Town this size, it's what the kids do for fun. That and throw paint balloons out the back of their trucks. Not like when I was young. My dad would've pounded me bloody and that'd've been the end of that."

"You ever had a car stolen from the shop before?"

"Not before and not since. I put up a fence with concertina wire and that took care of it." He turned his attention from the TV. "What's your interest?"

Dolan's expression was bland. "We're cleaning out our files, doing follow-up on old crime reports. Most of it's administrative work."

"I see." Ruel stepped on his cigarette and then placed the flattened butt in a Miracle Whip jar that was nearly filled to the brim. He held the jar out to Dolan who stepped on his cigarette and added it to the collection: Ruel was saying, "I'm not allowed to smoke inside, especially when the granddaughters visit. Justine thinks it's bad for their lungs so Edna makes me come out here. Justine can be moody if she I doesn't get her way."

"Why'd you hang on to the car?"

Ruel drew back and made a face as though Dolan were dense. "That Mustang's a classic. 1966."

"Couldn't have been a classic then. The car was only three years old."

"I told you I got the car for free," he said. "Once we finish the restoration, it'll be worth somewhere in the neighborhood of fourteen thousand dollars. Now I'd call that a profit, wouldn't you?"

"Mind if we take a look?"

"Help yourself. I got five of them back there; one sweet little GT Coupe, silver frost with the black vinyl top tom up. Doesn't run yet and the body needs work, but if you're interested, we could talk money and maybe make a deal."

"My car's fine, thanks."

Dolan lit another cigarette as the two of us trooped through high grass to a rutted dirt lane overgrown with weeds that led to the second of Ruel McPhee's garages. The entire area had been undercut by gopher tunnels, and my foot occasionally sank into a softly crumbling hole. The garage was positioned so that its backside was to us, its double doors facing a flat field beyond. We could see the faintly defined path where the lane had originally been laid out, possibly in anticipation of a second house on the property. Three additional vehicles were visible in the area immediately in front of us. We checked those cars first, lifting their respective car covers like a series of ladies' skirts. The two I peeked at were in poor shape, and I didn't think they'd ever amount to more than yard ornaments. While we made our inspection, I said, "You think someone used the vehicle to drive the body to Lompoc?"