{"id":68,"date":"2023-04-14T16:08:04","date_gmt":"2023-04-14T16:08:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jlrobinsonauthor.com\/?p=68"},"modified":"2023-04-14T16:08:04","modified_gmt":"2023-04-14T16:08:04","slug":"alpacaincident","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jlrobinsonauthor.com\/?p=68","title":{"rendered":"The Alpaca Incident"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t you want to sit in the front with Stephanie? She\u2019s a good driver.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alfred shook his head nervously at Bettie as he climbed into the Fiesta and made a fuss about buckling his seatbelt tightly. Stephanie watched her grandma\u2019s boyfriend in the driver\u2019s mirror as her mum sat in the front, and then waited patiently until everyone was ready.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve never been to this caf\u00e9 before. Did you say it\u2019s also a pet shop?\u201d Stephanie\u2019s mum, Barbara, half turned to talk to Bettie in the back.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, we could go see the alpacas too if you want. Although Arthur probably won\u2019t want to because his bottom is still sore from last time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stephanie stifled a laugh and looked sideways at her mum who was going to ask but decided that she\u2019d rather not know. <\/p>\n

Instead, Barbara asked Stephanie, \u201cDid you say your friend Lisa was joining us?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, she said she\u2019d meet us there with her daughters, they enjoy visiting the animals. I\u2019m looking forward to it too, I\u2019ve seen the animals from the road but not actually been inside the barn.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t long before they arrived in Hibaldton and parked in the small carpark outside the pet shop. Stephanie got out of the car and looked up at the cottage and barn which had been converted into a cosy caf\u00e9 and pet shop. They walked up to the wooden door and Stephanie attempted to turn the iron handle. The door remained shut.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s funny,\u201d Grandma Bettie said giving it a tug \u201cThe door is usually open. What time is it?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou did drive fast,\u201d Arthur pointed out. \u201cWe\u2019re probably too early.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stephanie ignored his remark and they all wandered along the carpark, crunching over the gravel, and stopping at the barn.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a shame, isn\u2019t it Arthur,\u201d Grandma Bettie said in a stage whisper as they stood outside the large door.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is?\u201d Stephanie asked listening for signs of movement within.<\/p>\n

Arthur nodded knowingly, \u201cThe animals might have to go. Charlie told us that there\u2019s an inspector coming today and that he might close the place down. Maybe he\u2019s been already.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, that is a shame,\u201d Barbara sighed watching Stephanie as she started to tug at the door and then looked surprised when it slid open. \u201cStephanie, what are you doing?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cI just wondered if the owner was in here, Charlie is it?\u201d Stephanie asked looking at her grandma. <\/p>\n

\u201cYes, his name\u2019s Charlie, he\u2019ll be so upset.\u201d <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Stephanie stepped onto the hay covered flooring and looked around. There were wooden stalls where she could see the head of one alpaca look over at her inquisitively, it was busy chewing something and then its head disappeared back down behind the door of its enclosure. At the back, light streamed in from a field behind the barn. It was only a small area, the only land to avoid being built on by housing developers.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Suddenly, an alpaca sauntered in from the field and trotted across warily. Its eyes stared ahead unblinking in its white, woolly head. Stephanie froze, not wanting to startle the animal but also realising that she might actually be scared of alpacas. <\/p>\n

To Stephanie\u2019s relief, it stopped, its jaw moved from side to side thoughtfully, then it dropped its head to sniff the ground. Stephanie looked down at the floor and was surprised to see a pair of black boots sticking out behind a hay bale. <\/p>\n

\u201cHello,\u201d Stephanie called uneasily, \u201cCharlie?\u201d<\/p>\n

There was no reply. She stepped forward slowly, hoping that the boots were empty. Unfortunately, behind the hay bale lay a man, face down, wearing black trousers and a beige jumper with a distinctive hoof mark on his back. The alpaca sniffed his jumper and then reached over to nibble at a bag of animal feed that was half leaning on the man\u2019s head.<\/p>\n

Stephanie stepped back, only to bump into her mum and grandma.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh my god! Is that a body?\u201d Barbara gasped and grabbed Stephanie\u2019s arm.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat doesn\u2019t look like Charlie,\u201d Bettie shook her head. \u201cI bet it\u2019s the animal inspector.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHow can you both be so calm? Shouldn\u2019t you check\u2026 you know to see if he\u2019s\u2026alive?\u201d Barbara\u2019s eyes looked wildly at her daughter.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy me?\u201d Stephanie looked back at the body with its arm twisted at an odd angle, it didn\u2019t look hopeful, and then at the unusually stretched neck of the gigantic teddy bear-like beast.<\/p>\n

 \u201cDo alpacas bite?\u201d Stephanie asked, and as if in response it shook its head and seemed to grin, revealing two huge brown front teeth.<\/p>\n

Stephanie noticed it seemed to be looking at Arthur who quickly ran back outside with his hands covering his behind.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew it wasn\u2019t a good idea to let the \u2018Angel of Death\u2019 bring us here,\u201d he muttered on his way out.<\/p>\n

Just as Arthur disappeared, in walked Lisa. Stephanie put her hand up to warn her best friend to come no further.<\/p>\n

 \u201cWhere\u2019s Pheobie and Sofia?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, they went to a friend\u2019s instead, what\u2019s wrong?\u201d Lisa asked as she walked into the barn.<\/p>\n

When Lisa saw the body, her shoulders slumped. \u201cNot again.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat d\u2019you mean, not again. How many bodies do you usually find?\u201d Barbara asked, surprised.<\/p>\n

Stephanie and Lisa exchanged glances, and when Lisa started to count on her fingers Stephanie stood in front of her and squeaked, \u201cNone! Well, not since what happened in the Spring.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t forget her husband,\u201d Lisa continued.<\/p>\n

Stephanie glared at her friend. <\/p>\n

Lisa continued, \u201cWhat? Your mum already knew about that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then what about up the incident up the road,\u201d Grandma Bettie started to join in. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat incident? You don\u2019t tell me anything,\u201d Barbara complained.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnyway, it\u2019s not always about dead people. Stephanie, tell her about the mystery with Rosie, nobody died that time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stephanie thought about whether to tell her mum or not.<\/p>\n

\u201cWas that in Hibaldton?\u201d Barbara asked, looking round Stephanie to talk to Lisa.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot all mysteries are in this village mum.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lisa peeked around to say, \u201cNo it was in the abandoned fairground in Cleethorpes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAbandoned \u2026what? Stephanie?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat are you all doing here?\u201d A woman\u2019s voice interrupted their huddled conversation.<\/p>\n

They all turned to see a policewoman and a man standing in the doorway.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow did you get in here? I closed the door and I only left it for a couple of minutes! You shouldn\u2019t enter properties without permission,\u201d PCSO Manning demanded in the most official voice she could muster.<\/p>\n

\u201cSorry,\u201d Stephanie apologised, \u201cI thought I heard Charlie inside; I didn\u2019t see your police car.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m parked up the road, I ran over when I got the call.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCharlie are you ok? You look like you\u2019ve seen a ghost!\u201d Bettie called and rushed over to the owner who stood in the doorway looking pale and shaken.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m ok Bettie love, I nearly fainted but I feel a bit better now.\u201d<\/p>\n

PCSO Manning walked further in causing everyone to spread out in a semi- circle around the poor man lying face down in the hay. The policewoman sighed and shook her head at them all.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t suppose any of you has tampered with any evidence, have you? I didn\u2019t even have time to put the police tape up. \u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIs he\u2026.dead?\u201d Barbara asked shakily.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am afraid so.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t do it\u2026 just putting it out there\u2026 to be clear,\u201d Stephanie said firmly.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe didn\u2019t,\u201d Grandma Bettie and Barbara said together and started to tell the police constable how they had all turned up together.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlease, stop talking. It\u2019s ok, I know you didn\u2019t do it. If you haven\u2019t got anything to tell me that can add to our enquiries, then you should all go.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe \u2018Angel of Death\u2019 strikes again,\u201d Arthur moaned reappearing in the doorway.<\/p>\n

Stephanie turned to her grandma.<\/p>\n

\u201cCan you please ask him to stop calling me that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bettie shrugged and looked at Charlie. \u201cIs it the inspector?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t looked at his face yet, we\u2019re not allowed to turn him over,\u201d Charlie said quietly,<\/p>\n

 \u201cPlus, I\u2019ve never met the inspector before.\u201d<\/p>\n

While they were talking, Stephanie had been looking around the barn and had noticed a few things. The man had some bright, green pellets in his hand, he was also holding a pen. A small hole was in the side of the animal feed bag, and looking upwards, Stephanie noted that there were more bags stored in an open loft above them. A wooden ladder was leaning away from the loft edge against the corner of the barn. On the wall was a long pen mark, as if someone had drawn a shaky line, and half way up the ladder was a muddy footprint on one of the rungs.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt looks like the inspector was interested in the animal feed,\u201d Stephanie remarked, pointing at the hole in the bag.<\/p>\n

Charlie grunted, \u201cI don\u2019t know why he was sneaking about the place, he only had to ask if he wanted to look in the bags.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you think that\u2019s his footprint, on the ladder?\u201d Stephanie asked the policewoman.<\/p>\n

She walked carefully around the body to look at the tread on his boots, then over to the ladder. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt looks like it, but we need the crime scene investigators to check it out to be sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t believe, we\u2019re standing in a crime scene,\u201d Barbara gushed. \u201cDo you mind if I take a picture?\u201d She started to look in her bag.<\/p>\n

\u201cMother! You can\u2019t take a photo, this poor man has just died!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh yes,\u201d Barbara looked at the body, still lying amongst the hay, \u201cI\u2019m so sorry,\u201d she said to him.<\/p>\n

PCSO Manning looked at them in awe, not quite believing what was going on. Still, no other police had turned up yet, so she wasn\u2019t in a rush for them to leave. She was beginning to get used to seeing Stephanie at crime scenes lately anyway. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt looks like he was going to feed the alpacas,\u201d the policewoman sighed.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe shouldn\u2019t have done that. Matilda hates it when anyone goes up that ladder,\u201d Charlie explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cDoes she spit or get angry?\u201d the policewoman enquired.<\/p>\n

Charlie looked puzzled. \u201cNo, my wife stopped spitting at people years ago. She insists on holding the bottom of the ladder when I go up.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Just then someone else arrived and they all turned to see who it was. <\/p>\n

A young man stood in the doorway, he looked like he was about twenty, he was wearing jeans and a plain t-shirt with a lanyard round his neck and a brown leather bag hung on his shoulder. Stephanie recognised him as one of the local reporters who had talked to her recently after she and her friends had solved a recent mystery in the village. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cHow did you<\/em> get here so quickly?\u201d asked the policewoman, clearly annoyed. This crime scene was quickly turning into an event, they\u2019d be selling tickets next. She walked up to him, preventing him from getting out his camera.<\/p>\n

\u201cSorry, I called him yesterday, when I knew the inspector was coming. I just wanted someone here to witness the inspection, I thought getting the press on my side would help,\u201d Charlie gabbled, looking rather ill at this point.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, come on now, freedom of the press and everything, what\u2019s going on? Don\u2019t tell me the inspector\u2019s tried to close down the pet shop and things got ugly did they?\u201d<\/p>\n

Before the officer could say anything, everyone was quick to voice their own opinion.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, absolutely not.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t know what happened to him, he was just lying there when we got here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe broke into my barn and fell.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA bag of animal feed fell on him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe alpaca did it.\u201d<\/p>\n

PCSO Manning put her hands in the air and shouted over the commotion, \u201cWill everyone be quiet for a minute! You, young man, will have to wait for an official<\/em> police statement, which you will get when the detective gets here.\u201d<\/p>\n

There was a snuffle from the woolly alapacas, who seemed to be enjoying themselves immensely. The one in its stall, popped its head up to see what all the commotion was about. Stephanie felt like they were in a T.V. sitcom, and the animals were watching them. She wouldn\u2019t be surprised if they started to eat popcorn soon.<\/p>\n

\u201cWow, so the inspector is dead, is he?\u201d The young reporter whistled slowly. \u201cThis is going to be my first murder scene.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, not a murder scene,\u201d the policewoman insisted.<\/p>\n

PCSO Manning started to escort him out of the barn and turned to persuade everyone else to follow.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As they stood in the car park, a brown car pulled in, its tyres crunching on the gravel as it parked next to Stephanie\u2019s car. <\/p>\n

They all watched as a man got out of the car and reached in to get his bag. He stood up and looked over at the crowd of people watching him, and noticing the police officer, he grew more nervous. He\u2019d come across trouble from angry crowds before, but he wasn\u2019t expecting it today, on his first visit.<\/p>\n

\u201cHello, I\u2019m looking for Charlie Davenport?\u201d The man looked around expectantly.<\/p>\n

Charlie stepped forwards. \u201cAnd who might you be?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re expecting me, sorry I\u2019m a bit late,\u201d he said pushing his glasses further up his nose. \u201cMy name is John Smith, I\u2019m from DEFRA to inspect your farm.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There was a pause, while everyone took this news in. The crowd looked from the man to the barn and back to the man who was by now wishing he\u2019d not bothered turning up. He\u2019d only agreed to work on a Saturday because he was going on holiday the week after.<\/p>\n

Suddenly everyone started to talk at once. If he was the inspector, then who was the man in the barn? Why had this person broken into the place and why was he looking in the animal feed bags? Why was the inspector here? What does DEFRA mean anyway?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Eventually, when the commotion had died down, they all watched with bated breath, as the inspector got out his paperwork from his satchel. He leafed through the sheets until he found what he was looking for.<\/p>\n

He coughed before addressing Charlie, \u201cIt seems that one of your neighbours informed us that your farm was \u2026\u201d he read directly from the notes, \u201cunhygienic and causing a rat problem in his garden.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s outrageous!\u201d Charlie exploded; his face had turned from pale to bright red. \u201cThat is a blatant lie, we have no more rats or vermin than anyone else in the village. I do have traps down but\u2026 well go and look around, we keep it clean, the hay is always fresh\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou do keep it clean Charlie,\u201d Bettie defended her friend, \u201cI come here, to the caf\u00e9, and its always clean. It has five stars doesn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, it does, thank you Bettie for reminding me.\u201d<\/p>\n

PCSCO Manning intervened just as a police car and van appeared on the scene.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight, if you could remain here please with Charlie, everyone else, you need to leave.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cBut who is the body in the barn?\u201d Bettie asked as they climbed into Stephanie\u2019s Fiesta.<\/p>\n

\u201cExcuse me,\u201d said a voice behind Stephanie.<\/p>\n

Stephanie turned, hand on her car door, to find the young reporter standing there.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was wondering if you had any thoughts about solving this case.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stephanie paused before answering, \u201cI think it\u2019s not a difficult case to solve.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cReally?\u201d He looked at her expectantly.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe it was a tragic accident.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you know who the body in the barn was?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNot for certain.\u201d She looked at the young reporter, who was keen for his big break. \u201cI don\u2019t think you\u2019ll have to go far to find out who he is.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In the car,  they discussed it further.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho do you think the body is?\u201d Barbara asked Stephanie.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know for certain, but I bet he\u2019s the complaining neighbour. Did you notice that the ladder wasn\u2019t leaning against the ledge but away from it? I think he climbed up to get at the animal feed, the ladder probably slipped or possibly the alpaca moved against it causing him to fall.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHow do you know he fell?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a shaky pen mark down the wall and a muddy footprint halfway up the ladder. I\u2019m guessing that as the ladder slipped, his pen scraped the wall and he fell probably pulling the heavy bag of food down with him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Barbara looked at her daughter in surprise as Grandma Bettie said, \u201cShe\u2019s like Sherlock Holmes, but the female version\u2026Shirley Holmes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it still doesn\u2019t explain why.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe probably wanted to make sure there was some damning evidence for the inspector to find. There were some green pellets in his hand that looked like rat poison. The neighbour did complain about rats in his garden. I bet the police won\u2019t have to look for to find rat poison at his place and if there\u2019s one thing that would close down Charlie\u2019s farm and the pet shop in a jiffy, it would be the use of poison near animal food,\u201d Stephanie concluded.<\/p>\n

\u201cUrgh, I think I\u2019ll leave it for a while before I go back there again,\u201d Barbara winced.<\/p>\n

\u201cRat poison! That\u2019s awful, the poor animals could have eaten them. Well, I\u2019ll be there as soon as they open up,\u201d Bettie said firmly. \u201cCharlie and his family need us even more now. I\u2019m sure whatever they find, he\u2019ll clean it up and they\u2019ll be back to normal in no time.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When they parked at Stephanie\u2019s parent\u2019s house, Barbara turned to Stephanie and sighed disapprovingly, \u201cI hope you don\u2019t go round looking for trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stephanie tried not to laugh at her mum\u2019s reaction.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat do you mean mum, it\u2019s not like it\u2019s a hobby of mine!\u201d<\/p>\n

They climbed out of the car and Stephanie couldn\u2019t help feeling slightly annoyed, as if it was her fault it had happened.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t look for bodies you know.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, I\u2019m just saying, be careful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stephanie rolled her eyes. \u201cYes mum. I am nearly thirty you know.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re never too old to listen to your mother.\u201d<\/p>\n

Barbara stopped before they entered the house to give her daughter a final warning.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd, whatever you do, don\u2019t tell your father.\u201d <\/p>\n

Stephanie rolled her eyes, sighed and walked in, remembering to take her shoes off on the mat.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Alpaca Incident is the latest short story from \u2018Hibaldton Mysteries.\u2019<\/p>\n

Stephanie takes her mum, grandma and grandma\u2019s boyfriend out to the local pet shop cafe. Unsurprisingly, things quickly go wrong and Stephanie finds herself, once more, meeting up with the local police and solving a mystery. It\u2019s becoming clear why some of the village residents are calling Stephanie the \u2018Angel of Death\u2019!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":69,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-68","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jlrobinsonauthor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jlrobinsonauthor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jlrobinsonauthor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jlrobinsonauthor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jlrobinsonauthor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=68"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/jlrobinsonauthor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jlrobinsonauthor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/69"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jlrobinsonauthor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=68"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jlrobinsonauthor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=68"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jlrobinsonauthor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=68"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}