Page 18 of Pumpkin Patch Peril
“You have the equipment to move something as heavy as a five hundred pound pumpkin?” Ruth pressed.
“Of course I do. Any farmer would. But why would I steal Brenda’s pumpkin?” Tom’s voice was getting defensive again. “And honestly? Even if I wanted to get back at her for the contamination, I wouldn’t touch anything that’s been doused in pesticides. The whole point of organic farming is avoiding that poison.”
“That’s true,” Ivy nodded emphatically. “Tom won’t even handle conventionally grown produce when we’re shopping. He says you never know what chemicals might transfer to your skin.”
“Plus,” Tom continued, “where would I put a giant pumpkin? You can’t exactly hide something that size. My customers would notice a five hundred and twenty pound pumpkin sitting around, and they’d start asking questions.”
This stopped the conversation cold. The four ladies looked at each other as the implications of Tom’s words sank in.
“That’s... actually a very good point,” Mona said slowly. “Where would someone put a stolen pumpkin that size?”
“Not in a barn,” Ruth said thoughtfully. “Too obvious.”
“Not in a house,” Helen added. “Too big.”
“You’d need somewhere secure but not too visible,” Ida mused. “Somewhere the thief could access it easily, but others couldn’t stumble across it.”
Tom was watching this exchange with growing interest. “You ladies really don’t know where this pumpkin is, do you?”
“That’s what we’re trying to figure out,” Mona admitted.
“Well,” Tom said, “whoever took it either has a very specific plan for it, or they’re stuck with a five hundred and twenty pound problem they can’t solve.”
“What do you mean?” Helen asked.
“Think about it,” Tom said, warming to the subject despite his earlier hostility. “A pumpkin that size isn’t like stealing a bicycle. You can’t just ride it away and forget about it. It needs to be kept cool and dry, or it’ll start rotting. It’s too heavy to move without equipment. And it’s so distinctive that you can’t exactly take it to market and sell it.”
Ivy nodded in agreement.
“So what would someone do with it?” Mona asked, genuinely curious now.
Tom shrugged. “If it were me—and it’s not—I’d say whoever took it either destroyed it to keep Brenda from competing, or they’re planning to return it at the last minute to create some kind of chaos at the festival.”
As they prepared to leave, Tom followed them toward the parking area.
“Look,” he said, “I know I seem like an obvious suspect because of my problems with Brenda’s farming practices. But stealing her pumpkin wouldn’t solve anything. The contamination would still be there, and I’d be facing criminal charges on top of it.”
“Where were you Sunday night?” Ruth asked directly.
“Here with Ivy. We watched a movie and went to bed early. I had to be up at five Monday morning to harvest lettuce for the Tuesday market.”
“Anyone who can verify that?” Mona pressed.
Tom and Ivy looked at each other. “Just each other,” Ivy said apologetically. “We don’t really have neighbors close enough to notice our lights or anything.”
As they drove away from the farm stand, the four ladies sat in thoughtful silence for several minutes.
“Well,” Ruth said finally, “he makes some good points about the logistics of pumpkin theft.”
“And about where someone would hide a pumpkin that size,” Helen added. “It’s not exactly easy to conceal.”
“I believe him about not wanting to touch anything covered in pesticides,” Ida said. “He seemed genuinely disgusted by the idea.”
“But he also has the strongest motive,” Mona pointed out. “Years of contamination problems, legal battles over organic certification...”
“True,” Ruth agreed. “Though his wife seems genuinely convinced he wouldn’t do it.”
“The question is,” Mona said slowly, “if Tom Knowles didn’t take the pumpkin, and Gertrude Hartwell doesn’t need to take it because she’s got a bigger one, then who did? And more importantly—where is it?”
