agatha jamison had an inkling who was ’hind the destruction o’ the ladders that had held up their economy & had dried up the rivers that fed the world’s trade & knew just how to test her theory.
she watched for her suspect to visit his usual grocery store & disguised herself as a worker handing out free samples o’ goat cheese, her files showing that her suspect found goat cheese irresistible; & indeed, when he heard her call out, ¡free goat cheese!
, & saw her white cubes with toothpicks in them, he hurried his cart o’er & took 1 with a bright, ¡thank you!
.
then, as her suspect was leaving the store, she stopped him & asked, o, before you go, ¿can i ask you a question? i’ll offer you mo’ goat cheese
.
he looked back @ her with surprise, but said cheerfully, sure thing, madame
.
¿do you know who knocked down the ladders that held up our economy?
.
without delay, the suspect said with a serene smile, why, i did
, before widening his eyes & slapping his hands o’er his mouth as if it were a possessed demon — which to him now it might as well be. but ’twas too late: before he was aware o’ what was happening, he felt cuffs snap o’er his wrists & saw that who he thought was a store attendant turn into an executor o’ law.