"Cocaine. She says Boaz got her started. She's twenty-eight and still a looker, Chief. She used to be a cheerleader in high school. She worked as a secretary in the philosophy department at the university where Boaz was a teaching assistant. That's where she met him. She and the kid started living with Boaz about a year before they pulled up stakes and moved to New Mexico. She didn't act upset when I told her Boaz had been murdered. I guess the romance soured."
"Did she ID Rudy?"
"She doesn't know his last name. She said Rudy paid Boaz to give him access to the land where he cut the wood. Does that kind of shit really go on out there?
Poaching and stuff like that?"
"All the time. Did you get a description of Rudy?"
"That, and a composite drawing. Rudy is Hispanic, in his mid-to-late thirties, clean shaven, about five foot ten.
He's stocky-weighs in at between two-twenty and two-forty pounds-and has brown eyes and brown hair cut long below the ears."
"That's helpful."
"Do you want something even better?"
"Are you holding out on me. Sergeant?"
Bloom laughed.
"I couldn't resist. Chief. Wanda's kid is a miniature toy car nut.
You know, those Hot Wheels you can buy just about anywhere.
Lane-that's the kid's name-is eight years old. He told me Rudy drove a dark blue, three-quarter-ton, long-bed Chevy pickup truck, with a winch on the front bumper, and a hydraulic lift mounted in the bed. The kid really knows his vehicles."
"That narrows the field."
"You want the license number?"
"Does your sense of humor get you in trouble, Sergeant?" Kerney asked.
"All the time." Broom read off the numbers and letters for the license plate.
"According to the kid, the truck has permanently installed wrought-iron side railings that extend above the cab. He even drew me a picture of the truck."
"Fax everything you've got to me."
"It's on the way. That question you had about those cactus plants you found in the greenhouse?"
"What about them?"
"Wanda said she found them in the canyon where Rudy was woodcutting and transplanted them to the greenhouse. She was going to give them as presents.
I don't think you've stumbled on a new hallucinogenic."
"Thanks, Sergeant."
"What do you want to do with Wanda? From what she told me, you can have her arrested for conspiracy to commit a felony."
"I take it she was cooperative?"
"You bet."
"Let's cut her a break, unless something more develops."
"Good deal."
Melody Jordan stood in the doorway of Kerney's office. He waved her inside as he hung up the telephone.
"Here's your copy of my follow-up report. Chief," she said, placing the file folder on his desk.
"Do you want a summary?"
"Please," Kerney replied.
"We found no trace evidence or foreign matter. Soil samples revealed nothing to suggest the body had been moved, but that doesn't mean anything. X rays of the bones showed nothing other than the old fracture to the upper arm. It was impossible to match the saw marks to a specific cutting instrument. We don't have a complete catalogue of hand or power saws. Nobody does; there are just too many of them. The comparisons we could make came up negative."
"Fiber samples?" Kerney asked.
"The denim we were able to identify. It's either one of two labels marketed by the same maker. The fibers embedded in the bone turned out to be a wool and cashmere blend, light brown in color. There's no way to tell what type of upper garment it was."
"Do you still think the victim's domes were expensive?"
Melody nodded her head.
"It's the kind of doming I'd like to wear if I could afford it. I've got a question about the old fracture to the left humerus. The way the bone was set looks odd to me."
"How so?"
"Either the doctor who did the job wasn't very good or there was a considerable period of time before the victim received medical attention. I'd like to consult an outside expert."
"Whom do you have in mind?"
"There's a physical anthropologist from Indiana University in residence at the School of American Research, on a sabbatical. He's also a medical doctor.
I attended one of his seminars on human remains identification.
He's top-notch in the field. I'd like to get his opinion."
"How soon can you set it up?"
Melody's cheeks colored slightly.
"I've already spoken with him. He can see me this morning. He'll do the examination gratis."