I nodded. “Thanks for the heads-up.”
“No problem. Let me know if Brett gives you a hard time. I’ll keep an ear out just in case.”
“Thanks, Casey,” I said with a smile, and he nodded as he made his way back into his house.
I left and made my way towards the house Casey had directed me to. The exterior had been painted white with gray trimming that gave the whole place a nice, modern look. A fancy sports car out the front was obviously his pride and joy. I made my way up to the front door and knocked, not knowing exactly what to expect.
The man who answered the door was one hundred percent the man who had been destroying the beavers’ dam and lodge. As soon as I saw him, I knew. He had the same frame, the same dark hair, and the same way of moving.
“Yes?” he asked, his face a mixture of idle curiosity and light annoyance.
“Hi, I’m Angela Wilson, the local vet in town. I’m wondering if you have a few minutes to chat.”
“What about? I don’t have any pets,” the man said, crossing his arms.
“It’s actually about the beavers that live downstream from the creek that runs behind your house,” I said.
“Is the city finally going to get rid of those pieces of crap? Good. Let them go mess up someone else’s property.”
“Actually,” I said, “I was hoping that we could somehow come to an agreement that would result in you and the beavers being able to live peacefully together.”
“Not a chance in hell, lady. Thanks to them, the creek behind my place is flooding, and it’s messing with my lawn. I want them gone, and I don’t care what it takes.”
“Would it be alright if I come have a look?” I asked, and the man looked like he wanted to say no for a minute. Then, he changed his mind.
“Sure, let me just grab a jacket,” he said, reaching to the side and grabbing a small coat. He threw it on and came out the front with me and led me around the side of the house, through a large gate, and into the backyard.
The backyard was immaculately taken care of. The lawn was obviously healthy, and a shed along the other side of the yard was full of gardening equipment. Along the house were multiple flower and vegetable beds, and I imagined this man must live pretty well during the summer when they bore fruit.
“This is a really nice yard,” I commented, and for the first time, the man smiled.
“Thanks,” he said. “If only those bloody beavers weren’t ruining it for me.”
“Can you show me where it’s flooding?” I asked. He nodded briskly and led me towards the creek at the far end of the backyard. To be totally honest, when I saw it, I had no idea what the problem was. Sure, the water level had risen a bit, and I could see about a foot of manicured grass underneath the water, but that was it. As far as I could tell, there was nothing here to actually be angry about.
“That’s what’s been going on,” the man said. “Their stupid dam is flooding onto my yard, and I need it to stop.”
“I’m sorry for being dense,” I said cautiously, “but it looks to me as though the flooding is really quite minimal.”
“Yes, but the point is, it’s my land. Those stupid beavers have no right to block up the flow of water and have the creek level rise onto my property.”
Oh boy. This was definitely not going to be easy.
“Don’t you think the beavers have a right to live as well? Without the dam, they can’t get the water level high enough for their lodge, and it leaves them vulnerable to attacks from predators like coyotes.”
“Good—the sooner the coyotes get at them, the better. As far as I’m concerned, the beavers have no right to anything. They didn’t pay for the land that their lodge is sitting on like I did, and their actions are coming onto my property.”
“How about this? Why don’t I pay you for the portion of your property that’s covered by the extra water brought on by the beavers’ dam existing?” I offered. If all it took to end this dispute was me paying a little bit of money to allow the beavers to live comfortably where they wanted to, I was fully willing and able to do that. This guy might’ve been a bit crazy, but I really just wanted this fight to be over.
“Absolutely not,” the man said, crossing his arms. “I bought this house because of the property backing up onto the creek, and that’s that. Why do you care about the stupid beavers anyway?”
“I care about them because, like us, they’re animals just trying to do their best in this world. There is no reason to destroy their home just because it made the water creep up onto your property by an extra foot.”
“Spoken like somebody who isn’t inconvenienced by it herself,” the man said. “Now, I think I’ve shown you enough. I want you to leave now.”
Not wanting to cause a scene, I headed back towards the gate and the road. As the man headed back towards the front of his house, I stopped. “I do implore you to please just let the beavers be,” I called out after him.
“Not until they stop ruining my land,” the man shouted after me. I let out a sigh. This had definitely not gone nearly as well as I had hoped.
Chapter 16
That afternoon I only had a couple of patients, which were relatively painless to deal with. Just a couple of checkups of happy and healthy animals.
My mind was still preoccupied with the beaver problem. Beavers were important in Oregon, and they were actually somewhat protected by the law. If they caused significant issues, it was possible to trap and relocate them—some beavers had chosen unfortunate locations that led to houses being fully flooded by their dams—but that was definitely not the case here. This was a case of a man being angry that the size of his already large backyard had been reduced by a single foot, and he seemingly wasn’t willing to make any concessions.
By the end of the day, I knew what I was going to do.
In Oregon, the beaver was actually an important and celebrated animal. They were not only the official state animal, but in 1849, when the Oregon territory defied the federal government and created its own mint, the coins created by Oregon had featured a beaver on them. To this day, the state of Oregon still has a beaver on the state flag.
I was very aware that at the moment the US Wildlife Services was in the midst of a legal battle with a number of environmental protection groups when it came to what had to be done about beavers. However, I also knew someone at the Wildlife Services that I thought could help.
I gave her a call, and a few minutes later, I had a solution to my problem. One that was going to make everybody happy, I hoped.
I had received a text from Jason telling me that he was going to attend the local council meeting that night and asking me not to wait up for him. Sophie decided to come over for dinner once more, and as the two of us ate leftover pasta with some wine, we began to complain about just how hard it really was to solve this crime.
“I just don’t know where we can go from here,” I said, taking a big gulp of Chardonnay.
“I totally hear you,” Sophie said. “I spent half the day today when I was in the back trying to think about what we have to be missing, and I can’t think of anything.”
“I did speak to Betty at lunch,” I said. “She told me a lot about Francis as a boy, but I don’t think it’s anything that we can use, and she had definitely never heard the name Michael Carlton before he was killed.”
“Well, personally, I’m extremely disappointed in the both of you,” Bee said from her spot on top of the couch. “Buster is the world’s most important cat—well, next to me, of course—and I take your inability to find the person who attacked him as an immense failure in both your personalities.”
“Thanks for your input, Bee,” I said, giving my cat a sly glance. “I haven’t seen you throw out any miraculous suggestions.”
“Unlike you, I realize that my position as a cat means that detective work isn’t in the cards for me. My role is that of a motivator.”