Skeleton Canyon

In the resulting investigation, the cops had lost their jobs, although none of them actually went to prison. An ensuing flurry of civil lawsuits, shades of California ’s Rodney King, had put a big hole in Yuma County ’s legal contingency fund.

“So you’re our local lady sheriff, are you?” Alf said with what was no doubt calculated to be an engaging grin. “Glad to meet you.”

He held out his hand. Joa

“I haven’t exactly,” he returned. “Unless the Bisbee City limits come all the way out here. My wife and I live at the hired help’s compound just a ways back up the road here. Mr. O’Brien was good enough to set aside six mobile homes for those of us who work here, except for Mrs. Vorevkin, the housekeeper. She has a room here at the house.”

Hastings ’s pocket radio squawked to life. As the operations manager walked away to answer his summons in private, Joa

“What’s he doing here?” she asked.

Voland frowned. “As near as I can tell, he’s probably doing the same thing he was doing before-keeping America safe for Americans, only on a private basis, this time, not a public one.”

“Have we had any complaints?”

“Not so far,” Voland answered. “My guess is he’s been keeping a pretty low profile.”

“Did you tell him we don’t tolerate that kind of behavior around here?”

“The subject didn’t come up,” Voland said.

“Never mind,” Joa

At six-four, Chief Deputy Voland towered over Joa

As a consequence, in her dealings with Dick Voland, Joa

“Nothing much so far,” he said. “Ernie just got here a little while ago. He’s inside talking to the parents. You can go on in, if you want to.”

“How are the O’Briens holding up?” Joa

“About how you’d expect,” Voland answered. “The mother is brokenhearted; the father is pissed. If I were Bria

As soon as Joa

“Yes,” the woman said. “Of course. This way, please.”

Inside, away from the blazing heat, the interior of the air-conditioned house felt almost chill. As Joa

Surely they’re not originals, Joa

But then, thinking about the razor wire-topped chain-link fence and the ATV-mounted security guards, the video monitoring system, and what was no doubt a trained guard dog, she reconsidered. Maybe this was original artwork after all.

Al the far end of the long hallway, the housekeeper paused. “You wait,” she said.

Before Joa

Feeling as though she were standing in a chapel, Joa

“Sheriff Brady?”

Like a child caught doing something she shouldn’t, Joa

Joa

“I’m sorry,” Joa

Katherine smiled sadly and nodded. “I know what you mean. I’ve spent the better part of the afternoon on my knees there, praying. Both pieces, the prie-dieu and the statue, came from a Sisters of Silence convent in upstate New York. When the Cistercian Order closed the place down, they asked Sotheby’s to auction off all the contents. The prie-dieu and the statue had both been in the mother superior’s private chapel. I was glad David was able to buy them so we could keep them together.”

Katherine stopped abruptly, as though the customary graciousness of telling visiting guests about her objets d’art had somehow outdistanced the painful circumstances that had brought this particular visitor into her home. “Sorry,” she said. “Detective Carpenter and my husband are out back by the pool. If you’ll come this way.”

Katherine O’Brien led Joa

An empty wheelchair sat parked next to the edge of the pool. In the pool itself, a silver-haired man Joa