It had to be You

boy must have put on one skate, planning to put on the other, leave his shoes behind, and scoot down from the rise.
    “Did the former deputy find the other skate or his shoes?“ Walker asked.
    “No, sir.“
    “Did anyone examine the trees for buckshot to guess how far away the shooter was?“
    “I don’t think so, sir.“
    “Then it needs to be done. But I don’t have the time. Your chief is going to have to find someone else to do that. Let’s get in the car and look for witnesses. We passed two driveways on the way up here.”
    Poor Deputy Parker started to give himself a slap on the head but managed to abort the gesture and clap his hand to his side. “That’s a good idea, sir.”
    At the first farm they came to, the ground rose slightly between the barn and the lake, then dropped steeply. As the two uniformed officers faced the lake, a voice called, “Hoy! Whatta you doin’? Get back from the edge.”
    Chief Walker turned and walked toward the man, hand held out to shake the farmer’s. “I’m Chief of Police Walker from Voorburg, giving Chief Simpson and Deputy Parker here a little help.“
    “Yeah. I hear Ed’s laid up with the gout. I’m Dan Kincade. Been farmin’ here for ten years going on eleven.“
    “Was it you who spotted the body?“
    “Nope, it was my kid Jimmy, and I whopped him hard fer getting near to the edge. I’ve told him it’s crumbling. I don’t even go to the edge. For one thing, that lake stinks like hell in the sum- mer. When the wind picks it up jest right, you can smell it clear up here. Makes me retch. Figured anyway Jimmy was mistaking a dead cow for a person. Over the years, that’s happened a couple times. Some dumb cow or sheep gets outta its fence and falls in. Wasn’t until a couple days later I heard it was a person.“
    “Someone told me it’s good fishing though,“ Howard said.
    “Only for those what have no sense of smell, I reckon. How anybody could eat a fish that grew in that muck must have no sense of smell or taste.“
    “Do you have any idea of who the dead man was?“
    “No idea a’tall. Sorry to say.“
    “Thank you for your time,“ Howard said, shaking Kincade’s hand again, and headed back to the automobile.
    As they located the other driveway he’d seen on the way up the hill, he stopped before turning in. “Did you watch and listen, Parker?“
    “Yes, sir.“
    “Then you do this one.“
    “Oh, I don’t think I could, sir.“
    “But you will,“ Howard said. “This doesn’t look like a farm. Just a nice house. We’ll go to the front door.”
    Deputy Parker waited for Chief Walker to knock. And waited. And waited. Then he realized it was his job. Parker’s knuckles barely brushed the door.
    “Harder,“ Walker advised.
    This time Deputy Parker knocked so hard he hurt his hand.
    In a moment a young woman with curly fair hair, a big toothy smile, and a baby on her hip opened the door. “Boy oh boy, was that some knock. How can I help you?“
    “We have some questions to ask you about the body found in the lake behind your house,“ Parker said in a firmer voice than Howard had expected.
    “Then come around the side of the house.”
    They found themselves in a small backyard with a high, obviously new, stone wall across the back and up both sides. There were certainly signs of spring here. A forsythia bush was loaded with buds. So was a plum tree. Fresh new blades of irises were already up, but no buds showed yet.
    “You like this?“ the young woman asked. “I’m proud of it. I never had experience with gardening until we moved here three years ago. It’s ahead of most gardens hereabout because it’s enclosed from the winds and the stone wall holds the heat of the sun.“
    “That’s why you built it?“ Howard asked. “Oh, no. It was to divert the awful smell from that nasty little lake below.”
    Parker took over again, which pleased Walker. “Ma’am, you probably can’t see over it. Only a very tall person might.”
    She smiled. “So far none of our guests have wanted to even try. I suppose with a ladder you could see the lake. And maybe even smell it.“
    “Before you had the wall, could you see the lake?“ Parker asked.
    “Barely. It’s heavily wooded between here and there.“
    “So you never saw anyone skating in the winter or fishing in the summer?“
    “No, we didn’t. But we weren’t interested in looking at it, much less having to smell it.”
    Parker smiled at her and said, “Thank you