“Not that I’m prejudiced or nothing,” he continued, “but I like it when whites stay with whites, blacks stay with blacks, and Mexicans stay with Mexicans. That’s how God Almighty meant for things to work. But there weren’t hardly no black women in town for Bobo to hook up with, so he was sort of a lone wolf. Then she turned up and put a smile on his face.”

If Archie wasn’t prejudiced, then Willy wasn’t deaf, either. I kept my mouth shut and let him talk.

“But now Bobo’s girlfriend, this Shelley, up and died at her place down in Naco. That’s Naco, Arizona, not Naco, Sonora, you see. So what do the cops do? This morning they haul poor ol’ Bobo’s ass into the sheriff’s office for questioning. Like they think maybe he did it. Like maybe he’s responsible for what happened to her. I was telling Angie a little while ago, it’s all so much BS. I didn’t use that word, of course, not in front of the lady. But between you and I, that’s what it is. All bullshit – and knee-deep, too.

“Bobo Jenkins may be what they call a African-American, and strong as a mule, but he’s definitely not the violent type. Wouldn’t hurt a fly. Willy and me, we’ve seen him break up some pretty bad fights in this place over the years. Bobo’s so big he could scare shit out of you by just lookin’ at you crooked, but I never saw him hurt nobody – not even when they were raising hell and really deserved it.”

Once Archie got started talking, there was no turning him off, but I was no longer paying attention. I was thinking about a closed-mouthed lady sheriff named Joanna Brady, damn her anyway! All the while she was playing coy with me, her detectives were questioning a suspect. That’s all right. The next time I saw her, I planned to ask her straight out what her investigators had learned in their interview with Bobo Jenkins. And I intended for “next time” to be soon. Now, if at all possible.

Angie had left my change lying on the bar, and so had I. Now I left a dollar tip and pushed the remainder over to Archie.

“Take this,” I said. “You and Willy have one on me. It’ll help tide you over until next month’s checks arrive.”

Archie looked at the money gratefully, as though he’d just won a lotto jackpot. He gave me a heartfelt grin. “Thanks,” he said. “Thanks a lot.”

For a change Willy didn’t bother asking what had been said. He’d seen the money pass along the bar and had figured out on his own what that meant.

“Thanks, fella,” he mumbled, once again raising a glass that still had a few modest dregs of beer in it. “You’re a gentleman,” he said. “A gentleman and a scholar.”

WHEN A DRY-EYED JENNY EMERGED from Dr. Ross’s back office, she was carrying Sadie’s blanket and collar. “Ready?” she asked.

“Which car do you want to ride in?” Butch asked.

“I’ll go with Mom,” Jenny said.

Butch nodded. “You two go on, then,” he said. “I’ll stay here to settle up with Dr. Ross.”

Joanna unlocked the Eagle, and they both climbed in. “Dr. Ross asked if we wanted to bring Sadie home to bury her,” Jenny said. “I told her no. There’ve been too many funerals. I didn’t want another one. That’s okay with you, isn’t it?” she asked.

“Jenny, sweetie, whatever you decide,” Joanna said. “It’s entirely up to you.”

“Okay, then,” Jenny said. She settled back in the car seat and closed her eyes. “Will you tell the Gs?” she asked.

“Yes,” Joanna said. “I’ll be glad to,” although “glad” wasn’t at all the right word.

Several times on the drive home, Joanna had to brush unbidden tears out of her own eyes. Sadie had been a beloved family pet. But it was more than just losing Sadie. Joanna was losing her daughter as well, losing her baby. Because Jenny must have known what was coming when she went racing back into the house to get Sadie’s blanket. Even then, she was thinking about Sadie first – putting the dog’s comfort and well-being before her own.

No, Jenny wasn’t Joanna’s baby anymore. She was a thoughtful, caring, wonderful, surprisingly mature person who put others’ needs ahead of her own. She could probably give me lessons, Joanna thought bleakly. And grateful as she was for all that – for the kind of human being Jennifer Ann Brady was becoming, there was a tiny corner of Joanna’s heart that wanted to turn back the clock so Jenny could once again be the cute, cuddly little girl she had been before.

Once out of the car at home, Tigger raced around the Eagle several times, sniffing eagerly. “He’s looking for her, isn’t he?” Jenny said.

Joanna nodded. “Yes. I suppose he is.”

Jenny called the dog to her and knelt down to hug his neck. “Come on, boy,” she said finally. “Let’s go get Kiddo. We’ll go for a ride.”

Alone, Joanna went into the house. While Jenny was with Dr. Ross, she had called in to the department to let Frank and Dispatch both know what was going on, that she would be out of radio, phone, and pager contact for the next little while. When she picked up the phone, the broken beeping of the dial tone announced that there were messages waiting. For a change she didn’t bother checking them. Instead, she dialed her former in-laws’ number.

“How terrible for Jenny,” Eva Lou Brady said when she heard the news. “Do you want Jim Bob and me to come out and spend some time with her? We’d be glad to.”

“No,” Joanna said, “that’s not necessary. She’s handling it amazingly well. She’s out saddling up Kiddo right now. A long ride will do both her and Tigger a world of good.”

“Sounds just like her daddy,” Eva Lou offered. “That’s the way Andy always was, too. Whenever there was a crisis, he’d go off by himself to think things over and come to terms with whatever it was. Don’t you worry about Jenny, Joanna.” Eva Lou added. “She’s one tough little cookie. She’ll be fine.”

Joanna’s next call was to her own mother. “Oh, dear,” Eleanor Lathrop Winfield said. “Is Jenny all right?”

“She’s fine,” Joanna said.

“That’s the problem with having dogs,” Eleanor went on with barely a pause. “You just get used to them and before you know it, they get old and die on you. Of course, Jenny can always get another one. Heaven knows there are enough unwanted dogs in this world, although why you’d want to have two, I can’t imagine.”

Joanna Brady closed her eyes and wished her mother could somehow be different than she was.

“I just heard Butch drive up,” Joanna said. “Have to go.”

“All right,” Eleanor said. “You let Jenny know I’m thinking about her.”

You may be thinking about her, Joanna thought grimly, but we’re all better off with her not knowing what you’re thinking.

Butch came into the house and dropped his keys on the counter. “I thought we’d bring Sadie home and bury her somewhere out here on the ranch, but Dr. Ross said Jenny didn’t want us to. So I let it go. What do you think?”

“Jenny told me she was tired of funerals.”

“You can hardly blame her for that,” Butch replied. “Where is she?”

“Out riding,” Joanna told him. “She took Tigger along. I thought it was probably the best thing for both of them.”

Butch nodded. They were standing in the kitchen with their arms wrapped around each other when the phone rang.

“Don’t answer,” Butch said. “Let it go to voice mail.”

“I’d better not,” Joanna said, pulling away. “I’ve been unavailable all afternoon. It could be important.”

She plucked the cordless phone off the counter. “Brady/ Dixon residence,” she said.

“Sheriff Brady?” Dave Hollicker asked. He sounded excited.

“Hi, Dave,” she told him. “How’s it going? Are you back from Tucson already?”

“No, I’m still here. At the crime lab. But I’ve got something for you.”

“What?”

“Ever hear of sodium azide?”

“Never. What is it?”

“It’s the propellant they use in cars to make air bags work. It ignites, and the resulting explosion inflates the bag.”