rummaged in my pocket for a cigarette for a full minute before I remembered that I had probably quit smoking.
“Explain what, sheriff?”
“Well, I don’t know what. But something.”
“What would make Torkelson jump the fence? He knew it was Reuben’s property and he knew the old man didn’t want him on it. Reuben thinks Torkelson was trying to force him to sell.”
“He had to see something,” Holman said.
“Yes, he had to see something. What?”
The sheriff shrugged. “I still say you’ve got enough evidence to hold the old man for a preliminary hearing.”
“For what? Where’s he going to go?”
Holman looked up and almost smiled. “Mexico, Bill.”
“Come on.”
“I’m serious. Hell, he’s got relatives down there, just what… twenty-five miles away? If he knows we’re on him, I’ll bet you a hundred dollars that he’s gone before we can blink an eye.”
“I’m not going to throw a ninety-year-old man in jail just because of this,” I said. “He buried his dogs here. He’s got a right to do that. The rest is just conjecture.”
“He doesn’t have the right to shoot one of our leading citizens who was just out minding his own business.”
“Martin, think on that one, will you? Stuart Torkelson obviously wasn’t minding his own business. If that had been the case, he’d be home in a comfortable bed right now. He wouldn’t be dead. What we’re going to have to find out is what he was doing out here. And what someone else was doing out here.”
Holman took a deep breath and jammed both hands in his coat pockets. The rain was still light, but the small drops were icy cold, driven by the wind out of the west.
“So what are you going to do?”
“I’m going to talk to Reuben again. In the morning. And I’m going to call his grandniece as soon as I get back to the office. And I’m going to wait until the medical examiner has something concrete to go on before jumping to conclusions.”
“What’s it going to take before you figure you have enough to make an arrest?” Holman asked.
“You mean before I’ll take Reuben Fuentes into custody? A whole lot, Martin. A whole lot.”
He shook his head. “I think you’re too close to this one, Bill. I really do.” He stepped around me as if he was going to join the deputies at the hole. But he stopped, turned, and added, “If Reuben Fuentes wasn’t related to Estelle Reyes-Guzman, he’d be in the lockup right now. And you know it.”
Martin Holman’s sudden attack of spine surprised me. But he was dead wrong on all counts. Maybe he was just playing the hard-driving sheriff for Linda Rael’s benefit. That was all right, as long as he didn’t get in the way, or do something stupid on his own.
I touched Linda’s elbow. “I’m going back to the office. Want to come along?”
“Aren’t they going to rebury the dogs?” she asked. Her voice was small and she was shivering.
“No. They’ll take them for analysis. The old man didn’t press the issue, but as long as we’ve gone this far, we might as well find out what killed ’em. You never know.”
She saw the black plastic bags laid out on the ground and she turned away. “I’m ready,” she said.
We were nearly back to the village limits when she asked, “What happens now?”
I shrugged. “We wait for the medical examiner’s report on Torkelson’s corpse and any of the other physical evidence. A couple of the deputies will be working out there all day tomorrow, double-checking that we didn’t miss anything. We’ll interview the old man.” I shrugged again.
“Do you think he did it?”
“Don’t you start, now.”
She almost laughed. “Well, everyone’s heard the stories about him.”
I swung into the department parking lot and pulled up next to the gasoline pumps. “Linda, we can’t arrest a man based on what folks say they’ve heard…or what they haven’t heard. We’ll do what the evidence tells us to do.”
It was pellet snow, then,
“Explain what, sheriff?”
“Well, I don’t know what. But something.”
“What would make Torkelson jump the fence? He knew it was Reuben’s property and he knew the old man didn’t want him on it. Reuben thinks Torkelson was trying to force him to sell.”
“He had to see something,” Holman said.
“Yes, he had to see something. What?”
The sheriff shrugged. “I still say you’ve got enough evidence to hold the old man for a preliminary hearing.”
“For what? Where’s he going to go?”
Holman looked up and almost smiled. “Mexico, Bill.”
“Come on.”
“I’m serious. Hell, he’s got relatives down there, just what… twenty-five miles away? If he knows we’re on him, I’ll bet you a hundred dollars that he’s gone before we can blink an eye.”
“I’m not going to throw a ninety-year-old man in jail just because of this,” I said. “He buried his dogs here. He’s got a right to do that. The rest is just conjecture.”
“He doesn’t have the right to shoot one of our leading citizens who was just out minding his own business.”
“Martin, think on that one, will you? Stuart Torkelson obviously wasn’t minding his own business. If that had been the case, he’d be home in a comfortable bed right now. He wouldn’t be dead. What we’re going to have to find out is what he was doing out here. And what someone else was doing out here.”
Holman took a deep breath and jammed both hands in his coat pockets. The rain was still light, but the small drops were icy cold, driven by the wind out of the west.
“So what are you going to do?”
“I’m going to talk to Reuben again. In the morning. And I’m going to call his grandniece as soon as I get back to the office. And I’m going to wait until the medical examiner has something concrete to go on before jumping to conclusions.”
“What’s it going to take before you figure you have enough to make an arrest?” Holman asked.
“You mean before I’ll take Reuben Fuentes into custody? A whole lot, Martin. A whole lot.”
He shook his head. “I think you’re too close to this one, Bill. I really do.” He stepped around me as if he was going to join the deputies at the hole. But he stopped, turned, and added, “If Reuben Fuentes wasn’t related to Estelle Reyes-Guzman, he’d be in the lockup right now. And you know it.”
Martin Holman’s sudden attack of spine surprised me. But he was dead wrong on all counts. Maybe he was just playing the hard-driving sheriff for Linda Rael’s benefit. That was all right, as long as he didn’t get in the way, or do something stupid on his own.
I touched Linda’s elbow. “I’m going back to the office. Want to come along?”
“Aren’t they going to rebury the dogs?” she asked. Her voice was small and she was shivering.
“No. They’ll take them for analysis. The old man didn’t press the issue, but as long as we’ve gone this far, we might as well find out what killed ’em. You never know.”
She saw the black plastic bags laid out on the ground and she turned away. “I’m ready,” she said.
We were nearly back to the village limits when she asked, “What happens now?”
I shrugged. “We wait for the medical examiner’s report on Torkelson’s corpse and any of the other physical evidence. A couple of the deputies will be working out there all day tomorrow, double-checking that we didn’t miss anything. We’ll interview the old man.” I shrugged again.
“Do you think he did it?”
“Don’t you start, now.”
She almost laughed. “Well, everyone’s heard the stories about him.”
I swung into the department parking lot and pulled up next to the gasoline pumps. “Linda, we can’t arrest a man based on what folks say they’ve heard…or what they haven’t heard. We’ll do what the evidence tells us to do.”
It was pellet snow, then,
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