price to put the head on a nice mount.

“Go ahead and mount it,” I told him; “The club can use today’s hunt for advertising. A big poster and endorsement for the gun maker will work,” I replied to his look. “Let’s get a picture with all the deer and the hunters together that we can use on the poster.”

The girls watched as the taxidermist made the cuts to get enough neck to make a nice looking mount. I expected them to be squeamish but was surprised; they watched closely, pointing and talking.

Andy called and I walked away to take the call, “I rented a house across from the college; it’s a big house, expensive and unfurnished. I called fifteen of my men to be at Morton at 8AM. Send them here tomorrow and send 25 of the army cots for us to sleep on. They are to bring their gear.”

“I will call you tomorrow and lay out my plans.”

I was off from KCC tomorrow and could fly on the flight, but I was worried that too many bosses showing up so close together would set off alarms. There were other things I needed to do anyway.

The night with Marcy was warm, cuddly and passionate; I wondered if all the baby talk the other night was getting all of them worked up. Even with all the passion, both of us were up early and had breakfast on the table at 6.

The best alarm clock was the old fashioned percolator that turned out the coffee that I loved. It clunked every time it perked and gurgled. I filled five more cups as I settled into my chair to drink my first of the day. Sausage, eggs and toast with a couple slices of bacon for Marcy and me.

The girls had filled their plates and we were nearly done eating when there was a knock on the door. When I got to the door the camera showed Eric standing there.

“You are just in time to join us for breakfast,” I said.