2 Millhaven clues: salamander & note, marginalia in library book. Plan, plot, mystery.
If a plan, then a planner. Phil the city consultant? Crush on Felicia the MBA. Time for a visit.
Phil’s office: shambles, papers everywhere, wrapper from yesterday’s egg salad on rye, half-eaten pickle, gum, few scattered trading cards
Phil’s books: dictionary, directory, Time, Newsweek, Government’s Your Co-Pilot, Zoning for Social Control, Pride in Planning, Farmers’ Almanac
Could Phil the planner have left the salamander with Felicia? I scan his office – no hint of nature-loving in him.
Will you be at the community meeting? Phil asks Yes, I reply Felicia will coordinate it, I observe Phil looks up, about to speak
Small-talk with Phil. Nothing unusual about him, unless one correctly concludes that planning others’ lives is unusual
He’s downcast, and volunteers that Felicia hasn’t returned his voicemail from last week
No one ever hears from Phil, he has a poor feel for the community, and the one person he calls doesn’t know he’s alive
I wonder: What is it with all the screwball weirdos in this town sending each other salamanders and ill-timed birthday cards?
In other places, people see ghosts, or werewolves, or Bigfoot Not a single extraterrestrial – it’s 100% terrestrial weirdness in Millhaven
Outside, I see the Millhaven police chief’s latest energy-saver: a three-wheeled cart powered by a human cyclist, like an old ice cream cart
Police carts debuted last month Uniformed officers, horn, lights & message banner: Community policing – We’re green to save you green