Kelly said, “But Anita came to like Travis.”

“What changed Anita’s mind was he was gentle with the kids. Soon she was letting him tell the kids stories. Then he was holding the baby, being real good with the baby. ’Course, Anita could be unpredictable, what with drinking and weed, so it wasn’t always perfect. But mostly we had peace.”

Deep drag on his cigarette. “Travis really liked that baby… man, it’s been a long time. Now you’re wanting to tell me Travis is some kind of murder-monster? No way, José. I’m no shrink but I know people pretty good and Travis is good people.”

I said, “Tell me about the night Brandi disappeared.”

“She didn’t disappear, sir. She went with him. That garbage we don’t mention by name. Now, that one was evil from the get-go, his own family was scared of him. When Brandi didn’t come back, we went right over to their place-Travis and me. His folks looked scared, said the little shitface talked about visiting with Brandi and the baby, that’s all they knew. Travis and me went searching the neighborhood. Travis took a bunch of streets, I took some others. He found the baby. Saw the blood and took her to the hospital.”

“So he knew something had happened to Brandi.”

“Brandi was hidden-that’s what the cops said, off in some bushes. The baby was out in the open, he was thinking about the baby.”

“Why’d he walk to the hospital rather than contact you?”

“Scared, wouldn’t you be?” said Brackle. “Going to jail once for something you didn’t do, now there’s a baby with blood? Not that he said it, it’s just what I figured out. That boy’s whole life was fear, I’d walk by the shed and hear him moaning, bad dreams. Daylight, there’d be this look in his eyes, what’s the word-haunted. He was haunted by what they did to him. Anyone would be, way they beat his brain around. He probably got all freaked out the cops would blame it on him. But even with that fear, he wanted to make sure the baby was okay.”

I said, “So you never talked to him about it.”

“Nope. Travis disappeared after dropping Brandeen at the hospital.”

“How’d you know it was him?”

“Cops described him. Asked if we knew who he was but we didn’t let on. We were all crazy over what happened to Brandi, didn’t want to complicate things. The main thing was find out who did it to her, and that we did tell ’em.”

I said, “Travis took a two-mile walk in the cold.”

“Travis was a walking man, sir. Filled most of his days walking.”

“Where?”

“Everywhere,” said Brackle. “But don’t go misunderstanding, there was nothing crazy to it. He just liked to walk.”

“It’s the best exercise,” said Kelly. “I used to do ten miles a day. I still do five.”

The skin around Brackle’s eyes creased. He forced himself cheerful. “Exactly, aerobic, boy wanted to be aerobic-nossir, he just liked to walk.”

I said, “How did Travis hook up with Simon?”

Kelly said, “That was years later. We hadn’t heard from him for a while, then out of the blue he called Larry to let him know he was doing better.”

“Finally got himself some help that stuck,” said Brackle.

“Where?”

“He didn’t say and I didn’t ask. He sounded good, I could tell this was different. I invited him for coffee with me and Kelly. He looked good.”

“Clear-eyed,” said Kelly. “Intelligent. That never really came out before because he was always so depressed. He said he was looking for steady employment, would do anything to make an honest buck. I knew Simon was looking for someone to manage his house. He’d been through a couple of flakes, needed someone reliable. He said sure, he’d try Travis out. It worked out great.”

I said, “Did Travis talk about what he’d been doing since the last time you saw him?”

“No, sir,” said Brackle.

“Where was he living?”

“I got the sense he’d been traveling.”

“Any idea where?”

“We didn’t get nosy with him,” said Kelly. “We were thrilled he was doing well. It worked out great for everyone. Simon thanked me for finding Travis. Travis is gentle, he’d never hurt anyone. Now I am getting kind of hungry.”

Brackle said, “Yup, dinnertime. We’d invite you to join us, sir, but we always portion for two.”

I drove back to the city. A yellow VW was parked in front of my house.

Unoccupied, cold engine, no sign of Alma Reynolds.

My remark about her mother’s pearls had scared her.

Maybe Robin had let her in.

As I climbed the stairs, a voice behind me said, “Now I’m stalking you.”

She stepped out from the side of my house, came toward me carrying a green vinyl attaché case. Brand new, tag still tied to the handle, not much different from the one Milo uses when the murder books get thick. She wore a plaid shirt, jeans, work boots. Gray hair flew in all directions. Her eyes were hot.

“Here, take it,” she said, thrusting the case. “We’re finished.”

My hands stayed at my sides.

The case touched my chest. “Don’t worry, it doesn’t tick. Take it.”

“Let’s talk.”

She snatched it away, sprang the latches. Inside were stacks of twenty-dollar bills held together by rubber bands. Atop the money, a black velvet jewelry box.

She said, “Including the damn pearl. Satisfied?”

I said, “Going for the simple life?”

“Stop being nasty. This is what you wanted, I’m giving it to you.”

“What I want is information.”

“Doesn’t this say it all?”

“It implies. Why don’t you come up and we’ll talk?”

“What? Therapy? Is there a couch? The psych board website lists this as your office. I’d think you’d be more careful, seeing as it’s your home. What if I was a sociopath?”

“Should I be worried?”

“Oh, sure, I’m packing heat.” She laughed, flipped her pockets inside out. Placing the case on the ground, she stomped to the VW, turned her back, slapped her palms on the hood. “Is this the proper position?”

“C’mon,” I said. “Just a few minutes of your time.”

She straightened and faced me. Her eyes were wet. “Sil taught me the position. He got used to doing it automatically at protests. Sometimes, the cops hit him anyway. He was a man of principle and look where it got him. So-but hell, why should I have anything nice?”

“I’m sure his principles were strong. That made finding his cash-stash doubly shocking.”

“Look,” she said, “I’m giving it to you, every bit of it, my hands are clean. Good-bye.”

“Let’s clarify a few things and that really will be the end of it.”

“So you say.”

“The way I see it, you’re the person of principle,” I said. “And I’m not the enemy.”

Arms folded across her chest. She wiped her eyes, nudged the case with a work-booted toe.

“Oh, hell, I used to be Catholic. What’s another damn confession?”