Burton was bristling with excitement.

He had just completed the mission of a lifetime. Dolly Strickland had gone off in a huff. Tansy was gazing up at him in adoration. The next best thing to sharing his adventure with her, would be telling her all about it.

He approached the table where his friends and family sat, and walked them through the unlikely events of his adventure.

“I overheard something that Dolly said on a phone call to Bud Peterson yesterday afternoon,” he began. “What she told him made it sound like she had accomplished a goal by making you agree to sell the farm.”

“When did you overhear that?” Tansy asked.

“What do you mean accomplished her goal?” Sage asked.

Burton chose to answer Sage’s question. Tansy’s would force him to admit to his special gift in front of everyone. Something Dr. Bhimani had cautioned him repeatedly he must not do.

“I wasn’t sure what she meant,” Burton said. “But I figured it had something to do with the bees.”

“Bud didn’t report his bees stolen,” Sage murmured, as if she were putting something together.

“But we already searched the Petersons’ barn,” Tansy said.

“True,” Burton said. “But it was possible the bees were hidden somewhere else. I remembered seeing Gretchen’s truck in town, so I thought I would go to her work and see if I could get any information from her.”

“Good thinking,” Riggs said.

“I do not have a car driving license, so I decided to ride Peanut Butter,” Burton said. “I have never ridden a horse before either, but he was most cooperative.”

He took a moment to stroke the velvety nose of his companion.

Peanut Butter replied with a gentle nuzzle.

“I realized when I arrived in town that horses do not fit in people doors,” Burton went on. “At least, not the door to the restaurant where Gretchen works. I was standing outside, trying to decide what to do, when a man came out of the restaurant in a hurry. The air he displaced had a familiar scent. It was the same as the smell from the vape pen we found at the scene of the crime.”

“You recognized that smell?” Tansy asked, sounding impressed.

“Yes, it was easy because— because it was a distinctive scent, didn’t you think?”

Burton scolded himself inwardly. In his excitement he had barely stopped himself before admitting that he had recognized the scent because he had smelled it through Cleo’s sensitive snout.

Tansy shrugged.

“I tapped the man on the shoulder, suspecting he might be the culprit we’d been searching for,” Burton said. “He turned to me. He looked very surprised.”

“I looked surprised because I knew what you were,” the man beside him said. “My name is Earl Road,” he told the others. “I’m a friend to Dr. Bhimani and her family.”

He looked around the gathering, seeming suddenly nervous.

“It’s okay,” Arden told him. “You’re among friends. Everyone here knows.”

“Great,” Earl said, looking visibly relieved. “So obviously, a man of your… build and bone structure,” he said, turning to Burton. “I knew it was a possibility that you were from Aerie. That was why I told you not to speak until we reached the town square. I didn’t want anyone else to see us talking.”

“The town square is most secluded,” Burton observed.

“Well, no one really hangs out there now that the grocer’s has the big patio with the picnic tables and the open air market opened up off Jupiter,” Earl said. “Plus they’ve let the shrubbery grow too tall around the square.”

“Yes, Peanut Butter found the shrubbery delicious,” Burton agreed.

“Anyway,” Earl said. “He told me that you all were missing your bees. And he asked if I might know anything about that.”

“And he did,” Burton said, still wondering over the fantastic good fortune of having bumped into Earl when he did.

“I was only in town to talk to Gretchen myself,” Earl said. “I knew something fishy was going on, I just didn’t know what. See, I used to hang out a lot with Gretchen and her friend, Otis.”

Earl removed his cap and looked down at the ground.

“There’s not a lot to do around Stargazer for young people, and the three of us weren’t always do-gooder types,” Earl said. “Not that it’s an excuse. There isn’t one. We got up to a lot of mischief at the expense of a lot of good people. I’ve been trying to turn that around ever since I met your people,” he told Burton. “At any rate, I think Otis is beginning to see that he ought to use his energy for something more constructive too. He came to me last night. And he brought a lemon chiffon pie, two types of chocolate chip cookies and a pan of homemade baklava.”

He gave them all a significant look.

“Oh hell,” he said. “I forgot you don’t know Otis. The thing about Otis is that when he’s upset, he bakes.”

There was a murmur of understanding among the group.

“Anyway, he paced around my living room talking about wanting to better himself and do the right thing. I just knew he was feeling guilty about something,” Earl said. “But he wouldn’t tell me what it was. I suspected it was because he knew if he came clean Gretchen would get in trouble too, and he’s been in love with her since the fourth grade. I went to see Gretchen today to find out what she was up to, and to ask her to get her claws out of him.”

“Did she tell you what they had done?” Drago asked.

“She did not,” Earl replied. “But Otis did.”

“Earl took me to Otis’s house,” Burton said.

“When we got there and I explained, Otis confessed to everything right away,” Earl said. “He explained how Gretchen’s dad had offered them five hundred dollars to steal your bees.”

“And when he finished explaining and saying he was sorry, many, many times, he took us right to the bees,” Burton said.

“They weren’t on his land either,” Earl said. “He had put them next door, in his pastor’s barn. Man, you should’ve heard how bad he felt about that.”

“He was most dreadfully sorry,” Burton said, feeling a bit upset himself just thinking about the big man’s self-remonstrations.

“We invited him here to come apologize to you himself, but he was too ashamed,” Earl said. “But, oh, hang on a minute.”

They all watched as he jogged back to his truck and came back with a milk crate.

“Here you go,” Earl said, swinging the crate onto the picnic table. “He wanted you to have these.”

Sage let out a low whistle.

“That’s a lot of baked goods,” Tansy said appreciatively.

“Well, he feels real bad,” Earl said. “I really don’t think he ever would have done something like this if Gretchen hadn’t put him up to it.”

“Well, we’re lucky he did,” Tansy said crisply. “Because if she’d chosen a different partner, we never would have gotten the bees back.”

Earl grinned at her sunnily.

She grinned back.

When Burton took her hand and squeezed it, she squeezed back and didn’t let go.