The Mystery at Maypenny's

Maypenny. I love your hunter’s stew as much as Trixie does. But it’s pretty close to dinner time. We have to be going home.”
    Mr. Maypenny nodded. “I figured it might be close to dinner time when you’d finished up here. That’s why I went ahead and called your folks this afternoon to ask if you could stay for dinner. I must say,” he continued, a smile smoothing out the lines at the corners of his mouth, “nobody seemed very disappointed that you wouldn’t be around to eat them out of house and home tonight. So I guess it’s my hunter’s stew or go hungry.”
    “Well, then,” Mart said, “shall we commence with the comestibles?”
    “I have a better idea,” Trixie said. “Let’s eat!” Laughing, the Bob-Whites trooped into Mr. Maypenny’s cottage.
    Later, as the Bob-Whites were savoring the rich combination of fresh vegetables and tasty venison simmered for hours in a thick, dark broth, Brian said, “I wish you’d ask for favors more often, Mr. Maypenny. You have such a terrific way of repaying them!”
    The other Bob-Whites smiled in agreement, but Mr. Maypenny frowned. “You’re welcome to come over for stew any time you like, Brian. You know that. But I hope I don’t have to ask for any more favors. I’ve been an independent old cuss all my life, and it rankles me to ask for help. I wouldn’t have had to this time if that young whippersnapper Matt Wheeler hadn’t got me all riled up.”
    “D-Daddy?” Honey’s voice came out as a squeak. Her friends looked at one another nervously. Mr. Maypenny had had his share of disagreements with the big, redheaded Matthew Wheeler in the past, starting when the wealthy businessman had tried to buy the independent older man’s little section of land for his game preserve. Mr. Maypenny had refused even the highest offers, and Mr. Wheeler had finally had to admit that his money couldn’t buy everything. The two had eventually reached a truce: Mr. Maypenny kept his land and took over as the gamekeeper that Mr. Wheeler sorely needed. But the Bob-Whites all knew that neither man had lost his stubborn streak. If Mr. Maypenny was “riled up,” it could mean trouble.
    “Are you and Dad having problems, Mr. Maypenny?” Jim asked. His tone was casual, but his face looked grim under its shock of red hair. Jim’s loyalty to his adoptive father was intense. Mr. Maypenny suddenly looked embarrassed. “I’m sorry, Jim,” he said sincerely. “I plain forgot that Matt Wheeler was your father. You kids are so nice and reasonable that it just doesn’t seem possible.”
    Trixie had to bite her lower lip to keep from giggling at Mr. Maypenny’s backhanded compliment to Honey and Jim.
    There was a smile playing around Jim’s mouth, too, as he asked, “What’s Dad being un-nice and unreasonable about?”
    Mr. Maypenny shook his head, as if he couldn’t believe what he was about to say. “Matt Wheeler came over here a couple of days ago just as I was getting ready to go down to Lytell’s store. Wheeler had some big shot from International Pine along with him.”
    “International Pine?” Brian interrupted. “You mean the same company that drained the swamp to build that new furniture factory a while back?”
    Mr. Maypenny nodded. “The same,” he said. “It seems that after they drained the swamp, killing all those rare plants and driving the animals out of their homes, and after they built their big factory that belches smoke out all over the place, they started doing pretty well for themselves. So well, in fact, that now they want to expand. They went to Matt Wheeler and made him an offer on a parcel of land. Some of the land in that parcel is his, and some is mine. Matt Wheeler said he'd be happy to sell, and he came over here to try to talk me into doing the same.”
    Mr. Maypenny paused and shook his head again as he recalled the conversation. The Bob-Whites sat in shocked silence as he continued. “Of course, as soon as I realized what they were talking about, I told them my answer was no and that was as final as final could be. Matt got all red in the face and asked me to listen to him talk some more of his nonsense. He even hinted that he might go right ahead and sell his land and leave me with a factory on my doorstep and no money to show for my trouble. That’s what was on my mind when I noticed that tree, and that’s why I couldn’t remember where I’d seen it,” he concluded.
    The Bob-Whites’ shocked silence continued for