A Ted Wilford Mystery, no. 8 - The Scarecrow Mystery

This eighth book of the Ted Wilford series is a bit odd for several reasons.  For one thing, the title is truly misleading.  For another thing, the story reads more like a news story than an actual mystery - however, it does lead one to believe that the author has actual knowledge on the subject matter, considering the amount of detail he covers in the book.  Finally, while the previous books have not always been overly adventurous and filled with danger, this one is rather dry when it comes to true adventure and mystery.  Yet, despite all of that, I found that I actually enjoyed the book overall.

I will start off by spoiling something - The Scarecrow Mystery is not actually a mystery about a scarecrow.  At least, not in the literal sense.  Yes, an actual scarecrow does eventually appear in the story, but it plays such a small part and holds very little connection to the mystery itself.  The mystery centers around a small orange canister that contains some microfilm (if you don't know what that is, Google it!).  A union leader is in possession of the microfilm, which must be presented to the Court as evidence in a case that has been brought by the trucking company employers.  However, on the way to Forestdale, Mr. Prentice's car is apparently run off the road.  Ted and his best friend, Nelson, manage to get Mr. Prentice to the closest town (Echo) so he can be checked by a doctor - and it's not until that night, when Ted gets a call from the union leader's attorney asking him to go out and search for the canister containing the microfilm.  Ted and Nelson do their best, but in the evening hours, they are unable to find it - they do, however, meet a young boy, who says he saw a scavenger looking around the car, so perhaps he might have taken it.  The boy promises to look for it the next day.

This sets off a chain of events that tie closely into the ongoing battle between the union and the trucking company.  There is a fierce battle about whether the union members will go on strike, and it seems neither side will budge.  Ted is stuck in the middle, trying not to take sides, and he and Nelson do their best to locate that missing microfilm, which seems to be at the very crux of the case.  And once they do locate the missing microfilm, things only go downhill from there.  The court battle culminates in a trial, to which Ted is called as a witness, and as a paralegal for many years, it was actually rather interesting to read the attorney's examination of Ted on the witness stand.  The writing here is exceptional, as the attorney's questions are well-crafted to elicit specific testimony, and poor Ted really gets put on the spot.  He's honest (or, at least, he thinks he is being completely honest) about the events that transpired, but the attorney puts a spin on things that makes Ted question himself.

Now, having worked in the legal field for as long as I have, the union battle and the courtroom questioning definitely had my attention - but I have to wonder if the average reader would find these legal battles as interesting.  It is somewhat dry reading, and without any background knowledge of unions or the law, some readers may find it quite boring.  One thing that was a bit disappointing for me is that Ted doesn't really solve the mystery, as much as it solves itself around him.  Without Nelson prodding him along, it is unlikely Ted would have figured out half of the clues he did uncover (leaving me to wonder if perhaps Nelson should be the top-billed character in the book).

As for the whole scarecrow thing (and this will be spoilers, so if you don't want to know what happens, do not read any further!)...

It turns out the scarecrow connection is nothing more than the fact it is a prop borrowed from someone Ted knows, and upon discovering the man's watch chain in a pocket of the scarecrow's clothes, a connection is made to some of the culprits who have been acting behind the scenes to push the feud between the union and the company men.  However, Nelson makes a passing comment earlier in the book about one of the men being a "scarecrow," meaning he was pretending to be something he was not to create the animosity.  I had never heard this kind of meaning attached to the word "scarecrow" before, so I looked it up - and sure enough, in legal terms, scarecrow (or "straw man") can refer to a person who has no interest in the situation, but merely acts as a stand-in for someone else or it can refer to an argument which is intended to distract the other side from the real issues or waste the opponent's time and effort (otherwise known as a "red herring").  Now, when taken in this context, perhaps the title to the book does actually apply to the union/labor dispute and the mystery associated therewith, because there are several characters who Ted and Nelson question their sincerity and veracity during the course of the book.

Overall, it was not a bad read, but it definitely was not one of the better books in the series.  Not sure if Pallas figured since Ted was aging in the books, the readers would also be aging and would enjoy more "adult" themed mysteries, but there is definitely a difference in the tone and direction of the story.  Next in line is The Big Cat Mystery, so we will see was that mystery has in store for us!

RATING:  7 baby pictures of the Mayor out of 10 for treating readers to a unique mystery that is likely to be unlike any other young adult mystery of its time!