"No," I said. "Find anything interesting?"

"Mostly they were journal reprints. Claire's own publications and some articles related to her alcoholism research. But there was also a plastic bag full of newspaper clippings. Photocopies, actually, and when I read them, I knew I had to call Detective Sturgis. They were all about a mass murder that took place sixteen years ago-"

"The Ardullo family," I said. "Ardis Peake."

Silence. "So you already know."

"Peake's at Starkweather. He was one of Claire's patients."

"Oh, my… So Claire was interested in him before she went there-maybe he was one of the reasons she took the job. But why would that be?"

"Good question," I said. "Where are the clippings now?"

"Right here in front of me-I won't touch another thing, haven't even gone near the second box. Someone can pick them up any time before eight tonight, and I'll be back in around seven A.M."

"Thanks," I said. "And thank you for calling. Soon as I can reach Detective Sturgis, I'll let him know."

"This Peake," she said. "He's still in there-incarcerated?"

"Yes."

"So it couldn't have been him," she said, sounding relieved. "I started to read the clippings. The things he did… Anyway, that's it."

"One more thing," I said. "Did Claire ever mention loving the movies?"

"Not to me. Why?"

"We've been told it was a main form of recreation for her."

"I suppose that wouldn't surprise me," she said. "Sure. I could see that-losing herself in fantasy."

"You saw her as someone with an active fantasy life?"

"I saw her as someone who might've depended upon an active fantasy life. Because she didn't-I don't want to be cruel, but the truth is, she just didn't seem to have much of a real life."

Interested in Peake before she'd taken the job.

Her project. Trying to increase his verbal output.

Or so she'd claimed. What about him had really caught her interest?. Stashed the clippings along with her research data.

Because she considered the clippings data?

Why would an alcoholism researcher raised in Pittsburgh and schooled in Cleveland be concerned with a sixteen-year-old atrocity in a California farm town?

A town that no longer existed.

I thought about the abolition of Treadway. An entire community obliterated. What role had been played by Ardis Peake's savage night?

Peake's blood walk… I wrestled with it some more. Claire, a researcher, coming upon something…

It was three-forty, and Heidi Ott still hadn't called. I checked out with my service and drove back to the library.

Chapter 18

First I photocopied and reviewed the murder articles I'd pulled up yesterday. No new insights. Using "Ardullo" and "Ardis Peake" as keywords, I went back twenty years before the crimes and pulled up five references, all from the L.A. Times. November 24,1929:

ARDULLO LEADS INDIANS

TO GRIDIRON VICTORY Red Schoen, Times sportswriter

Two fourth-quarter record-breaking runs by star quarterback Henry "Butch "Ardullo led the Stanford Indians to a 21-7 victory over the UC Bears in last Sunday's cliffhanger game.

Ardullo, already renowned for his passing, showed his leg-stuff, accomplishing a pair of unimpeded Mercury imitations to the touchdown line, 70 and 82 yards respectively. The capacity crowd showed its appreciation with a standing ovation, and professional scouts, alerted to Ardullo's stellar performance all season, were reputed to be eyeing the husky junioK No one will be surprised when Butch is tapped on the shoulder for stardom, maybe even while still in his cap and gown. More important to assembled Pah Alto stalwarts and alums, a Rose Bowl place for the Redskins is all but assured.

Decembers, 1929:

INJURY SIDELINES GRIDIRON STAR Red Schoen, Times sportswriter

A broken femur suffered during practice yesterday led to Stanford great Henry "Butch " Ardullo being carried from the field on a stretcher.

Ardullo, the Pacific College League's high-scoring quarterback, had been expected to lead the Indians in their upcoming Rose Bowl game with USC. Doctors treating the injured junior have pronounced his football career over.

August 12,1946:

FARMERS GROUP SAYS IMMIGRANT LABOR

NECESSARY TO FEED STATE John M. D'Arcy, Times staff writer

A consortium of California fruit growers met with Deputy Agriculture Secretary Clement W. Chase in Washington this week to request relaxation of immigration laws in order to permit increased numbers of "wetback " laborers from Mexico.

The Affiliated Agricultural Network claims that tighter immigration laws will raise labor costs to the point of "severe abuse of the domestic consumer," according to AANpresident Henry Ardullo, a peach and walnut grower from Treadway, California.

"These people," said Ardullo, "can come up here and earn ten times what they can down in Mexico and still give us excellent labor value. They do jobs no one else wants, so American workers don 'tget hurt. Meanwhile, Mrs. Housewife gets to go to the grocery store and stock up on the finest, most nutritious produce ever grown on this planet at a price that makes healthful eating the only logical choice."

Anti-immigration groups oppose the variance. Secretary Chase said he will consider the petition and issue a ruling.

January 14,1966:

RESIST LAND BOOM LURE, SAYS GROWER Stephen Bannister, Times business writer

Farmers need to resist the temptation to sell their land at high marketprices, says a prominent Kern County fruit grower, because the future of the family farm is at stake.

"Quick profits pose a difficult temptation, and Lord knows farming can be difficult, what with all the government restrictions," said Henry Ardullo, a walnut and peach farmer from Treadway, California, and past president of the Affiliated Agricultural Network, a group representing the interests of independent growers. "But the farm is the soul of California. This state is America's breadbasket, and if we cut off the hand that feeds us in the name of easy money, what are we leaving to our children? Golf courses and country clubs are pretty, but try feeding your family with turf grass."

Ardullo's comments were made at a GOP fund-raiser at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco, where he shared the dais with State Senators William Greben and Rudy Torres, and real estate developer Sheridan Krafft.

March 5,1975:

OBITUARIES

HENRY ARDULLO, COLLEGE GRIDIRON STAR AND AGRICULTURAL EXEC

Henry "Butch " Ardullo died at his ranch in Treadway, California, this past Wednesday. Renowned as a quarterback at Stanford University, where he broke several records for running and passing, Ardullo received a B.A. in business in 1930. He had been widely expected to enter professional football until an injury ended his athletic career.

Upon graduation, he joined the family enterprise, a large walnut and peach plantation begun by his father, Joseph (Giuseppe) Ardullo, an immigrant from Naples who came to California in 1883, found work as a fruit vendor in San Francisco and invested his profits in real estate in and around the Kern County community of Treadway, where he planted hundreds of fruit trees from stock acquired in England, Italy and Portugal.

Upon Joseph Ardullo s death in 1941, Henry Ardullo took over the business, Ardullo AA Fruit, which he renamed and incorporated as BestBuy Produce, and continued to purchase land, amassing large private real estate holdings in the lower central valley region. Elected as president of Affiliated Agricultural Network, a post World War II consortium of independent growers, in 1946, Ardullo represented grower interests in Washington, including a successful petition for relaxation of immigration laws to allow increased numbers of farm laborers into California. He was a member ofKiwanis, the Treadway Chamber of Commerce, and the Farm League and a contributor to the Republican party; he served as central valley chairman of United Way from 1953 to 1956.