Grainnet

THE NORTHERN STAR SERIES
Grain Journal Editor Ed Zdrojewski has been serializing fictional murder mysteries set in the grain industry since 1997. These novel-length mysteries feature Gil Maier, general manager of Northern Star Farmers Cooperative, a small farmer-owned cooperative based in the fictional town of Monrovia, IA in the north-central part of the state.

The first Northern Star mystery, which began to be serialized in Grain Journal in 1997, involved a complex grain theft scheme at Northern Star's headquarters elevator and a five-year-old "accidental" death that turned out to be not so accidental.

The second series, begun in 2005, takes Gil out of his home territory to Chicago to solve a cop killing related to shenanigans on the Chicago Board of Trade division of CME Group. Ed also is outlining a third entry to the Northern Star series, which returns Gil to his own grain elevator and hometown to solve a classic "whodunnit" involving a body discovered at the Alsup family reunion.

Chapter 31 | January/February 2010
Detective Hal Washington of the Chicago Police Department is dead, and Howie Carr, the merchandiser at Northern Star Farmers Cooperative, is under arrest for Washington's murder. Hal and his accomplice, Roy, had been holding Gil Maier and artist Charlie Toussaint at gunpoint in an empty office at the Chicago Board of Trade tower. Hal and Roy had been about to kill Gil and Charlie, when Howie burst into the office and shot Hal. Before that happened, Gil accused Hal of murdering the detective’s partner, Detective Sgt. Russ Engle, who had called Gil to Chicago in the first place.

Chapter 30 | November/December 2009
Posing as a trader on the floor of CME Group's Chicago Board of Trade, Gil Maier completes a trade with a trader for Goldberg, Smith, the brokerage firm under investigation, then follows him as the trader flees the trading floor. Gil chases the trader to an empty office suite on the seventh floor, where he is clubbed and then held at gunpoint by Chicago Police Detective Hal Washington and “Roy,” the assailant who has been dogging Gil for his past few days in Chicago.

Chapter 29 | September/October 2009
Gil Maier gets his final briefing early Monday morning prior to the start of trading in the corn pit at CME Group's Chicago Board of Trade. He receives half a dozen orders for hedging trades from cooperatives and cattle feeders around the Midwest to make his undercover pose as a trader for Nash Trading legitimate. His mission: monitor the trading activity of Goldberg Smith in the corn pit to provide evidence that can be taken in front of a grand jury in an ongoing federal investigation of Goldberg Smith's market manipulations.

Chapter 28 | July/August 2009
Prior to his Monday morning "engagement" on the floor of the CME Group's Chicago Board of Trade, Gil Maier hears from his former collegiate advisor, Professor Jim Higgins at Iowa State University. Higgins has tested a selection of World Genetix test strips for GMO corn and found that the reagent that indicates a "positive" result has been left off the strip. The two men speculate that World Genetix or its partners could utilize "false positives" to manipulate the futures market for huge illicit gains, particularly after a new non-GMO corn contract is introduced. On his way to LaSalle Street, Sharon Jones and Roger Gilmore from the Chicago Police Department's Internal Affairs division show Gil evidence potentially linking slain World Genetix sales representative Ike Raynor with Goldberg Smith, the brokerage firm under investigation by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and other agencies.

Chapter 27 | May/June 2009
After visiting Word of God Baptist Church as part of his investigation of the swirl of scandal surrounding the murder of Detective Sgt. Russ Engel, Gil Maier is pulled over on Lake Shore Drive and beaten by a pair of Chicago cops. Gil is seemingly rescued by Detective Hal Washington, who is assigned to the case from the police department. But then, the detective tells Gil to do his part posing as a trader on the floor of the Chicago Board of Trade, report to the task force investigating the brokerage firm of Goldberg Smith, and then leave town for good. Washington hints at unspecified consequences if Gil fails to leave town, and Gil suspects those consequences might be fatal. He returns to his hotel to tend to his cuts and bruises and get as much rest as he can before his big Monday.

Chapter 26 | March/April 2009
Gil Maier was given a tour of the luxurious new youth recreation center at Word of God Baptist Church on the South Side of Chicago. He noted a plaque on the building dedicating it to Detective Hal Washington and thanking the Washington family and Goldberg Smith, the brokerage firm under watch for suspected manipulation of the grain markets at the Chicago Board of Trade division of CME. Driving back to his downtown hotel, Gil is pulled over on Lake Shore Drive by a pair of Chicago police officers.

Chapter 25 | January/February 2009
As part of his personal investigation into the death of his friend Russ Engle, Gil Maier has gone to attend Sunday services at the church of Engle's partner, Detective Hal Washington, in a black neighborhood in Chicago's South Side. Gil didn't encounter the detective at Word of God Baptist Church, but he did notice a shiny new building behind the church that appeared to be a recreation center. He decided to approach the pastor after services to discuss the building.

Chapter 24 | November/December 2008
The return of Gil Maier's pickup truck, which had been impounded by the Chicago police shortly after his arrival in the city, has given the Northern Star manager freedom to continue his investigation into the murder of Detective Sgt. Russ Engle on his own. He's driven over to Russ Engle's house in the South Side neighborhood of Bridgeport, climbed over some police tape, used his own key to Russ' house, and found that Russ' in-home office has been ransacked.

Chapter 23 | September/October 2008
The Chicago Police Department's Internal Affairs division has been embroiled in the investigation of Detective Sgt. Russ Engle's murder and now, apparently, in the investigation of the murder of World Genetix Salesman Ike Raynor. Gil Maier has been questioned at Ike's murder scene by Lt. Sharon Jones and Officer Roger Swanson and told that he could be of help to Internal Affairs' investigation, even though logically, he could be a suspect in the murder. Later, at his hotel, Gil is called to the front desk to take a message from Swanson -- the message turns out to be the keys to his pickup truck, which had been impounded by police shortly after his arrival in Chicago.

Chapter 22 | July/August 2008
Board Member Curly Petersen and Merchandiser Howie Carr have left to return to Iowa, Curly to take some sample World Genetix test strips to a contact Gil Maier has at Iowa State University to do further lab analysis on the product. Gil is now alone in World Genetix Salesman Ike Raynor's apartment with Ike's body cold and lifeless on the kitchen floor. Gil starts to call Chicago Police Detective Hal Washington but then thinks better of it. Instead, he calls for Internal Affairs, the branch of the department that investigates criminal activity within the police force, the same branch that had been investigating Detective Sgt. Russ Engle prior to his murder.

Chapter 21 | May/June 2008
Ike Raynor, the sales representative from World Genetix, is dead. Gil Maier, Curly Petersen, and Howie Carr have found Ike's lifeless body in the kitchen of his Chicago apartment, shot in the chest with a .38-caliber revolver. Howie had been in a relationship with Ike and was particularly devastated by the discovery. While searching Ike's apartment, Gil has discovered a link to Northern Star Farmers Cooperative's brokerage firm on Ike's laptop computer. Even more astonishing to Gil, Ike's walk-in bedroom closet is jam-packed with boxes of World Genetix GMO test strips. Gil tells Curly that he wants the farmer to take Howie back to Iowa, then take some boxes of test strips to a Dr. Jim Higgins at Iowa State University.

Chapter 20 | March/April 2008
Northern Star Merchandiser Howie Carr has admitted to General Manager Gil Maier that he has been carrying on a relationship with World Genetix Salesman Ike Raynor, and that's why he brought Ike to the cooperative to sell GMO test strips. (The sample strips Ike had left at the elevator had given a false negative on samples of biotech corn.) Gil, Howie, and Board Member Curly Petersen have gone to Ike Raynor's apartment to find out what's going on and have discovered a trail of blood leading into the kitchen.

Chapter 19 | January/Febrary 2008
Gil Maier and Curly Petersen have visited the site in an alleyway where Detective Sgt. Russ Engle was murdered. While leaving the site, they spot Howie Carr, Northern Star Cooperative's merchandiser, and Ike Raynor, the sales representative for World Genetix, the supplier of apparently defective GMO test strips to the cooperative. Gil chases Howie down and catches up with him outside of Wrigley Field.

Chapter 18 | November/December 2007
Gil Maier and Curly Petersen manage to "hide out" at a Hyatt hotel in Chicago without any further incidents of anyone trying to kill Gil. After repairing the rear window on Curly's pickup truck Saturday morning, the two men decide to revisit the site where Detective Sgt. Russ Engle was found murdered.

Chapter 17 | September/October 2007
After a strange meeting with Michelle Lofgren in the lobby at Chicago's Congress Hotel, Gil Maier once again finds himself pursued by the same assailant who had attacked him previously on this trip. Gil manages to be picked up on the street by Northern Star Board Member Charles "Curly" Petersen, but as they speed off through Chicago traffic, a rifle shot puts a hole in the rear window of Curly's pickup truck.

Chapter 16 | July/August 2007
Northern Star board member Charles "Curly" Petersen has tried and failed to get some more sample GMO test strips from World Genetix. Instead, he was run off the property by company security guards. Meanwhile, Gil Maier has gone to check in to the Congress Hotel and has run into Michelle Lofgren in the lobby. Michelle tells Gil that she was responsible for getting a message to Board Chairman Bob Alsup to send Curly to Chicago.

Chapter 15 | May/June 2007
While Northern Star board member Charles "Curly" Petersen has gone off to get more sample biotech test strips from World Genetix, Gil Maier has returned to the Chicago Board of Trade to get some basic training on being a floor trader while working under cover for the Chicago police. Educational Coordinator Patricia Sikorsky gives Gil some instruction on the elaborate hand signals used on the trading floor.

Chapter 14 | March/April 2007
Following his morning meeting at the Chicago Board of Trade, Gil Maier is surprised that board member Charles "Curly" Petersen has come to Chicago to meet up with him. That's not the end of the surprising news.Gil receives a call from his cooperative office. Superintendent Johnny Littlefeather informs him that sample biotech test strips left by Ike Raynor, the World Genetix sales representative weren't working properly. Samples of corn known to contain the Bt genetic event were testing negative with the strips.

Chapter 13 | January/February 2007
The Chicago Board of Trade, Chicago Police Department, and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission all have asked Gil Maier to pose as a CBOT floor trader in the corn pit in order to gather potential evidence against Goldberg, Smith, the brokerage firm Northern Star Farmers Cooperative has engaged for its hedge trades. Gil has agreed, somewhat reluctantly. As the meeting ends, Gil is informed that someone is waiting for him in the CBOT building's ground floor lobby.

Chapter 12 | November/December 2006
Gil Maier has joined representatives of the Chicago Board of Trade, Chicago Police Department, and Commodity Futures Trading Commission in a confidential, unofficial meeting to discuss a quiet investigation of the brokerage firm Goldberg, Smith, which has served as the commodity trading broker for Northern Star Farmers Cooperative for many years. The late Chicago Police Detective Russ Engle had been looking into information that the brokerage may have been trying to manipulate the corn market illegally prior to the launch of a planned new CBOT non-GMO corn contract.

Chapter 11 | September/October 2006
Chicago Police Detective Hal Washington has taken Gil Maier to meet with Dave Mencken, director of security for the Chicago Board of Trade. Maier has been brought to Chicago to assist in a fraud investigation on behalf of murdered Detective Sgt. Russ Engle. The three men are in the viewing gallery looking out over the agricultural trading floor awaiting the market open at 9:30 this Friday morning.

Chapter 10 | July/August 2006
Gil Maier is spending the night at the apartment of his old acquaintances Michelle Lofgren and Charlie Toussaint rather than return to the Chicago police safe house where he was attacked. Detective Hal Washington has warned Gil that a warrant would be issued for his arrest, if he doesn't make a 7 a.m. appointment in front of the apartment building where the safe house was located.

Chapter 9 | May/June 2006
Gil Maier has overcome an assailant, taken his revolver, ditched it in Lake Michigan, and now is trying to hole up with two old acquaintances, Michelle Lofgren and Charlie Toussaint, who have moved to Chicago. At this point, Gil doesn't trust the Chicago police to protect him, since he was at what was supposed to be a police "safe house" when he was attacked.

Chapter 8 | March/April 2006
Gil Maier is attacked by the same assailant that shot at him on the Kennedy Expressway while staying at a so-called "safe house," an apartment in a high-rise operated by the Chicago Police Department. Gil manages to subdue the attacker in the building basement, who is wearing a ski mask, in the subsequent fight but does not know if the man is dead, injured, or simply stunned. He figures it isn't safe to return to the apartment.

Chapter 7 | January/February 2006
After visiting the site where Detective Sgt. Russ Engle was murdered, Chicago Police Detective Hal Washington tells Gil Maier that Gil wouldn't be getting his pickup truck back yet, since the incident that resulted in a massive pileup on the Kennedy Expressway was still under investigation, and the department wanted Gil to stick around town for the time being. Instead, Hal has taken Gil to stay at a "safe house" maintained by the department, a small apartment on the 13th floor of a high-rise building near Lake Michigan on the North Side. Gil goes to a convenience store for food and drink, and upon his return, he finds the lights out in the apartment and a dark figure moving toward him out of the kitchen.

Chapter 6 | November/December 2005
Detective Hal Washington has told Gil Maier tales of incidents in the months leading up to the murder of Washington's partner, Detective Sgt. Russ Engle. Washington told Gil that Russ had been investigating the brokerage firm Goldberg, Smith - the firm that has handled Northern Star Farmers Cooperative's trading account on the Chicago Board of Trade - and had been pulled off of the case on orders from City Hall. Engle had secretly started up his investigation again on a tip from an unnamed CBOT insider. Washington also related a story about how Engle had supposedly beat up a gay person behind a gay bar, which had made Engle a target in a Chicago Police Department Internal Affairs investigation. Now, Hal and Gil were at the scene of Russ' murder, in an alleyway in the same neighborhood.

Chapter 5 | September/October 2005
Someone has tried to kill Gil Maier, before he's even reached his destination in Chicago. The killer tried to shoot him in a "drive-by" on a crowded Kennedy Expressway, resulting in a huge, multi-vehicle pileup. Detective Hal Washington of the Chicago Police Department has extricated Gil from the mess and is now taking Gil to the site on Chicago's north side where Detective Sgt. Russ Engle was murdered.

Chapter 4 | July/August 2005
Detective Sgt. Russ Engle is dead, apparently murdered. Gil Maier received the news from Russ' partner, Detective Hal Washington, as Gil drove toward Chicago to help his friend out on a case involving Northern State Farmers Cooperative's brokerage on the Chicago Board of Trade. Hal asked Gil not to come to the precinct house but to meet him at a North Side Japanese restaurant instead.

Chapter 3 | May/June 2005
Detective Sgt. Russ Engle of the Chicago Police Department, a long-time friend of Gil Maier's, has left a phone message for Gil asking him to come to Chicago to assist in the investigation of a brokerage firm trading on the Chicago Board of Trade. Gil suspects that the firm in question is the brokerage that handles Northern Star Farmers Cooperative's business on the Board. He's inclined to go help his friend but first needs an OK from Cooperative Board Chairman Bob Alsup.

Chapter 2 | March/April 2005
Ike Raynor, a somewhat arrogant young sales representative for World Genetix Inc., has left free samples of a strip test for genetically-modified corn at Northern Star Farmers Cooperative. The meeting over, General Manager Gil Maier heads home for lunch.

Chapter 1 | January/February 2005
The story officially ended two years ago, when Grain Journal brought Northern Star to a conclusion, a full-length novel serialized in the magazine and a murder mystery set at a farmer-owned cooperative in a small town in northern Iowa. Ever since then, however, we've gotten a lot of inquiries about when the next fiction series will begin. So, as many of our readers have anticipated, here is the start of a new mystery series involving Northern Star's General Manager Gil Maier and friends (and some not-so-friendly acquaintances). Enjoy!