Cern told Dema how to get to Miller's farm. When they pulled into the yard Jeff came out to greet them. Dema had been expecting a sturdy, no-nonsense farmer, but Jeff was lanky and wore spectacles that gave him an almost scholarly appearance.

"Jeff, this is Dema. She's been helping me investigate what Estes has been up to, and we think we might have some answers for you. Can you take us down to the river and show us where your pump is?"

"The irrigation pump? Sure. Do you need it to be running? The main switch is up here."

"No, we just want to see where it is."

Jeff led them to a little farm utility vehicle not much bigger than Bud's ATV. They all climbed on and Jeff drove down along a narrow track across his pasture. There were trees lining the high riverbank. Jeff parked at the top and they walked down a narrow path to the river. Jeff offered Dema his hand to help her down the steep part, and she took it with a smile, although he realized right away that she didn't really need his help.

"Have you known Cern for long?"

"We've met before, but this is the first time I've helped him on an investigation."

"It's good for an old farmer like me to have a smart young fellow like him to turn to."

"He's more than smart. He understands things."

"There's the pump."

The pump was a big one, maybe a foot in diameter, with a big electric motor attached to drive it. The whole thing was perched part way up the bank, and a three or four-inch pipe went down into the river. A similar pipe led up and over the bank toward the pasture.

There were a couple of cows standing by the river. They both started walking slowly in the direction of the visitors. One of them nuzzled up to Jeff. He scratched its ears and talked to it.

"One of yours, I take it."

"Oh, yeah. They're friendly critters, curious about anything different that they see. They'll wander off again in a minute."

Cern had been inspecting the shoreline just upstream of the pipe, and Dema joined him.

"See anything yet?"

"It's hard to tell. The shore here's all covered with river rocks, and with the cows coming and going any tracks wouldn't last long. But this looks like an ATV track here in this muddy spot."

"Could be mine," said Jeff. "I used it to bring the pump down."

"Or it could be someone else's." Cern stood up from where he was crouched by the track and turned to Jeff.

"Here's what we're thinking. You run the pump at night, right?"

"Mostly."

"If Estes was serious about messing things up for you, he might have someone come down here and dump pesticides in the river right above your intake. There wouldn't be much chance for it to get diluted. That could be why you're finding such high concentrations on your fields."

"The bastard! Would he really do that?"

"If he's desperate enough he might. And the biofuel gamble isn't paying off as big as the speculators hoped it would. So he's probably got plenty of worries."

Now Jeff was kneeling by the shore. He picked up a small rock and looked at it closely, rubbed it with his fingers, sniffed it, and touched it with his tongue. Then he held it up to Cern. 

"Pesticide! You're right. Someone's been dumping pesticides in the river right here!"

Dema knelt down and took a picture with her cell phone camera, then put a couple of rocks that had the same oily sheen in a sample bag. She stood and started walking up along the shore.

"You gonna arrest the bastard?"

"This isn't proof he did it. We could wait out here nights until someone shows up and catch him red-handed. But I'm thinking this trick only works because you water at night. No one would risk it in broad daylight. Could you do your watering in the daytime?"

Jeff thought about it. "It's better to water at night. But not a whole lot. The cows wouldn't mind. They'd just go to the part of the pasture that isn't being rained on. And besides, it's not about watering, it's about pumping. I could fill a tank during the day and water from it at night if I wanted to."

"Then your problems are over. At least this one. And as your legal representative, I might just give Estes a call and hint that we are on to him. He'll have to think twice about pointing fingers at you about marijuana patches or trying any more tricks."

Jeff nodded. "Okay. No more pumping at night. But Jesus, I sure hope Estes comes to his senses. He used to be an okay guy for a company farmer. You really think the ethanol thing might go under?"

"I don't know. There's been a lot of speculation involved, and there could be some big losers. But Estes will still have his farm, and could go back to selling his corn the way he used to, if he didn't bank too much on the subsidy money."

Dema came back, waving her cell phone. "Got some more pictures. There are some clear ATV tracks leading up the bank back there. And they're not from yours." She gave a significant little look at Cern to tell him whose ATV it was, and he nodded.

"Cern's been telling me all I have to do is stop pumping at night. Damn, I could have figured this out myself if I'd been a little brighter. Thanks to both of you. Now maybe things can get back to normal around here."

They all scrambled back up the bank to the farm ATV parked at the top. Miller watched Dema from below as she made it look easy, and smiled to himself. Before long they were back at the farmhouse.

Miller invited them in, but Dema had noticed the cows wandering toward the barn and knew he would have evening chores to attend to. So she said, "Thanks. I'd actually love to hang around and get a look at your milking operation, but we have a long drive back to Chicago ahead of us."

She looked at Cern, and he nodded and held out his hand to Jeff. "Some other time, then," They shook and said their goodbyes and got back in the Jeep.

Once they were on the road, Cern called Estes number. It rang a few times, then he heard, "Estes here. I'm out working now, and I don't get to answer the phone much, so leave a message."

Cern said, "Mr. Estes, my name is Cern Stewart. I represent Jeff Miller. I've spent the day here on his farm and in the area, and I've learned a few things. I recommended to him that he stop pumping water out of the river during the night. That seems to be the time when the pesticide concentration gets the highest.

"Oh, and one more thing. I learned the DEA has a record of all the marijuana plots in the state, and there might be more of them on your farm. It's possible they will be under surveillance at harvest time. Maybe you can find them and clean them up before then. I know you don't want that kind of trouble on your doorstep.

"I really hope you can find some good, honest solutions to your problems, Mr. Estes. So does Jeff Miller. Because if you don't, they could get a lot bigger.

"Call me if you want to talk about any of this."

Cern hung up. Dema said, "You think he'll call you?"

"Doubt it. He'll take the hint and back off. At least, I hope so."