which was taken?”
“Of course it was our prized stallion, Hunter’s Destiny.”
“Ok Bill, I will be right out to go over this with you again to make sure we haven’t missed anything…please don’t let anyone in the feed room or near the stud’s stall…in fact Bill, just keep everyone out of the barn.”
****************
Of course Bill Riley called Lang Elliott at his home on River Hill Road off River Road in Louisville before calling me. I was surprised to see the Senator at the farm when I arrived…apparently the senate was in recess and the senator’s home located less than five miles from the farm…which was located just east of Prospect at Goshen…providing the senator a quick access along River Road and then a quick left and out US 42 through Prospect past the Goshen store, St Francis Elementary and into Goshen where he took a left and into the back of the farm where Bill and Betty Riley lived.
Senator Elliott was pacing in front of Hunter’s Destiny’s empty stall when I arrived. He was elegantly dressed even for the barn. But you have to understand that the stud barn for Hunter’s Destiny was no ordinary barn. The floor leading to the stallion’s stall was made with wide wood planks and covered in an antique hand woven Persian carpet. Outside the stall door there were twin tables and alongside these table with lamps, sat Italian leather arm chairs. On the walls which were covered in Louisiana Cyprus, there were many pictures of Hunter’s Destiny’s many famous races like the Arlington Million which he had won three times after Arlington Park had been rebuilt from the fire which destroyed the famous track’s clubhouse. Now it stood as a modified glass structure standing against the sky fully lit at night.
Hunter’s Destiny’s stall itself was padded in order to prevent the stallion from injury should he decide to kick the wall. Hunter’s Destiny was not a dangerous horse but he did have a propensity to kick at anything which moved in his domain, be it wall, door, groom or water bucket.
Senator Elliott was well dressed as I said…he looked like he had just stepped from Gentlemen’s Quarterly; tan slacks; blue turtle-neck sweater, camel colored jacket with patches on the elbows and he was wearing Gucci loafers with no socks in the dead of winter. Maybe he had to get out of the house quickly and forgot the socks? He had a coffee in his right hand and switched it to his left to extend the right to shake my hand. Even in a disaster, he was elegant, every bit the well-educated and splendidly bred man of gentry.
“Detective Lang…you know my wife, Mona Tate, of course?
"Yes," I smiled and she moved forward to politely hug me.
"Thank you for coming out so quickly…we are so grateful that you are working on the day after the New Year. Can I offer you a tea or coffee?”
“Thank you Senator, maybe later. I have a lot of work to do and I want to strike quickly to solve this theft before the tracks get cold.”
“The horse means everything to our family but at the moment I am so concerned over the condition of our night watchman Eddie…we’re just beside ourselves over this whole thing Detective…poor Bill here was shocked on his arrival to not only find our night watchman bloodied, bound and gagged but also to find our prized stallion missing…I don’t know what to say?”
“It’s bad business Senator, but bad business is what we do, and my experts are now on the scene, gathering evidence, carefully looking for any clue or prints out of place. And, most important Senator, let us not forget, we have a 1250-pound flashy thoroughbred which will not be easy to hide.”
“Thank you so much Graham, just so you know, we have every confidence in Bill Riley. He has been a loyal employee of this farm for at least ten years. He has my utmost respect as a trusted farm manager…I am going to have to leave it to you and Bill…but if you need me, please do not hesitate to call me on my cell phone. My wife and I are going to the hospital now to see our night watchman Eddie Renfroward before we are scheduled to fly back to Washington in the morning.”
“I am truly sorry for this Senator…but don’t you worry, we’ll get to the bottom of this.”
“Yes, I am confident you will, my hope, is that you will recover my stallion before he is injured, or colic’s…it would be devastating to me and all the others connected to this horse that he might die from improper handling, these are delicate creatures. And of course our major concern is for Eddie Renfroward, I have spoken with Bill about speaking to you on your thoughts of posting a reward. I am ready willing and able to do so immediately. Any amount which would help to catch these bastards responsible for the pain and suffering they have cause Eddie and his family. I’ll post it with the Bank of Oldham County…any amount which will get the attention of someone who knows the whereabouts of these criminals. Please Graham, I am asking you to squeeze these bastards for what they have done to Eddie and my horse.”
“Yes, sir, Senator…a reward will be very helpful, I’ll talk with Bill Riley as we get along in the investigation…and he can make the arrangements with you…but we don’t want to throw your money away, so we will be very careful.”
As the Lang's left the barn, I could see there was a general good feeling shared by the staff for the family. They were so genuine, and it was obvious that the Elliott’s felt that these employees were family and vice versa. Mona Tate hugged and kissed all before they left for the hospital and she had a warm moment with Bill and Betty Riley whom she knew were extremely depressed over the matter and I could hear her say to Betty, as they held hands…” I’ll call you from the hospital.”
As my team swept the area for any special prints or to find anything out of place, I finally went to the office for that coffee and Bill Riley followed me like a hurt puppy.
Riley finally spoke, “You know Graham, it is especially troubling how these folks knew their way around this stud barn…like they had been here many times before the theft.”
“What about security Bill?”
“This barn has the latest in technology. There is a security camera, going 24/7 at the entrance and exit, as well as one over the stall of Hunter’s Destiny. But even if they disabled those cameras, Hunter’s Destiny’s stall had a special cornea registry for all to gain entry into his stall. The cornea of anyone on this farm was preregistered and a positive actual match must be identified in order to gain entry into the stall. Obviously, no match, no entry.”
“Ok Bill, the first thing we need to do is review the tapes, and I need a copy of those on the farm whose cornea and finger prints have ever been recorded from the beginning…is that possible?"
Riley, had already looked at the tapes and made the discovery that the security had been breached… someone was able to place a cap over the eye of the camera and refocus it on the ceiling.
“Bill, I expect the perpetrators forced Eddie Renfroward by beating him nearly to death to utilize his own cornea to gain entry into the stall.”
“Yes, they could have done so if they were careful not to damage his right eye because any damage, like a blow to the eye would have distorted the actual focus of the eye and negate a positive identification, but if all was well with Eddie, a match would have been made and the big door would have opened.”
“So, Bill…we are two down and the stallion must be lead from the stall and then the barn and apparently vanned away in the night. Into the mix comes Hunter’s Destiny whom I am told is high strung with a penchant for kicking and biting.
Is
