Did you ever have the experience of starting a task that looked like it should take no time at all—like getting at the cobwebs in that really hard-to-get-at place in your kitchen—only to have that task lead to another and another until you’ve spent half a day on it?

Well, that’s what happened with this story.

It started with a knocked-over newspaper box at the top of Agnes Findley’s driveway and then morphed into a conversation among members of the Bennett family and now I’ve discovered a new-to-me character in Carding whose name is Frank Dixon.

I like him and I thought you would too. But my introduction to Frank got a bit more involved than I originally thought and…well…this story now has four parts, the fourth coming next week.

In the meantime, Frank Dixon’s going to show up tomorrow. I hope you do too.

Thanks for stopping by.

Sonja Hakala lives on a river in Vermont and is the author of the Carding, Vermont novels and an upcoming mystery, The Education of Miss Ruby Royce.

The Carding, Vermont novels, in order of appearance:

The Road Unsalted

Thieves of Fire

The Dazzling Uncertainty of Life

Light in Water, Dancing