The big news around Maple Valley this week has been the suit filed against the Burthrap twins. Some guy named Dortsin Gimblemack hired a fancy lawyer from New York and sued them because he said they stole his recipe for binzelphrast. The bigger question was why anyone would want to eat something that is essentially cake topped with liver pate.

Sheriff Pete advised Ver and Vee to hire Hardin Sievers, the Maple Valley attorney. They followed his advice and met with him to plan a response to the suit. During Hardin’s investigation, he discovered some interesting facts. It seems Dortsin Gimblemack isn’t all he claimed to be.

He has a reputation for filing suits in various courts over patent infringement and outright theft. He said he owned the rights to Cliff’s Fishing Lures. Cliff Lergons, who invented the “Little Beatle Wiggler,” gave Gimblemack one of the lures. He took it home and painted it a different color, then said he was the real inventor. He obviously lost the case.

The recipe for “Christmas Binzelphrast” is owned, not by Dortsin Gimblemack, but by his girlfriend, Mordeen Fillecker. Gimblemack talked her into filing the suit, demanding 750,000 dollars in damages for plagiarism. Hardin Sievers also found Mordeen Fillecker didn’t have sole ownership of the recipe, either. Anyone who had taken the time to research the recipe would have discovered that binzelphrast has been around for over a century, but it was called “bintelphazz.” Mordeen Fillecker changed the spelling and said it was her creation. Gimblemack and Fillecker make quite a pair.

Hardin Sievers appeared before Mellafern County Circuit Court Judge Gershton Twilly and presented the defense for the Burthrap twins including all of the new details. After reading the facts, Judge Twilly immediately dismissed the case. Maple Valley will not become a household name because of binzelphrast, or Ver and Vee Burthrap.

There are several rumors Sylvia Meisner has been seen in towns around Maple Valley. Someone said they saw her getting on The General in Newtown last week, which is impossible because The General hasn’t run in two weeks. A woman called the sheriff’s office and said she was sure Sylvia was shopping at a wig store in Kimpleton, which is interesting, but proved to be false.

The wig rumor gave reason to Sheriff Pete to think differently about Sylvia’s disappearance. What if she decided to disappear. What if everything that happened from the moment her car was found until now is all part of a plan. Pete decided to keep the thought to himself, but also to give more time to thinking through that possibility.

In the meantime, Sheriff Pete has to give his full attention to monitoring the new railroad crossings in Maple Valley and Newtown. The railroad just completed rebuilding the two crossings and the good folks of Maple Valley are excited about it. The good Reverend Shermer has offered to say a special dedication prayer, but Pete said it wasn’t necessary. The Ya’ll Sit Cafe is advertising “Crossing Donuts” with a free cup of coffee to everyone who carefully uses the track crossings.

I’m not sure every town that gets a new railroad crossing reacts in the way the good folks of Maple Valley did, but they have once again shown themselves to be completely invested in this lovely community, right down to the new grade crossing at the Maple Valley railway.