“Why this struck utter terror into the sheriff I’m not sure, but given some of the rumors of what went on in Ruby River Parish, including the cock fighting (which isn’t illegal in Louisiana, by the way), I guessed he didn’t want the FBI snooping around, so he agreed to the terms.

“In spite of Pops trying to restrain me I followed the sheriff all the way to his car, hammering on him about those two bodies: ‘You’ve got to check and see who’s missing! I’m telling you, I saw it. Two bodies, just dumped out there. You’ve got to search.’

“ ‘One thing at a time,’ Pops said finally. ‘Let them check out the house. And then if you think you can pinpoint the place where this stranger dumped the bodies, then we’ll insist on a search.’

“Finally the sheriff and his snickering deputy were gone from the property, and Aunt Queen and Pops had ahold of me and told everybody else to leave the kitchen so we could be alone.

“Patsy was pretty ticked off that she couldn’t stay, but Pops gave her one of the worst glowering looks I’ve ever seen on his face, and she finally retreated, in a sulk, to her apartment over the shed.

“A bitter lecture came from Pops as to my having disobeyed Aunt Queen by going out there by myself, about my having ‘stolen’ his pistol, and some strong statements about how I was in real danger from myself now, and it was time for me to leave Blackwood Farm and go out into the world.

“ ‘What do you mean “out into the world”?’ I asked. ‘Can’t you see these pictures! There’s this gold tomb out there, Pops, I’ve got to find out what’s in it, and then there’s the house itself. I’m not going anywhere. Pops, you know what I want to do,’ I went on, full throttle. ‘I want to run electricity out there to that house, you know, run the cables right through the swamp. I want to clean it up and make it livable again, a real Hermitage, but I can’t do that until they collect and analyze Rebecca’s remains. I can’t do that until I’ve done right by Rebecca, even though if truth be told Rebecca doesn’t always do right by me.’

“He looked sad and tired, moving slowly to exasperation.

“But I kept at him.

“ ‘And they have to catch this stranger,’ I said, ‘this murderer, this miscreant who is dumping bodies in our swamp.’

“There came a final change in Pops, a change I’d seen many times in the past. He became angry, angry with me, the way I’d seen him with Patsy.