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You ask Zoe what makes her suspicious of the council. She gives a short sigh.
"I'd hate it to seem like I have a grudge," she says, "but Dina's someone I've never quite managed to agree with. I don't think she's incompetent, mind—the opposite, really. I think she knows what she's doing very well. But over the years, she's been very careful to keep all the right people on her side. When some crooked contractor from out of town did a bunch of shoddy work at the high school a few years ago that ended up flooding the place, she made sure to make a big show of raising money for the repairs—but she went and recommended another out-of-town firm to do the repairs. The local construction firms aren't connected to any big city money, I suppose."
She shakes her head, and as she pauses to wipe her glasses, you can clearly see the dark look that has come over her face.
"I've heard similar stories from people at the ranch," Tayo says, though he seems hesitant to agree wholeheartedly. "For what it's worth, I got a good impression from last night's meeting. It didn't seem as if Dina was trying to cover anything up. If anything, she seemed a little unimpressed with that Mr. Clarence."
"Yes," Zoe says ruefully, "but she wasn't in a hurry to lose his business. Still, I suppose I can't think what he would want with a few trees."
"And if the stories are anything to go by," Tayo adds, "this has all been happening pretty deep in the forest. If he did want to get a head start on his developments, it doesn't seem the most practical choice to start from the middle."
Zoe nods and begins to ask Tayo about something she heard to do with one of the neighboring ranches. You feel fairly relieved as the conversation drifts away from any potentially dangerous subjects, but you dwell on the strangeness of this case of disappearing trees—especially with Tayo's assertion that it's been happening deep in the forest. Rather than your grandma, the businessman Mr. Clarence—and his voice, as you heard it from way up in your tree house—comes to mind.
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