Free Dead Broke in Jarrett Creek: A Samuel Craddock Mystery (Samuel Craddock Mysteries) by Terry Shames Page A

could, but last month I had to tell Rusty the town was going under.”
    “Some people think we should be charging Coldwater with a crime,” I say. “What do you think?”
    The road is rough, so she slows down. She glances over at me again. “We could probably make a case that he was negligent, but nobody has the heart for it. What good would it do? It’s not like Alton is rolling in money. Do you really want to see him go to jail?”
    “I guess not. But I want to know why Coldwater put the town’s money in such a cock-eyed idea as a water park.”
    She slows down and pulls over to the side of the road, then puts the car in idle. Turning to face me, she says, “That was my first question, but it’s pretty clear what happened. When tax revenues got so bad, he was looking for a way to make some money.”
    “Why did he think a water park would help? Seems to me it was a big gamble.”
    “The only thing I can think is that Alton was running scared and he ignored the risk because the possible returns seemed big enough to take care of our problems.”
    “Whose idea was it? And how did he persuade the city council to go along with it?”
    “I don’t really know. You’ll have to ask Alton.”
    “Can you tell me who handled the sale of the land?”
    “I did. I’ve got all the contracts back at the office, if you want to see them. Now let me look at this property so we can get on back. I’ve got an appointment in a little while.”
    She takes a hand-drawn map out of the side pocket of the door and studies it. “I think that’s the gate right there.” She points a hundred feet up the road and slowly pulls up to it. “We’ll see if the combination I have opens this lock.” She hops out before I can offer and within minutes she swings the gate open. When she drives through, I get out to close the gate, glad I don’t have to favor my knee like I used to.
    We drive down a rutted road. “Would you look at that!” She points to the right of the car. “These oil companies come in here like they own the whole world. They drill test wells and say they’re going to put in roads and clean up after themselves. And they leave a big mess.”
    I wouldn’t call it a big mess, but there is a pile of scrap metal and PVC pipe. And the road is not much of an improvement over bare ground.
    “What do you think of this acreage?” she says. She tells me it’s thirty acres that’s never been farmed or had cattle run on it.
    There are a lot of trees on the land, and it would take some clearing if somebody wanted to use it. “I don’t know why somebody would want it,” I say. “You sure wouldn’t be able to feed cattle on it. Goats, maybe. And it’s pretty far from town.”
    “My thinking exactly.” We get out and walk around. The soil around these parts has a lot of clay in it, not the best soil for farming. To put in any kind of crop at all, you’d have to haul rocks out and supplement the soil. After fifteen minutes she says she’s seen all she needs to see. “The old man who owned this died last year. I expect the son will be disappointed that it isn’t going to be worth as much as he thought.”
    “I thought there were going to be some homes put in out here. That could make it worth something.”
    “Could be.” She smiles. “Where’d you hear that?”
    “I couldn’t tell you. Are you holding out on the seller?”
    Now she laughs. “Everybody thinks we realtors have something up our sleeve. For ten years or more I’ve heard rumors that a development is going to be built out here, and nothing has come of it yet. It goes to show you, everybody’s always trying to make something out of nothing.”
    When we’re back in the car and on our way, I say, “I have one more question about the water park. It seems to me the state would have to okay something like that. Did you run across any information about permits or licenses?”
    She frowns. “I don’t remember anything like that, but I was going over the