The Mystery at Maypenny's

will appear in tomorrow’s paper. In the meantime, I thought giving you this information now and asking you to spread the word among your friends and neighbors would give us a head start in getting the cooperation we need. Thank you.”
    Gemlo returned to his place against the front wall, and the council chairman banged his gavel again to silence the noisy crowd. “All right, all right,” he said. “You can talk about this all you want to when you get home. For now, we must move on to the business that brought us here today. That’s the proposed rezoning.
    “Now, what we’re going to do is take an hour to listen to comments from you folks. If you have something to say, stand and be recognized. Then give your name and address and make your statement. The secretary will write it all down. Each person will be given just three minutes to speak so we can hear from as many of you as possible in an hour. Understood?” He scanned the crowd, waiting for questions. When there were none, he banged his gavel again. “All right,” he said, “let’s begin.”
    Honey’s father was the first one to his feet. The chairman nodded in his direction, and he turned and faced the crowd. “My name is Matthew Wheeler, and I own the Manor House. I also own the land—part of the land—that International Pine wants for its expansion, the land that will have to be rezoned in order for that to take place.
    “I want you all to know that my decision to agree to sell this parcel of land was not reached lightly. I had several long discussions with Peter Belden, who works for the Sleepyside bank. He convinced me of the serious need for industry in this community. It was that information on which I finally based my decision.
    “I also want you to know that my concern for nature and for wildlife is as strong as it has ever been. The sale of this parcel of land to International Pine is not the first step in turning my game preserve into an industrial development. It is a single step that will, I hope, improve the quality of life in this community. Thank you.”
    As Mr. Wheeler sat down, there was a smattering of applause—along with a few jeers—from the audience. Trixie looked at Honey out of the corner of her eye and saw that her friend’s hazel eyes were brimming with tears. Knowing that Honey felt guilty for not sitting with her father and brother to share the brunt of the crowd’s reaction, Trixie reached over and squeezed her arm reassuringly. Honey turned her head and smiled a weak but grateful smile.
    When Trixie turned back to the crowd, another speaker had already been recognized and had started to speak. “I’ve been against this expansion business since the minute I heard about it,” he was saying. “I’m against it even more since I heard George Gemlo’s announcement a few minutes ago. This is the first time I’ve ever heard of a case of botulism in these parts. I’m sure it’s the result of tampering with nature. If International Pine hadn’t built here in the first place, those ducks wouldn’t have died. There’s no telling how much worse the damage will get if we allow the expansion.”
    The man started to sit down, then stood up again. “I want to say one more thing. If any of you councilmen vote for the rezoning, you can bet I’ll vote against you in the next election.” Again there was a mixture of applause and booing as the man sat down. Three people jumped to their feet, wanting to be recognized. The chairman pointed his gavel at one of them.
    The speaker gave his name and address to the secretary and turned to face his fellow citizens.
    “It seems to me that a person has to be a duck to get any sympathy around here,” he said sarcastically. “I think it’s high time somebody spoke up for us human beings. I grew up on a farm just outside of Sleepyside. My family and friends all live here. I farmed for my dad until I got married and had a family of my own. Then we discovered that one small farm didn’t make enough money to support two families. For the past two years, I’ve been working in Tarry town. I started out commuting. Then that got too expensive. Now I live in a rooming house there during the week and come home to my family only on weekends.
    “I don’t want my kids to miss the small-town life I had growing up in Sleepyside. But I don’t want them to grow up without a father, either. If International Pine expands, I could get a job right here in town. I could raise my kids the way