Mac rode into the stable and put the horse away, and then he went to the house. "Jo, I'm home!" he called as he went into the house. He could not get used to the size of this old house. It was much too big for only two people but he supposed there would always be room for Ellie and Tyler when they came home and Jason too. He had not talked to Jason in a few days. He supposed he did not know about what happened yet.

Jo came down the stairs. "Well, what kind of trouble did you get into?" she asked.

"None," Mac said. "I did find the people who burned down our barn, and Stockwell is up to his neck in this."

"How did you find that out?"

"I was sitting in the shade out on the south forty and I just happened to overhear their conversation."

Jo folded her arms. "I just bet it was 'just happened'."

Mac smiled. "Well, I was on my own property and they came out over there talking and I just happened to hear them."

"Mac Taylor. Did they see you?" Jo rolled her eyes. "Never mind, I'm sure you wanted them to know you heard them."

"Of course. I've never been good at being sneaky."

"The direct approach."

"Yeah and you should have seen his face. I think the man could have fainted."

"What are you going to do now?"

"I'm going to tell the sheriff what I saw and heard."

"You wrote it down?"

"Of course. What kind of detective would I be if I didn't take notes?"

"Well, you always were the best."

"You going with me?"

"I've seen you in action."

Mac smiled. "You don't want to see me in action today?"

Jo put her arms around his neck. "The only action I want to see out of you is tonight when we get in bed."

"Okay, okay. I'll be back later."

Mac went out the door and headed down to the sheriff's office. He hoped that sheriff would believe him. However, James Stockwell seemed very confident that the sheriff would be on his side. How could he be on the side of someone who would burn someone's barn down? That would not be a very good sign of honesty.

Mac went into the sheriff's office but the sheriff was out at the time. "When will he be back?" Mac asked.

"I'm not sure," the deputy said. "Can I help you with something?"

"You know who I am, don't you? About my case?"

"I do. You're the one whose barn was burned down. Something wrong?"

"I have some evidence for my case."

"Evidence? What kind of evidence?"

"Are you authorized to work on this case?"

"No, but…" The deputy pointed across the room to a man sitting at a desk. "That's Detective Holmes. He is working on that. You can talk to him."

"Thanks. I will."

Mac went over to the detective's desk. "Detective Holmes?"

The man looked up at Mac. He had blue eyes and blond hair and when he stood up, Mac thought he must be at least 6'4". He shook Mac's hand. "Mister Taylor," he said. "What can I do for you?"

"I have some new evidence for you," Mac said.

"Have a seat."

Mac sat down and laid his notepad on the desk. "I was out on the back stretch of my property and I happened to overhear some conversations," he said.

"Really?"

"Yes. They were very interesting."

"I'll bet. Would it happened to be that James Stockwell was in on this conversation?"

"He was involved in one of them."

Detective Holmes took out a report sheet. "Where were you when you heard this?" he asked.

"I was sitting beside a tree on my property. I had been riding a horse and I decided to sit in the shade a while."

"Uh huh. And where was this tree?"

"Like I said, it was on my property. Stockwell has a fence around his so it's easy to see where the line is."

"And I'm sure you were at least a foot on the other side of that fence?"

"Absolutely. Just for good measure, I was about two feet on the other side."

Detective Holmes shook his head. "You must have been something in New York," he remarked as he wrote down Mac's comments.

"I put a lot of people in prison."

"You made notes about the conversation?"

"I did, and I wrote descriptions of the men who were pointed out as responsible for burning down my barn. I heard the names Barry and Steve. I don't know if these two were them or not, but they are the ones that Stockwell was talking to about burning down the barn."

Detective Holmes read over Mac's notes. "So, Stockwell didn't actually tell them to burn down the barn," he said. "He'll definitely use that in court."

"I'm sure he will but he did tell them to 'rough me up a little'," Mac replied.

"I'm going to make a copy of these notes."

Holmes made a copy of everything Mac had written and gave him back his notepad. "I still have to write it all in a report and I need you to write out a statement."

"I'll be glad to."

"I have a feeling that this will be the most detailed statement that I have ever read."

Mac smiled. "You can count on it."

Holmes gave Mac a yellow notepad and he began writing. He wanted to make sure he did not leave anything out. As Mac was writing, he heard someone come in the door. "Detective Holmes, I'll see you in my office," Sheriff Duncan said sternly.

Mac looked around to see the sheriff standing behind the counter. "I'm taking some statements from Mister Taylor," Holmes said.

"I don't care what you're doing. I want to see you in my office."

Holmes looked at Mac. "I'll be right back," he said.

Mac did not say anything but started writing again and then he noticed that James Stockwell came into the station. "There's that trespasser!" he said pointing to Mac. "I want him arrested for trespassing."

Mac stood up. "I was not on your property," he said.

"Your word against mine, and I think mine has a lot more reach than yours."

Mac glared at him. "Your word doesn't mean spit to me!" He sat back down. "I'm busy."

Stockwell was angry now. "You just settle down there," the deputy at the front desk said. "You'll get to make your statement but you're going to do it in a lawful manner."

Mac tried not to smile. He knew Stockwell thought he should be able to walk all over anyone he wanted. He had to concentrate on his report he was writing and he wondered what that sheriff was talking to Detective Holmes about. He thought it must have something to do with this situation. Mac also knew that if the sheriff tried to stand in the way of this investigation, he would find someone else, like the attorney general to help.

Soon, the sheriff and Detective Holmes came back out into the precinct. Holmes did not look at all happy. He walked over and sat down at his desk where Mac was still writing. "There's no need for you to keep writing that," Holmes said.

"Why?" Mac asked.

"Because Stockwell over there claims that you were sneaking around his property."

"I wasn't. I can show you where I was sitting if you want to go and see."

Holmes looked at Mac a moment. "The sheriff is going to stand in the way of this," he said.

"There are people above him," Mac replied. "And whoever did this to my wife and I is going to pay."

"Well, why don't we just take a ride out to your place when we're done here?"

"I'll be glad to."

"Good."

Holmes continued writing even though he knew the sheriff wanted him to disregard what Mac had told him. He knew Mac was telling the truth. He also knew what a blowhard Stockwell was and he was tired of the man holding his money and authority over the heads of everyone in town. He would like to take the man down a notch or two.

Mac finished his very detailed statement and Holmes made more than one copy in case one of them mysteriously disappeared, and he also gave Mac a copy to keep for himself. "Okay, let's go," Holmes said.

They went out and got into their cars while Stockwell watched them from inside the precinct. Mac went back to his house and Detective Holmes followed. Jo came out when they arrived. "Jo, this is Detective Holmes," Mac said. "He's working on our case."

Jo shook the man's hand. "So, what do you know?" she asked.

"I know what your husband has told me," Holmes said. "I want to get proof."

"How?"

"We'll figure that out."

Mac and Detective Holmes went out to the stable where the horses were and Mac saddled two of them. Then they were off. Mac led him out to the place where he had been sitting. "I was sitting here when I heard the two talking over here while they shoed horses and cut wood, and then I moved over to this tree when I was listening to Stockwell and his two goons," Mac said.

Holmes could clearly see where Mac had been sitting and where he had been walking out there. "And you didn't go across this fence," he said.

"Absolutely not," Mac replied. "You know I was a detective for a lot of years and I know what I can do and what I can't."

Holmes nodded. "Yes I know it but we're up against some powerful people."

"I've taken down people who thought they were above the law before," Mac said. "They don't come down easy but their pedestal can fall just like anyone else's."

"You're right but their pedestal is a lot bigger and is usually made of a lot stronger material."

"Money."

"You got it."

Holmes took pictures of where Mac had been. "Hey, I think I'm going over there for a visit," he said.

"You want me to go with you?" Mac asked.

"Sure. Why not? That way they can't say they don't know who I'm talking about."

Mac smiled and mounted his horse. They rode over to Stockwell's house, and as they came into the yard, two men came out and they had guns on their sides. "Just what are you doing over here?" one of them asked.

"I'm Detective Holmes. I want to talk to you."

"I don't have nothing to say to you." The man looked at Mac. "And he shouldn't be here. He's trespassing."

"He's with me. I just want to know if you saw this man on this property today."

"Why would we have seen him? He's not welcome here."

"So he hasn't been here today?"

"No."

Holmes nodded as he wrote that down. "He was over there in those trees eavesdropping earlier," the man said.

"Is that so?" Holmes asked.

"Yeah, it's so."

"You wouldn't know anything about that barn over there being burned down, would you?"

"I don't know nothing about it."

Holmes looked at the other man. "What about you?" he asked.

"I don't know nothing either," he said.

"You agree with him that Mister Taylor here was over there in the bushes?"

"Yeah. He was."

"Thanks. We'll be seeing you. Oh, and what were your names?"

"Barry," the first man said. "Barry Nevins. And this is Steve Patterson."

Holmes wrote that down. "Thanks."

Mac and Holmes rode away on their horses. "Are those the two men who were talking to Stockwell?" Holmes asked.

"Yep," Mac said. "Obviously Stockwell didn't inform them of his plan."

"Obviously. Now, their word is going to be against his."

"They are the ones who burned down my barn. I'm sure of it."

"We have to find out who these two are and how long they've been around here. I want to know if he just hired them for this or if they have been working for him a long time."

"That might tell a good story."

"Sure might."

Mac was glad they were getting somewhere. He could feel the excitement running through his veins. He belonged in detective work. He knew Jo might not like it but he also knew she would not stand in his way if he wanted to take a job.