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Frederick Samson Jones had been a lawyer before becoming a District Court Judge. He enjoyed living in Grantville because he could be Fred Jones, just an ordinary guy. His low key profile allowed him to pick up information that he otherwise would not receive. It also kept his feet on the ground, kept his radar working. Like right now, when he was smelling a rat. He picked up his phone and asked for Senior Sergeant Mayhew at the Grantville station.
"Senior, it's Fred Jones here, District Court Judge."
"Good afternoon, Sir. I was about to phone you."
"About Gregory Somerville?"
"Yes, Your Honour."
"Is he a violent man, suppressing his anger until finally he can take no more?"
"No, Your Honour. He is controlled and thoughtful. He has put up with a great deal where a lesser man would erupt. Or top himself, Your Honour."
"Please call me Fred," said the Judge. "I don't actually know what I should call you even though we meet in Court. There you are Senior Sergeant Thomas George Henry Mayhew. What shall I call you when we chat or have a beer together?"
"I'm just Mayhew, or Senior. My first name is Tom but no-one calls me that. Except in Court. "
"I'll stick with Senior or Mayhew."
"Thank you, Sir. Fred. Greg Somerville is a peace maker. He has a way of calming people. Highly respected at the Rigby Club. Played hard, played fair. I have checked the reports. I'll be having a word with one of our men; there are some real clangers in the report. However, New Zealand is a small place, and our part of it is even smaller, so there may be good reason for the inaccuracies. Greg's boy climbed on top of the Anzac Memorial when he was tiny. The newspaper made a huge fuss about Greg allowing a special needs child out of his sight. Then there was a series of complaints about damage and vandalism. Fences cut, stock let out, water pipes cut so stock got thirsty so complaints to the SPCA.
"Wait for the clincher: my staff thought these acts were done by Somerville to embarrass his neighbour, Philip Zinsli, who had his eye on Somerville's wife.
"Now the firearms nonsense. The boy, Lance, managed to get his father's rifle and find the bolt and hunt out ammunition and put all three together. Not bad for an autistic kid, eh? Somerville agreed to relinquish his firearms in case the boy did it again. He kept his firearms certificate. There is no reason at all why he couldn't use or buy a rifle.
"Here's another clanger. Somerville complained that sixteen heifers had been shot in the paddock next to the pond. The same officer reported that in his opinion, Greg Somerville had shot the animals in order to get the insurance. With no rifle? Pull the other leg!"
"Who do you think was doing this?"
"Without a doubt, Zinsli. His wife disappeared mysteriously, leaving a couple of million in their joint bank account. We searched nationwide. Her personal bank account was never touched. We searched both farms and found nothing. Zinsli had two million of hers in the joint account, so there was nothing we could do to stop him spending it. That would give him the money to buy Somerville out. "
"So you think that Philip Zinsli was hassling Somerville to make him sell? Where does Somerville's wife fit in?"
"Lonely woman, worn out by farm work and a difficult kid, no female support, charming neighbour... you put the pieces together."
"Any evidence?"
"No. Not yet. I'll get another officer to go back over things. We kept the bullets from the heifers. They weren't insured, by the way. I want an officer to check Zinsli's firearms to see if there's a match with those bullets. If there is, we will have motivation, and a weapon."
"What about this Hopgood fellow? He's seemed sound enough when I've had dealings with him."
"Zinsli was a midnight butcher. He is legal now, built a proper abattoir, but he still drives about the place, delivering orders. We suspect but can't yet prove that Hopgood is using him to distribute drugs. The two of them go back a long way. We're going to set up a sting operation. This ruckus has got in the way. Diversion will make the arrogant prick think he's smarter than us."
Frederick Jones, District Court Judge hesitated to consider his position. "Senior, if you suspect foul play by Zinsli to steal her wealth, then you should check with Mrs Somerville's solicitor regarding her will."
"I did that personally, Sir. Her will leaves everything to her husband, Gregory Somerville or her son Lance should Gregory die with or before her. If they all die together, everything is left to her parents."
Sally stayed with Philip while awaiting the outcome of her claim for custody of Lance. In a stable relationship she had more chance of gaining custody than she would as a solo mother. She found Philip unexpectedly supportive. As her distrust grew, she wondered what his private agenda was.
Greg also did not trust Zinsli and told Sally she could have Lance if he could have him on the farm on a regular basis. To this, Philip objected strongly.
"That's neither fish nor flesh," he said. "You need full custody and Greg should be out of it except for a week once a year.. I don't want to be trotting across to Greg's farm all the time."
Sally could not see Philip's point because it was part of his hidden agenda to own both properties. Philip became angry and refused to discuss the matter. He made it very clear that Lance should be with Sally. When that happened, he could more easily have the boy taken into care, and thus upset Greg even more. It would also allow him to fake Sally's suicide if the worst came to the worst.
Sally got on Zinsli's nerves. She would sit and do nothing for hours, then tear about the place just when he needed some peace and quiet. The sex they shared had been more exciting when it was illicit, although he had to admit he no longer put his heart and soul into it now Sally was living with him.