Mac and Jo arrived at one of the shipping warehouses where the mushrooms in question were imported. There were a lot of trucks around and forklifts, palates, crates and people, and even a train waiting to be loaded. Mac parked in front of one of the buildings. "So, where do we find someone to talk to out here?" Jo asked.
"I suppose we look for anybody we can find," Mac replied.
They walked around the building that they were parked in front of and finally found someone with a white hardhat on. "Hey, what are you doing out here?" he asked. "You're not supposed to be out here without a hardhat on."
Mac showed him his badge. "We need to talk to someone about a case we're working on," he said.
"You still need a hardhat on."
"Can't we talk to someone who takes care of distribution?"
The man pointed to another building a few feet away. "You need to talk to someone in the office," he said.
"Thanks."
Mac and Jo walked over to the next building and found a door that had the word OFFICE on it. They went inside and found an office that smelled a lot like vanilla. There was a secretary at the desk and a man standing looking at a file. He looked at Mac and Jo. "Can I help you?" he asked.
Mac showed him his badge. "Are you in charge here?" he asked.
"Pretty much. I'm Pete Comer. What's the problem?"
"I'm Detective Taylor and this is Detective Danville. We're investigating a murder. I understand that you import black truffles from France?"
"Yes, among other things. What has that got to do with anything?"
"Our murder victim was a restaurant owner." Mac showed him a picture of the victim. "You ever seen this man?"
"No, but we don't sell directly to restaurants. We sell to distributors and they sell to the restaurants."
"Are the mushrooms you sell authentic?"
"As far as I know."
"I need a sample."
Comer stared at him a moment. "You're serious," he said.
"Do I look serious?" Mac asked. "I wouldn't come all the way out here for nothing."
Comer frowned. "Well, if you're going out into the warehouses, you have to wear a hardhat," he said. "Most of the time when we get some of those mushrooms in, they're taken right away because they're fragile and they're also very expensive."
"So we've heard."
They went outside and Comer gave Mac and Jo a hardhat each. "We'll have to ride on one of the transport vehicles here," Comer said. "We have to go all the way to the other side of the yard."
Mac and Jo climbed into the jeep behind Comer. The distribution yard was quite large. They soon arrived at the right warehouse. "It's cold in here," Comer said. "This place has to be refrigerated for the food that's inside."
Jo folded her arms. She was not dressed to go into a refrigerator. "Don't worry," Comer said. "We have jackets to put on."
They went inside and got a jacket before they went into the refrigerated area. The noise of the refrigeration units was loud on the inside. Mac could not help but remember being locked in that freezer, but at least this was not that cold. Comer had a clipboard with him and he went right to the area where the mushrooms were kept. There were only two crates in the area and they were not very large. Comer got a crowbar and prized the top off one of the crates. Mac put on a pair of gloves and picked up one of the small bags of mushrooms. It looked like it was full of dirt. "You keep them in the dirt?" he asked.
"They're better preserved if they're in the dirt," Comer said. "They can be washed when they get where they're going."
Mac nodded. He supposed that made sense. He took a sample of the mushrooms from the bag as well as a sample of the dirt. "Are these the only ones you have here?" he asked.
"Yes," Comer replied.
"Have you ever noticed any missing?" Jo asked.
"No. That would be reported if there were any of these missing. They're expensive after all."
"So, you buy them from some company in France and then distribute them here?"
"Actually, our buyers over there get them from individuals and then we sell them to distributors here."
"So, it's just a complicated hand to hand network."
"You might say that, but it works."
"We need to know the names of your distributors for these here," Mac said.
"I'll have to get those from the office," Comer replied.
"How long do you keep these here before they're taken?"
"No more than two days. Like I said, they're fragile. The taste and aroma are best within the first three weeks."
"I don't know that I've ever eaten these."
"They're quite tasty, but we need to get going because I have work to do."
They went back out to the jeep and headed back over to the office. There was only one distributor for this company. "I guess they're making quite a bundle if they're the only ones distributing these," Jo remarked.
"There's another provider, but they don't work for us."
"But they can charge as much as they want if they are the only ones selling them."
"I don't have anything to do with that. That's between them and the restaurants."
"Thanks for your time," Mac said.
Mac and Jo went out to the Avalanche. "You think he has as little to do with that as he says?" Jo asked.
"Probably," Mac replied. "It's quite a complicated network."
They headed over to the distributor to see if they were the ones who were supposed to sell the mushrooms to Pierre Manicotti. "I've never eaten any of these mushrooms," Jo said. "I think they're too expensive for my taste."
"Mine too," Mac replied.
"They're supposed to be an aphrodisiac. Do you think that's true?"
Mac chuckled. "No. You're either in the mood or not. I think people just eat something like that and they 'expect' it to put them in the mood, so they call it an aphrodisiac."
Jo laughed. "You just don't believe in the unusual, do you?"
"Yeah, I do, but some things are just silly."
Jo smiled and looked out the window. "I guess it doesn't hurt to try."
"I guess not."
Mac yawned as he drove to the distribution center. It was still early but it was daylight now. He had been up since three this morning and it was now around 9am. He supposed he would work all day and then maybe go home tonight to get some sleep…if he wanted to.