Chaparral

De: William Behr Mueller

Narrado por: Virtual Voice

Angus Diggsworth, a gray-haired bronc rider, left the rodeo circuit when he’d won enough Lotto money to fulfill his dream of having a pony-rental business.

Sitting in his apartment with a fresh cup of coffee, he pored over a map of the foothills. The area around Jackson, Amador County, California looked like it might be the right spot. If there were available land outside the city of Chaparral it would be the first step in creating Angus’s business.

Next on his list of to-dos, Angus drove to the city of Chaparral. He met with Fred Kleinsdorf, a realtor, and agreed to buy a five-acre parcel north of the city. Angus said he thought that parcel would be perfect for Diggsworth Stables.

Kleinsdorf didn’t want to lose a sale, so he didn’t bring up the fact that Chaparral had a homeless man, Flippin Goggins, who’d set up a tent on Pine Street, not far from the city limits and Diggsworth’s five acres. And he could be the forerunner of more of his kind.

Kleinsdorf did tell Angus that the sheriff of Amador County was rabidly intolerant of the homeless and ordered his deputies to move them out of Jackson immediately.

Kleinsdorf said Chaparral was the local place for the homeless to go, by contrast, the Police Chief was a live and let live authority figure. Chief Williams’ attitude was accepted by Mayor Maddy McGuinness. In a lower tone, Kleinsdorf hoped that though Chaparral was the logical place for the removed homeless persons they would not find Chaparral a compatible place.

Mayor McGuinness not only did business with Kleinsdorf, but she also bought items from Old Stuff the antique store that Art and Deidre Banks owned. It was across Main Street from the city offices.

Angus would soon find out that aside from McGuinness’ main administrative problem: finding a solution to the homeless man and his tent before Chaparral was inundated with the unhoused; Among her other duties, Maddy waited eagerly for a French mantel clock she’d ordered from the Banks.

Meanwhile, James Bish, a representative of ACLU, surveyed the town and found there was a fifty-fifty split regarding the issue of the homeless man.

A second homeless man who’d been kicked out of Jackson by a deputy sheriff erected another tent next to Goggins’ tent. James Bish interviewed Alcebar Jones to find out whether he was the tip of the spear and whether there were more to come.

As events progressed, Flippin Goggins, the original tent man, was found dead, apparently a homicide according to the Medical Examiner.

Angus as well as the rest of Chaparral’s inhabitants waited for the Goggins’ murder to be solved.

Detective Oscar Brandt was assigned to find Goggins’ killer. He had few leads and little evidence. Brandt was finally forced to let the case go cold until a convergence of circumstances gave him hope for a solution.