I went back inside and returned to Cardenas. “The assumption was that Leonora had closed for the day, was cleaning up.”

“Makes sense,” he said.

“With the town being so quiet, she’d have no reason to lock up until she left.”

“People still don’t lock up, Doctor. Last year, right after I got here, a bobcat waltzed right into Mrs. Wembley’s house, managed to get in her fridge and ate a whole bunch of tuna salad. She’s eighty-nine, try changing her.”

“She the lady with the coyote?”

“How do you know about that?”

“Met your sister driving in. She’d just released a coyote trapped on an eighty-nine-year-old woman’s property.”

“Where’d Ricki release the darn thing?”

“Couple of miles out of town.”

“Meaning it’ll come right back.” He shrugged. “Up to me, I’d shoot it. Ricki’s one of those animal rights activists. Yeah, that’s Mrs. Wembley. Critters like her ’cause she’s always got open food around.”

“Is she one of the people you talked to this morning?”

“Nope, she was napping on her porch when I came by to get the trap and that woman can sleep. We can go over to her place, if you like. Lady’s got opinions on just about everything.”

“My kind of gal.”

“My ex was like that,” he said. “First you think it’s challenging. Then you get tired of being challenged.”

I laughed.

He said, “Ricki and I got divorced three months apart. Our parents split up when we were nine and now our younger brother’s making sounds like he’s about had it. Guess marrying’s not our talent — if there’s nothing else, I’m gonna close up, Doctor.”

We got into his Bronco; he U-turned and headed up the road his sister had taken past the town’s center. We came to a scatter of residences, mostly prefabs and trailers set on blocks.

No one in sight but Cardenas drove slowly, looking everywhere, the way cops do.

“So,” he said, “any ideas from seeing the scene?”

“Just how easy it would’ve been, especially after dark.”

“How so?”

“The killer could’ve come in through either door and gone out the back. Anyone develop a theory about who the main target was?”

“You mean Bright versus Tranh? Not that I heard. I’ve been assuming it was Bright, because the stranger was white, not Asian, and most nuts kill within their race. But maybe that’s limited thinking.”

“Any idea why Vicki moved here?”

He smiled. “You mean of all the godforsaken places how’d she find Ojo Negro? I couldn’t tell you. We do get immigrants from time to time, mostly Spanish. With all the surrounding ranches and vineyards, it’s kind of perfect for someone who wants to work hard and doesn’t want to be looked at too closely.”

“By who?”