Page 39 of Dairy and Deadly

Ashley knew without asking that “she” referred to Caro Madison. However, Monica’s father might’ve had another reason entirely, like a confidentiality clause in a contract to buy his silence on the matter. She steered the conversation back to the lawsuit. “Can we back up a second, please? I didn’t know your dad was a dairy farmer.” It was odd that Monica had failed to mention it before now.

“Oh, he wasn’t,” Monica affirmed hastily. “The cattle belonged to my grandfather, may he rest in peace. Dad inherited his farm a few years ago and didn’t have the heart to sell it. Emotional reasons,” she sighed. “He more or less incorporated it into the rest of his investment portfolio and kept it running. From a distance, of course. He wasn’t what you would call hands on when it came to manual labor.”

That was a lot of information. Ashley was going to need to update her case file right away. “So…” Back to the lawsuit. “What went wrong with the cooling process?”

“According to Daddy’s file? Everything!” Monica sounded distressed. “A new chemical was injected into the milk the moment it hit the express tube. Though it accelerated the cooling process like it was designed to do, the end product produced higher instances of bacteria. The company that manufactured the chemical claimed the process must have been contaminated by an outside source, pointing a finger at my father and the other farmers who volunteered for the experiment. However, Daddy provided documentation that the farm staff had followed the process to the letter. He claimed the new chemical was causing the uptick in contamination.”

“This is huge!” Ashley’s insides tightened over the implications. She needed to find out who the other farmers in the experiment were ASAP. This new development could change the whole direction of the case. Good gracious! This might be the smoking gun they’d been searching for.

“That was my first thought.” Monica’s demeanor seemed to deflate. “Unfortunately, Daddy died before the case was officially filed. No accuser. No case. You know how it goes.”

Ashley wasn’t so sure it was that cut and dried. All she needed to do was locate a live witness — before Caro snuffed the rest of them out. Her thoughts flew a mile a minute over a whole set of new possibilities. What if the case had never been about simply stealing wealth from aging men before “suiciding” them? What if someone had only been making it look that way to fund something even more sinister?

Milk contamination had been all over the news lately. The incidents of salmonella outbreaks had been steadily on the rise. Was there a connection between them and her case? What if she’d been thinking too small? What if her case was much bigger than she or Monica had previously assumed?

“I’m going to need a copy of that paperwork.” She glanced at the clock on her nightstand, knowing she needed to get back to the barn soon. Otherwise, she’d miss her ride to church.

“I’m emailing it to you right now.” There was a tapping sound in the background. “But you called me,” Monica reminded. “Is there anything new on your end?”

“I followed our target into town,” Ashley confided in a low voice. “I also managed to embed myself at a local dairy farm, making it a lot easier to perform surveillance on her and her associates.”

“Watch those precious cows,” Monica begged. “If you see hide or hair of any chemicals being injected into the cooling process?—”

“Then we’ll know it’s all connected.” Ashley was anxious to get cranking on the new lead. “I’ll be watching for your email.”

“Thanks for everything you’re doing.” Her client’s voice grew hushed. “It means the world to me. After the coroner’s suicide ruling, no one else was willing to give me the time of day.”

“We’re going to get your family the justice they deserve,” Ashley promised. She was lost in thought as she ended the call.

On her way back to the barn, Can Opener trotted alongside her like a faithful shadow. “You’re something else.” She reached down to stroke his soft, silky fur before opening the door for him.

He trotted inside, bounded into the rafters, and disappeared.

Clint reappeared, adjusting his Stetson as he gave her a lazy once-over. “You really didn’t have to change.”

She glanced down at her clean shirt and unzipped jacket. “I’m still in jeans, mister.”

“True, but now you smell better than me.” He limped toward the side exit. “You ready?”

She sent him a thumbs up and followed him to his truck. It was a classic Ford pickup with a new red paint job. “Thanks,” she murmured when he held open the door for her. She buckled her seatbelt and got settled in while he climbed behind the wheel. “Does the boss man attend the same church as you?”

“Yep, but he usually drives separately.” He revved the motor and rolled the truck forward. “Last week Caro arm-twisted him into picking her up. Something about her car being in the shop. Wouldn’t be surprised if that’s where he is now.”

Ashley nodded, still not understanding Caro’s interest in Johnny. Wasn’t she supposed to be courting Farmer Monty for all he was worth? “Question.” She changed the subject. “What can you tell me about the cooling process for raw milk at Johnny’s Dairy?”

He grunted in surprise. “How detailed would you like me to be?”

“Pretend like I don’t know anything.”Because I don’t.

“I can do that.” He launched into a complicated explanation about how milk flowed from the milking machines into something called a plate cooler. From there, the milk was transferred into a bulk holding tank where the cooler temperature was maintained.

It was a lot to wrap her brain around. “Do you inject it with any chemicals during the cooling process?”

“Nope. Why?”

She shrugged, adopting a droll voice. “I overheard someone talking aboutrapid coolingand immediately pictured them dropping chunks of dry ice into a huge, steaming vat.”

“Bad idea.” Clint drummed his thumbs on the steering wheel as he turned into a small paved parking lot. “The volume of carbon dioxide it would release in a closed container would cause an explosion.”

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