Gil follows the apparent soybean thieves’ semi truck along back roads to a processing plant in Mankato, MN. While hiding among tall grasses near the plant to watch for the truck, he is knocked unconscious by a blow to the head. He wakes up laying on the road shoulder and his pickup in a ditch with the spark plugs and a cell phone inside missing. He cleans up at a nearby diner, and eventually reaches the coop to find Ole Torvaldsson and Eddie Lofgren are on the warpath looking for him. He calls the soy processor in Mankato and finds the truck came from Blue Sky Farms near Mason City. By the time he gets back to the elevator, Ole is away meeting with an end user, and Gil reports his findings to Sollie. The next morning, Northern Star employees discover a mysterious hot spot in some stored grain.