BROWN FROM THE SUN

The Cabbage and the Missing Husband

April 6, 1938

The cabbage flew in a smooth arc and landed squarely on Browns' desk.

A female voice said, "It's Bert. He's gone, and he took the cabbage plans
with him."

C. Tanner Brown, owner of the Sun Detective Agency stared at the lady with
the missing Bert and the cabbage.

Hermoine Babbitt looked like she had, at one time, been a foot taller; but
someone put a heavy weight on her head and squashed her. Not much over five
feet and almost 200 pounds with stringy hair and legs that looked like white
inner tubes, Hermoine didn't present the image of a woman who could keep a
'Bert' around, much less lose one.

"Bert and me been together now these 15 years. We run the Acme Fruit and
Vegetable stand on the road to Oxnard. We grow this cabbage. It was going to
make us rich, it was. Grew twice as big as a regular one. I got up yesterday
morning and the cabbages was tore out of the ground and all of the seeds was
missing as was the germination records and the plans for the special
greenhouse."

"Tell me what happened before he left."

Before she could start, someone knocked on the door and let themselves in.
Gary Greely was as different from Hermoine as apples and hair tonic. He was
skinny, about 20 and had pimples. Brown decided he liked Hermoine better.

"Mr. Brown, this is Greely, my foreman. He was there when Bert took off. He
can tell you all about it."

Greely brought up a chair and sat on the very edge of the wooden seat. He
spoke fast with pauses between groups of words as if his mouth went faster
than his brain, and he had to wait for it to catch up.

"I don't know why he did it. No, maybe I do. He had been a dirt farmer all
his life. He told me he put all of his sweat and most of his soul into the
ground of California. That morning, we decided that the cabbage, he was
going to call it the Babbitt Best-Grow, was a success."

Brown made notes on a yellow legal pad. "What time was this?"

"About 8:30 in the morning. It was the first day we could pick the cabbage.
It had to be big enough to show. Now we can sell it to the agriculture
industry and get rich. Well, we could if we still had it."

"Mrs. Babbitt, how did you and your husband get along."

"Oh heavens, we did alright. We got two kids, but it wasn't what you'd call
lovey-dovey. I'd like him back though. He was nice to me, and he loves our
kids."

Brown turned back to Greely. "Did anything else happen, Mr. Greely."

"Not much more. Bert told me that he was going to go out to the other fields
to work. He went to wash his hands, got on the tractor and left. I went down
to Mills Corners to buy some fertilizer. When I got back an hour later, Bert
and the cabbage and the records were gone. That's all I know."

"Where do your children live, ma'am?"

"Jonah, the oldest runs a farm outside of Calexico, down near the border.
He's got a wife and five young'ns. Suzette, our baby, goes to school here in
Los Angeles. We're proud of her."

Brown got out of his chair and turned to the window. He looked out on La
Cienega Boulevard for a moment then turned around. "Mr. Greely, what have
you been doing since yesterday morning?"

Before the slight, young man could answer, Hermoine said, "Why, he's been as
important to me as my arm. He's gone with me to the neighbors and looked at
all of the bars Bert liked. We've been up all night."

"Mrs. Babbitt, your husband is in one of two places; one good, the other
bad. I have to tell you that Greely isn't the angel you think he is. He made
a mistake, and I'm surprised that you didn't catch it. I'm going to make a
phone call. It might tell us whether Bert's alive. If he is, I know where he
went. Greely, stay put."

Tanner made his phone call. Hermoine hit Greely so hard with a closed fist
that he went over backwards in his chair and stayed unconcious for an hour.

What was Greelys' mistake? If Bert were alive, where did he go and why? Why
did Tanner want to know where Greely had been since the disappearance? Who
did he phone?

Did you like 'Brown from the Sun'? Take a look at my novel, 'Dead Box'. It's
a classic locked room mystery. Go to www.lockedroom.com and take a look.

After you've thought about the questions in today's 'Brown from the Sun',
page down and look at the answers.













































Answer:

Greely said Bert washed his hands after he inspected the new cabbage and
before he went to the fields to work. Why would a lifelong farmer feel the
need to wash his hands before he went to work? Greely didn't like dirt and
he washed his hands often. In lying about Berts' actions, he told it as if
he had done it.

Greely either killed Bert or got him out of the way with another lie.
Luckily, he chose the lie, telling Bert that his son in Calexico was sick.
Bert got into his truck and drove straight through. Greely isolated him by
promising to tell Hermione and the other workers at the farm where he was
going and took all of the samples and records and hid them.

Tanner wanted to know if Greely had been given the chance to escape since
Bert left. Hermoine had kept him close for 26 straight hours.

Tanner telephoned the son in Calexico. Bert was there.

Greely got 5 years for attempted grand theft.

How did you do? Look for tomorrows column in this same newsgroup. Remember
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