The overhead light had a very low wattage bulb. She held the holster to the window. It was a brown leather side holster, right-hand draw. Kate turned it over. Challenger 1-C.

George Lawrence, leather crafter to the stars. At her look he said, Okay, I admit I know less than nothing about guns and gun paraphernalia, but I know that much. The light from the window wasn‘t enough. She turned on the desk light and held the holster directly beneath it so they could see inside. The front and rear sights have left indentations in the leather.

The trigger guard and the cylinder, too.

Kate regarded the holster with a somber expression. You think the pistol belonged to Lyda?

Jim shook his head. Let‘s leave that up to Brillo‘s boys. I‘ll send it in with the pistol and the body.

Kate bagged the holster, and the small shoulder bag Jim had found suspended from a hanger beneath a down jacket. It contained a wallet with Lyda‘s driver‘s license, a credit card and a debit card, a lipstick, a comb, and some peppermints. Jim shook his head. It‘s no wonder the American economy went broke. None of the people involved in whatever the hell we‘re calling this were into conspicuous consumption, that‘s for damn sure. Let‘s bag her and get her to town. A small crowd gathered to watch as the two of them brought the black body bag down the steps and set it gently into the back of the pickup that someone had backed to the door. Mutt escorted them down the stairs and gave the crowd the business end of her yellow stare. They took an instinctive giant step back. At the back of it Kate saw Johnny and Van. She knew they were working days, and realized that it must be past six o‘clock.

Jim sealed the door to Lyda‘s room. They left Mutt on guard and walked over to the admin building. Kate gave Johnny and Van the high sign to follow at a discreet distance.

Truax came downstairs to meet them. Haynes was not in evidence. The room was hushed, people speaking in whispers and sneaking covert glances at Jim. It wasn‘t every day you saw a state trooper march into your office and take charge. It wasn‘t every day, Kate thought, that these people saw Vern Truax take orders. She was unaware of how much she and Mutt added to the respectful, uneasy, and expectant silence.

Who lived in the rooms on either side of her? Jim said.

No one, they were both empty. The camp‘s not anywhere near full capacity. Lyda has been . . . Lyda was assigning every other room where she could, to give people some privacy.

I found a guy who lived a couple of doors down, Kate said. He says he heard female voices in the hall about ten o‘clock, but he didn‘t recognize them. There are two other women bunking in the same trailer. Both of them were watching a movie in the TV lounge in the trailer next door, and got back about then, they think. I talked to them, and they said they didn‘t see Lyda after dinner last night. Jim nodded. I want to go through her desk. And we‘ll need her personnel file. Truax opened a file drawer and tabbed through it, producing a folder and handing it over.