“What legitimate reason?”
Mark raised a hand.
“I’m asking.”
Daniel thought.
“Safety disablement during transport, maybe.”
“But then why ‘engine good’ and ‘buy back under five hundred’?”
“That’s what bothers me.”
Mark nodded.
“Me too.”
He photographed the card.
Then asked:
“Who touched this since the auction?”
“Ellie.”
“Daniel.”
“Anyone else?”
“Frank looked.”
“Didn’t touch.”
Mark wrote everything down.
“Where did the auction get the tractor?”
Daniel showed him corporate records.
The sheriff’s expression tightened.
“Rusk.”
“Yes.”
Mark looked at Ellie.
“Who bid against you?”
“Calvin.”
“Directly?”
“Yes.”
“He sold the tractor through his company and then bid on it himself?”
“That’s what the records suggest.”
Mark stood.
“That gives me enough to ask questions.”
“Can you stop him from destroying records?” Ellie asked.
Mark looked at her.
“Not yet.”
“So he’ll know.”
“He may already know.”
Ellie thought of Vernon.
Of the phone call.
“You should hurry.”
Mark smiled slightly.
“You do sound like your father.”
Daniel sighed.
“I hear that too much.”
The investigation began quietly.
Quietly lasted six hours.
By dinner, everyone in town knew Sheriff Callahan had visited Pike Auction.
By breakfast, somebody posted online that “Mercer girl claims tractor auction rigged.”
By lunch, Calvin Rusk gave a statement to a local radio reporter.
“There is absolutely no fraudulent conduct associated with Rusk Machinery or any related business. The tractor was owned by an investment subsidiary and offered transparently through public auction. Mr. Pike’s auction business handled all bidding under standard procedures. I personally bid because the machine had salvage value. Claims that equipment was intentionally damaged are reckless and defamatory.”
Ellie listened from the kitchen.
“He called me reckless.”
Daniel buttered toast.
“He didn’t name you.”
“Everybody knows.”
“Doesn’t matter.”
“It matters to me.”
“That’s why you don’t talk to reporters.”
“Why?”
“Because angry fifteen-year-olds make excellent headlines.”
Ellie glared.
“I’m not angry.”
Daniel looked at her.
She sighed.
“Fine.”
School Monday was worse.
Half her agriculture class had seen the post.
“Hey, tractor detective.”
“Did you find buried treasure in the gas tank?”
“Calvin going to sue you?”
One boy asked whether she had actually repaired the tractor herself.
Ellie said yes.
He replied, “Sure.”
That hurt more than the jokes.
Her agriculture teacher, Ms. Morales, heard.
She waited until class ended.
Then called Ellie back.
“You want advice?”
“No.”
“Good. Here it is anyway.”
Ellie leaned against the desk.
“Everybody loves being right after the evidence arrives.”
Ellie looked at her.
Ms. Morales continued.
“The hard part is not turning uncertainty into certainty just because other people are insulting you.”
“My dad says the same thing.”
“Annoying parents.”
“Extremely.”
“You have evidence.”
“Yes.”
“You do not yet have the whole story.”
“I know.”