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others won't get into trouble . . . I'll let you off with a warning, is all."
    Chad shook his head vehemently. "It's not a prank, Sheriff, honest to God. Someone or something really has taken Beau this time."
    Well, thought Lou, if Chad was messing with her, he was putting on a good act. He seemed genuine by the look on his face. Her head began to throb again. She felt a little queasy at the prospect of finding a mauled, possibly half-eaten Beau in a bear dig. She instinctively put her hand to her sensitive stomach in an attempt to quell her urge to puke. She sniffed. The musky animal spray didn't help matters.
    She sighed and shook her head. She knew when she first took this job that there would be a distinct possibility of gruesome scenes where hunters had shot each other by mistake or got mauled by a bear, but thankfully, up until now she'd had it easy. Nothing much ever happened in Big Beaver, and that was fine with Sheriff Lou.
    Sure, her town had its fair share of trouble, especially Saturday nights when the locals would get rowdy with tourists. But a few knocks and bruises was all that amounted to. And there was the occasional breaking and entry, car thefts by drunken teenagers, family squabbles that ended in makeup tears, juvenile trouble and last, but not least, the practical jokers-but no major crimes. Lou was kinda proud of that.
    Her town was a nice amiable place to live in or to just take a vacation in. Some people in town still kept their doors unlocked at night. Her town was a good place to raise kids. It was a place where tourists came by the bus load to do some sightseeing, get a glimpse of Bigfoot, or do some hunting and fishing.
    Sheriff Lou heard the approach of a vehicle's engine not far away. It was the sound of a four-wheel jeep. Who could it be? It sounded like MB's Cherokee.
Could be wrong though
, thought Lou. If so, the last thing she needed was someone coming to Little Beaver for a nice picnic only to find Beau's dismembered body. What would that say about her town?
    She knew she'd better go and see who'd arrived. If it was just someone out for a picnic she didn't want them trampling about the place, messing up the crime scene, if there
was
a crime scene. She heard the vehicle's engine stop and a door slam shut.
    "You think maybe some axe-wielding nut's got him?" Chad asked excitedly. "Maybe we'll find Beau's head stuck on a branch . . . that would be awesome."
    Lou didn't reply. She gave Chad a quick, disparaging look then turned to leave and headed for the clearing.
    Chad looked around at the vast forest with a hint of fear. He quickly followed after the sheriff.

7
    AS DUANE SIPPED HIS COFFEE at Annie's Diner, it suddenly dawned on him in a rare moment of clarity what he had forgotten he had to do in town that day. That's it—he had to go to the salon for a trim. He finished off his coffee as quickly as possible before he forgot the trim. He rushed up to the counter and slipped a ten dollar bill between Annie's enormous breasts.
    Annie waved Duane goodbye as he exited the diner.
    He sauntered off down the main street to his left as if he had all the time in the world, passing Bert's Sporting Goods, Gerry's Hardware Store, The Busy Beaverite office and Sally's Sew What Shop.
    Duane came to a stop outside Colette's Head Job. For some unknown reason, he looked back the way he came at the sheriff's department next to Annie's Diner.
    He noticed that Lou's patrol car was missing from its allocated spot.
What could she be up to?
He scratched his butt as he thought. Nothing came to mind.
    Duane peered through the window of the salon. He could make out Colette, the glamorous salon owner, and her spiky, purple-haired young female assistant tending to two early forty-something women undergoing various stages of hair treatment.
    The women being tended to were very familiar to Duane and he knew each one of them enjoyed a good gossip. He shrugged his shoulders and thought—
so what if it'll give them