“You’re right.” Randall, of course, had a very good idea how much we’d spent, since Shiffley Construction had done most of the work. “They probably want Seth Early’s sheep farm, too, and I hope the surveyors steer clear of him, or they’re likely to see the business end of his shotgun. And they’re talking about waterfront condos. I can’t remember who owns the farms on either side of the road between us and the creek, but they’re very nice farms, and I doubt the owners want to sell.”
“That would be my cousins, Orville and Renfrew on the east side of the road,” he said. “And you’re right. Likely as not they’d join Seth’s shotgun brigade at the mere mention of building condos and a golf course on their land. And the farm on the west side of the road belongs to Deacon Washington of the New Life Baptist Church. Just try to pry him off that land—I think his family’s been there since just after the war—and this time I do mean the Civil War. Okay, we know who the developers are after—now we need a lawyer.”
“I already called one,” I said. “Festus Hollingsworth. One of Mother’s cousins.”
“No offense, but we probably need a pretty high-caliber lawyer,” Randall said. “You think your mother’s cousin is up to it?”
“Cousin Festus is pretty high caliber,” I said. “He specializes in making life miserable for sleazy developers and their corrupt friends in local governments. Makes a very good living at it. Wait till you see this year’s Jaguar. If anyone’s up to it, he is.”
“You have a useful kind of family.” His cell phone rang, and he reached for it automatically. “Now what we need to do is— Hang on a minute. I need to take this. Yes, ma’am?”
I watched Randall’s face as he listened to his caller. His expression went from one of cheerful respect to shock.
And clearly whoever had called him had a lot to say. Randall did a lot of listening, interjecting an occasional “Yes, ma’am” or “No, ma’am.”
“I’ll have them there as soon as possible,” he said finally. “Yes, ma’am. You bet!”
He hung up and stared at the phone for a few seconds.
“It’s starting,” he said. “That was my aunt Jane.”
“Judge Jane?” I asked.
“The same. She just called up and ordered me to bring as many of my trucks as possible down to the courthouse. That financial company gave notice that they’re seizing their collateral Monday morning and kicking everyone out.”
“And she’s going?”
“She’s hopping mad, but she says so far she can’t see a clear legal way around it, and she’s damned if she’s going to give them grounds to cause trouble, so she’s moving. Looks like anyone who wants a warrant or needs to pay a traffic ticket will have to go out to her farm for the time being.”
“Are they starting with the courts, or have they given everybody notice?”
“Everybody,” he said. “Whole town’s in a tizzy. Aunt Jane called to make sure she and the courts had first dibs on our trucks. I’d better get moving.”
“By the way, on this developer thing—”
He turned and tilted his head as if asking a question. Probably whether my question was important enough to keep his aunt waiting.
“Rob’s looking it up, but he thinks in Virginia you can’t seize land for economic development unless it’s blighted. Michael and I might need you to do a little work around the place to make damned sure no one in their right mind could call it blighted.”
“Good call,” he said. “And once we’re sure where else they’re targeting, we can make sure they’re all showplaces.”
“One more thing,” I said. “When did you find out about all this? I didn’t know anything until just now, when I ran into the surveyors.”
He frowned and clenched his jaw.
“I first heard about it Thursday,” he said, finally. “Parker told me. But it sounded so loony I thought he had to be wrong. Then yesterday, after I heard someone had killed him I began to think about it, and it didn’t sound nearly as loony. And then I started asking a few people some questions, and the more I asked, the saner Parker seemed.”
“Where were you when he told you?”
“On the sidewalk outside Geraldine’s bakery,” he said. “And before you ask, I have no idea if anyone was listening in. It was just past eight A.M. Thursday, and lots of people were coming and going, getting coffee and pastries. I suppose any one of them could have heard what he was saying. I didn’t get the idea he was trying to keep it a deep dark secret. Sorry; I know that’s no help.”