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This book is dedicated to Anne Margaret, Janet Marie, Anthony Grove, Jr. , Steven August, Monica Mary, and Daniel Bernard listed in order of the date they arrived to brighten our lives.

Contents

1 Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn, retired, stopped his pickup about a

hundred…

1

2 Eleven days earlier…

9

3 Leaphorn parked in the driveway of his Window Rock house,…

17

4 Leaphorn, being elderly, knew the wisdom of learning all

you…

23

5 Leaphorn was on the road early, driving with a gaudy…

27

6 Luxury Living magazine protected the privacy of those who

allowed…

43

7 The changes Leaphorn noticed in Garcia as the Coconino sheriff’s…

47

8 Garcia swerved off the interstate at Holbrook and roared

up…

53

9 Tomas Delonie’s reaction to the arrival of a police car

and…

69

10 It was quiet in the patrol car until it had…

77

11 Back in Flagstaff, back in his own car, with farewells…

85

12 Joe Leaphorn awakened unusually late the next morning. Just as…

89

13 Halfway down the slope from the Delos mansion a sharp…

105

14 It proved to be another uneasy sleep, broken by troublesome…

117

15 The good mood Louisa’s attitude had left with Joe

Leaphorn…

125

16 While this conversation was winding down, Leaphorn had been keeping…

165

17 The truck was still there when Leaphorn pulled up by…

203

18 Getting ready for the venture first involved cleaning off

enough…

219

19 For Leaphorn, getting some sleep had been easier said

than…

227

20 The place they found as their lookout point was in…

239

21 Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn, retired, would sometimes wish that he had…

247

22 The first step now for Leaphorn was to deal with…

257

23 Daylight now, the sun just up, and Tommy Vang driving.

265

24 And now three rest and recuperation days had passed.

The…

269

About the Author

Other Books by Tony Hillerman

Credits

Cover

Copyright

About the Publisher

1

Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn, retired, stopped his pickup about a hundred yards short of where he had intended to park, turned off the ignition, stared at Sergeant Jim Chee’s trailer home, and reconsidered his tactics. The problem was making sure he knew what he could tell them, and what he shouldn’t, and how to handle it without offending either Bernie or Jim. First he would hand to whomever opened the door the big woven basket of fruit, flowers, and candies that Professor Louisa Bourbonette had arranged as their wedding gift, and then keep the conversation focused on what they had thought of Hawaii on their honeymoon trip, and apologize for the duties that had forced both Louisa and him to miss the wedding itself.

Then he would pound them with questions about their future plans, whether Bernie still intended to return to her job with the Navajo Tribal Police.

TONY HILLERMAN

could keep them from pressing him with their own questions, the better. Maybe he could avoid that completely.

It wasn’t likely. His answering machine had been full of calls from one or the other of them. Full of questions. Why hadn’t he called them back with the details of that Totter obituary he wanted them to look into? Why was he interested? Hadn’t he retired as he’d planned? Was this some old cold case he wanted to clear up as a going away present to the Navajo Tribal Police? And so forth.