“All those years, I kept waiting for a call, a letter, a telegram, anything to let me know that my son was alive. Every time I returned to this house, I checked the answering machine. Every time the mail arrived, I looked for Cale’s handwriting. It became an obsession. Pointless, but I couldn’t help myself. Then one day I stopped.”

Bogan drew air into his nose, slowly released it. Then he looked me straight in the eye.

“I don’t know what happened back then. Cale took off to marry his girlfriend? Went into hiding? Got himself killed? You tell me. I gave up trying to figure it out.”

“Herbert Hoover?”

Galimore and I were back in the car.

“I thought Bogan was going all Archie Bunker,” I said.

“You’re far too young to remember All in the Family.”

“Save the enchantment for Reta.”

“You think Bogan’s a racist?”

“Did you hear how he pronounced ‘diversification,’ as though it were a dirty word?” I hooked quotation marks in the air. “‘Back in the day everyone knew whose sport it was.’ Give me a break.”

“The man likes cats.”

“A point in his favor. I also think Bogan’s a homophobe.” More quote marks. “‘Men were men’? Did the dolt really say that?”

“The line was good enough for Archie and Edith.”

“I know there are rumors, but has anyone in NASCAR actually come out?”

“Evan Darling. He’s a Grand-Am driver. But most stay deep in the closet.”

“If Bogan’s attitude is typical, I can see why.”

“There’s a growing fan base among the gay community. Quite a few websites. Gaytona.com. Queers4Gears.com. GayWheels.com.”

“Who knew?”

“You talked to Bogan more than I did. What was your take?”

“His grief over losing Cale seemed genuine. But his view of Cindi Gamble doesn’t square with what I’ve heard from others.”

“What others?” Galimore turned north onto Providence Road.

“J. D. Danner, the leader of the Patriot Posse. Danner thought Cindi had a good shot at driving NASCAR.”

“Maybe Bogan was biased. Don’t parents always think their kids are better athletes or artists or whatever compared to everyone else’s kids?”

“Maybe.” I thought a moment. “A teacher named Ethel Bradford said Cindi was highly intelligent. And Lynn Nolan, a high school friend, described her as scary-smart.”

“Bogan wasn’t saying Cindi was dumb. He was saying she was dull.”

I remembered Galimore’s phone interruption. “I hope your call wasn’t bad news.”

“It wasn’t good. There’s a feeding frenzy going on at the Speed-way. I’ve got to get back.”

I checked my watch: 3:20. No wonder I was hungry. There was nothing at home. I’d have to stop for groceries.

Suddenly I remembered something that had fallen through the cracks.

“Lynn Nolan mentioned another of Cindi’s friends. Maddy Padgett. Slidell was going to try to locate her.”

“Did he?”