Yolks on You Box Set

Chapter 16-2

Dom took a seat as near the stage as he could manage and dug into the pancakes as he waited. They were delicious; he very much hoped Alec was missing out on them. To his surprise, Buddy Miller was up on the stage first, dressed in plaid but dry-eyed. As he thanked everyone for coming out to the farm and especially for joining the entire population of Mount Angus in their Eggstravaganza, Dom debated whether to go back and get some eggs next. They had been cooked in the shape of flowers, the whites the petals and the yolk the inside parts. Whoever put on this breakfast really knew how to make the food appealing to children. He almost laughed at himself.

Then Kiko was up, announcing the golden egg was still up for grabs and there were scant hours left in which to find it. Buddy Miller returned for a few final words on the upcoming egg hunt, and it was over.

“Well, that wasn’t as big of a deal as I thought,” said Dom as Kiko approached him afterward.

“I actually have to mingle now,” said Kiko, looking around. “I’m supposed to be here for a couple of hours. I don’t know if you saw Wendy with her ferret. There’s a pig around here, too, somewhere—we’re supposed to be keeping people hanging around the barns, enjoying everything. There’s a raffle for the adults in one of the outbuildings; the winners are announced at the Grand Hunt.”

“I know,” said Dom, standing with his empty plate. More food could wait. “I heard Buddy Miller announce it. What did Chad say?”

“Walk with me,” said Kiko, hefting his goose. Dom eyed it. He wasn’t sure he could trust the thing, but he did as Kiko said, tossing his plate out as he went.

“Well?” he asked when they had exited out of the barn, warm with the body heat of so many people, into the cool. Kiko set a lazy pace toward the farthest barn.

“He noticed something,” said Kiko. “The boxes of eggs weren’t stacked right.” At Dom’s blank look Kiko sighed and continued. “I normally stack the boxes of eggs like a pyramid—heavy and big ones at the bottom, smaller ones at top. Chad said when he went to move them they were all in a row, three high.”

Dom stared at Kiko, wondering what kinds of weird little neurosis he’d find in the man’s house if he cared to look.

“A pyramid?”

“The point is that they were rearranged, Dom. I’ll ask Katie, but I’m sure she didn’t do it. She never has anything to do with the egg hunt boxes. Which means—”

“Oh, come on,” said Dom, waving the thought away. “Who’s that stupid? You build an egg bomb and plant it and then forget the boxes you went through were set up in a pyramid? You don’t just forget something like that.”

“Unless they didn’t forget,” said Kiko. “Maybe they just couldn’t replicate it again. I’m a bit…precise about it. Or they were trying to be fast. Or both. But I think it was the person responsible for the explosions that did it.”

Dom stared at the barn they were nearing, frowning. He just didn’t see how this helped them at all.

“But he didn’t see anyone there? What exactly are we supposed to do with this?”

“Well,” said Kiko, stroking his goose, “It means that whoever it is is taking the bombs to the places they want them planted and setting them there. Otherwise they could have put that one in the eggs ahead of time. A lot of people hand deliver their boxes; it would have been easy enough to just deliver the explosive.”

“That doesn’t make any sense,” said Dom. “We think it’s one of the people who supplies eggs because they’re eligible to receive the money. Why wouldn’t they go ahead and put it in their own box? Why go through the trouble of maybe getting caught?”

“Because,” said Kiko, glancing around as though worried they were being listened on, “they would have to do the same for every other explosive. If they put it directly in their box they’d give themselves away. Which means it’s probably not Joylove’s—they had an explosion—or Yolks on You, or the Brewery. Whoever it was had to gain access to all those places.”

Dom still wasn’t quite ready to discount Buddy Miller.

“Yes, or…” he said. “…or one of the owners could be guilty, set a bomb at their own place to throw off the cops.” Kiko was shaking his head, which annoyed Dom. “And I suppose you have it all figured out.”

“If the purpose is to secure the money—which I thought was what we were going on—the culprit is trying to make other businesses unappealing for the reward. Why should Buddy Miller have to rig his own place? He wins the money often enough.”

Dom didn’t like this. Why was it so difficult to puzzle out something with such an easy motive in such a small town? Kiko had started walking again and Dom followed, frustrated.

“I think we just need more clues,” he said. “For this to all make sense. I think I’m going to ask around, see if anything suspicious has been happening on the farm. Not the wrong move?”

Kiko shrugged.

“It probably can’t hurt, but you’ll be the weird tourist. Some people might not talk to you. Good luck, though. If you want me, I’ll be wandering around, showing suburban children what a goose is.”