Obsession Falls(59)

He gestured to a man in uniform, standing off to the side. He was every bit as intimidating as Josiah. Older, with gray in his hair and beard, but there was no mistaking the look of danger. He looked like a sheriff, all right, and one I wouldn’t want to cross.

I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to get up and say something or just acknowledge what he’d said. I nodded and that seemed to be the right call because he continued.

“With the human aspect of the crime in the hands of the law,” he said, gesturing to Sheriff Cordero again, “we can have complete confidence that the criminal or criminals involved will be apprehended and charged to the fullest extent of the law.”

The crowd applauded again and a few cheers of, “Sheriff Jack!” rose up behind me.

“But that leaves us with another problem, and the reason for this emergency town meeting tonight. So far, two squirrels have lost their lives at the hands of this criminal or criminals. The good sheriff and his deputies have their hands full dealing with the crime. That means it’s up to us to come up with solutions that take our squirrel population into account.”

“Protect the squirrels!” someone yelled from the back.

Mayor Bill pointed. “Exactly. I know the squirrels can be a nuisance, but based on the feedback my office has been getting, it’s clear that we need to act.”

“It wasn’t me!” a rough voice called out.

Heads swiveled. I looked behind me and saw a man in a worn leather vest and wide brimmed hat, standing in the middle of one of the rows. He had a shaggy beard and deep lines around his eyes.

“Who’s that?” I asked Josiah.

“Harvey Johnston. He’s not exactly all there. Used to hate the squirrels but now he builds them tiny picnic tables and stuff.”

“Thank you, Harvey,” Mayor Bill said, raising his hand in a placating gesture. “We all know you and the squirrels have had your differences. But the past is in the past.”

Harvey nodded gravely and took his seat.

I leaned closer to Josiah again. “It was just two squirrels. I’m surprised the town is so serious about this.”

“Who knows with these people.”

“At this time, I’d like to open the floor for comments and ideas for what we can do to address the situation,” Mayor Bill said.

“I have an idea,” someone said.

“Go ahead, Earl.”

“We build a squirrel zoo. Then we can round them all up and keep them in an enclosure.”

“Good idea,” someone else called out. “Then we can charge admission.”

“Okay, that’s an idea,” Mayor Bill said. “We’re brainstorming, folks, so we’ll sort through the ins and outs later. How about you, Miss Hembree, I see your hand raised.”

“What if we outfit them with tiny bulletproof vests?”

“Huh, okay. I’m not sure if we think there’s much danger of the squirrels being shot.” He turned to Sheriff Cordero. “What do you think, Sheriff?”

He shook his head. “We’re not concerned about gun violence against squirrels at this time.”

“All right, good to know. Thank you, Sheriff. If you couldn’t hear that, folks, there’s not a reason to be concerned about gun violence against the squirrels. Anyone else?” He pointed. “Fiona Bailey.”

“I just want to say we can’t put them in a zoo or an enclosure. They need to be free.”

“That’s good feedback, Fiona, thank you.” He pointed to another person in the crowd. “Go ahead, Mrs. Doolittle.”

A tiny old lady in a pink house coat stood. I’d talked to her at the Mountain Man Festival. “We could ask the firefighters for their help. They’re a group of big, strong men. I’m sure they could keep the squirrels safe.”

“Thanks for that, Mrs. Doolittle. Your admiration of the fire department is well known and appreciated.”

Josiah leaned closer. “Mavis Doolittle has a thing for firefighters. She used to call in false reports just to get them to come to her house until they threatened to fine her.”

“Anyone else?” Mayor Bill asked. “Go ahead, Harvey, did you have something else to add?”

Harvey stood and took off his hat, placing it against his chest. Oddly, he looked right at me. “We form a squirrel protection squad.”

The mayor nodded slowly, as if he were digesting the idea. “I like that, Harvey. That has potential. We could get volunteers to run patrols. It wouldn’t be foolproof, but some action is better than none at all. What do you think, Sheriff?”

I couldn’t tell if Sheriff Cordero looked amused or irritated or a combination of both. “If you want to form a volunteer squirrel protection squad, you’re more than welcome. Just make sure everyone knows not to interfere with our investigation.”

“Will do, Sheriff. All right, folks, we’ll get a sign-up form going for those interested in running some patrols.”

“Can we get t-shirts?” someone asked from the back.

“We can look into that, sure.”

Mayor Bill finished up with a few more announcements—unrelated to squirrels—before thanking everyone for coming. A line formed at the front where someone had started a signup sheet for people interested in the squirrel protection squad.