are searching for the Hen of the Baskervilles!â
âThat would be nice,â I said. âBut the henâs a bantam, not a giant, and their name is Bonneville. Why does everyone keep calling them Baskerville?â
âMaybe because The Hound of the Baskervilles is this monthâs One City, One Book selection,â Randall said. âThe name kind of sticks in your mind.â
âGetting back to the Bonnevilles.â I turned to the chief. âWe have their name, address, phone number, Web site if applicable, what events theyâre entered in, whether theyâve won anythingâwe fill that in laterâwhere they heard about the Un-fair if we know, whether we issued them a camping permitâitâs free to exhibitors, but we want to control whoâs there, so they need a permit. Stuff like that.â
The chief was peering over his glasses at the screen and nodding his approval.
âShow him the map,â Randall said. âI just love the map.â
I typed in a command and brought up a map of Virginia, speckled with dots.
âEach dotâs an exhibitor,â I said. âThe dots off in what should be West Virginia are all out-of state exhibitors. The program is set up so whenever we add an exhibitor to the database, it puts a corresponding dot on the map. We can see where our exhibitors are coming from, and what parts of the state weâre not reaching. I can also show you by category, like just the winemakers, or just the sheep exhibitors, or just the people who have entered the pie contest.â
As I spoke, I typed in commands and the map changed to show different, smaller configurations of dots.
âCan I get a copy of that?â the chief asked. âNot a paper copy, a copy of the file on your computer.â
âItâs not on my computer,â I said. âItâs on the server at Robâs office. I can see if they can give you a copy, or maybe all youâd need is access to the data.â
âAccess would be excellent,â the chief said.
A few minutes later he walked out with a printout of all exhibitors with their cell phone numbers and a star beside those who were staying at the campgrounds. And back at the station, Debbie Ann had a user name and password for the Un-fair database, since in addition to being the dispatcher she was the one person on the force who really liked computers and knew how to use them.
Of course, there was no guarantee our thief and vandal was there in my database. But it was as good a place as any to start.
Randall and I took care of a few fair-related choresâhe made a call to harangue his cousin who was supposed to have delivered another batch of portapotties. I turned on my laptop and began sorting the patrol volunteers into unrelated pairs. If I could get the volunteers organized and notified quickly, maybe Iâd still have time to join Michael and the boys at the childrenâs concert.
Then my brother, Rob, strolled in.
âI thought you were minding the exhibitorsâ gate,â I said.
âNeed your expertise,â he replied. âWeâve got some guy who wants to know what to do with his crackers.â
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Chapter 11
âCrackers?â I echoed. âI suppose theyâd go under baked goods. We donât have a separate cracker competition.â
âMaybe they fall under bread,â Randall suggested. âWhat kind of crackers?â
âFlorida crackers.â Rob perched on the edge of my desk. âAnd I already tried to give him directions to the food exhibits, and he got all steamed up. Says theyâre not that kind of crackers and asked if I was a complete idiot.â
âA complete idiot?â I said. âIâll take the fifth on that. Hang on a sec.â
I opened up a browser, typed a few words into my search engine, and found the information I needed.
âAha,â I said. âFlorida Crackers are a heritage breed of