The 'Cousins'

Part Five: Greg Meets the Sherriff, The Mayor and the Judge

Greg greeted people warmly as he passed them on the sidewalk but mostly they regarded him with hostile, suspicious eyes and responded to his greeting with silence and occasionally a curt nod. Greg put it down to the ‘Noble Breath’ getting them down and walked on taking in the town and looking at what was for sale in the shops- more particularly the prices of things for sale. 

He strolled down the side streets and along the back of Main Street. The air seemed less dense there. After a few paces he realised he was walking behind the several fast food outlets on Main Street and he looked into their back yards as he passed. He thought it curious that each of them had a number of large, plastic drums out back and he wondered what they were for? 

At the back of the 'Fryway' burger outlet one of them was leaking from a slight crack. Curiosity got the better of him. He looked to left and right, and saw there was nobody around, the yard was open to the street and he walked in to have a closer look.  Greg inspected the seepage, smelled it and then poked it with a finger and rubbed it between his thumb.  He recognised it as spent cooking oil and his brain moved into overdrive. If nobody was collecting this stuff, then the quantity waiting for disposal suggested it was a problem. Here was an opportunity. It could be the small business venture that could put Jess through High School and perhaps, even on to College. 

Greg already had some knowledge of this business as he had invested in setting up a small plant in Florida that had collected waste cooking oil and converted it into bio-diesel. The process was not difficult or costly to set up or run and if care was taken, it was not dangerous. This was an idea to work on and maybe mention to the mayor when he introduced himself later that day.

He walked along a few more streets and looked into the backyards of buildings and saw more drums of waste oil waiting for disposal. It added strength to his perception that if nobody was already doing it; here was a business opportunity ripe for exploitation.  He wrote in his notebook. ‘Check bio-diesel from cooking oil, process, regulations and equipment- US Rules.’

His next stop was to introduce himself to the Bank manager. He whistled the Ricky Skaggs number that still throbbed in his brain as he walked to the Commercial and Farmer’s bank on Main Street.

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Bill Courtley was not only expecting him, but applauded him on his proposed benevolence for the benefit of Jess White.  It seemed that Bamptonville was no different to any other small town where everybody knew everything about everybody else – or at least among the top echelon of local society.  Greg made a mental note not to delay making the acquaintance of the others on the Sherriff’s list

He set up an account at the bank and talked about transferring funds and ongoing investment opportunities. The manager promised to keep him informed when suitable opportunities arose.

‘Come and see me at any time Mr. Mitchell, an appointment will not be necessary, not for you. Anything at all. Any time!’

‘Thank you very much Mr. Courtley. Perhaps you can recommend me an accountant. I’ll be working on a diverse range of business opportunities and maybe setting up a charitable trust and he’ll need to be somebody who can work with my Boston lawyers. Does anybody come to mind you think who could fit that requirement?’

Without a moment’s hesitation, the banker took a piece of paper from a pad on his desk and wrote a name and contact information on it and passed it over.

‘There’s nobody at that level in Bamptonville that I could suggest Mr. Mitchell. But I’m sure you’ll find Bill Elbury to your liking. He’s in Larksville, that’s 63 miles directly North of here.’