Ted lingered on the fringes of the crowd, and in his mind's eye he
conjured up an image of Nels Anderson. Nels always earned his pay plus a
little bit more, and Ted wondered why Carl Thornton had fired him. But
he wondered no more.
The great buck hung on Crestwood's game rack and bore Carl Thornton's
deer tag, but it had never been killed today. The weather, though
colder, still had not dipped to the freezing point and the big buck was
frozen solidly. The others hung limp and pliable.
Failing to persuade Ted to hunt the big bucks for him, obviously
Thornton had hired someone else and Ted's thoughts swung naturally to
Smoky Delbert. Smoky would do anything for money and he knew how to
bargain. If he'd hired Smoky, Thornton must have paid a stiff price and
the rest was simple.
Crestwood's walk-in refrigerator had a freezing compartment that would
accommodate a side of beef. It had been necessary only to bring the buck
to Crestwood--no impossible or even difficult feat--hang it in the
freezer, and on this, the first day of the season, bring it out again.
Nels, of course, had been fired solely to keep him from discovering what
was in the freezer. It would hurt both Thornton and Crestwood if it were
known that Thornton had bought his buck. The favorable publicity for
which he'd hoped, and which he'd certainly get unless Ted exposed him,
would turn to scathing condemnation.
Alan Russell, Crestwood's part-time bookkeeper, broke from the crowd and
came to Ted's side.
"Hello, Ted."
"Hi, Alan."
"Some buck, eh?"
"Sure is," Ted said wryly. "I can imagine Thornton telling his adoring
guests just what a Daniel Boone he had to be to get it."
"After this season he won't be telling 'em at Crestwood."
"Why not?"
"Thornton's sold out."
"Sold out!"
"That's right."
"When did all this happen?"
"It's been hanging fire for a couple of months, but the prospective
buyers met Thornton's price only three days ago. It was a stiff price."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm handling the book work."