"Too bad. Otherwise, you could pester him instead of me," Ruel said. He paused to light a cigarette with a wood match that he dropped in his jar. "Point is, I don't know beans about a murder and my son knows less. Cornell should be here shortly to fetch the girls and that nasty dog of theirs. Talk to him yourself. Waste of time, you ask me."

"That could well be. Police work, we pursue a lot of lines that don't pan out. For instance, we've been curious about a tarp that was dumped with the girl's body. Anybody mention that?"

"What kind of tarp?"

"Canvas. Looks like a car cover or a drop cloth. Ms. Millhone saw a couple tarps at the shop and wondered if one of yours might've come up missing at the time."

"Nope. Can't help. Happens I own a bunch of tarps, but I never had one taken and couldn't care less if I did. Tarps are cheap. Take a stroll through the Kmart, if you doubt my word."

"What about a car cover? You remember if there was one on the Mustang when it was taken?"

"I already answered that. All my tarps and car covers are accounted for."

"You buy those in town?"

"You think I send off with box tops? Two of you are like dogs, chasing your own tails. Try something new. I'm tired of tarps."

Stacey and I exchanged a look while Ruel returned his attention to the TV set. Stacey shifted his weight. "Do you happen to remember a young woman in town by the name of Charisse Quinn? Same age as your kids, so you might have met her through them."

"Doesn't sound familiar. She the one who got killed?"

"Yes, sir."

"I don't remember things like that."

I touched Stacey's arm, leaning close so I could murmur a question of my own. He nodded, saying, "What's the story on Justine's father? Medora told us yesterday the man deserted her."

"Poor specimen of a fella, if you want to know the truth."

"We heard he was a womanizer."

"Everybody knew that... except his wife. Not to speak ill of the woman, but she has a serious drinking problem, has had for years. Edna and I, we don't hold with hard liquor or spirits of any sort. It's lone thing Justine's always appreciated about us."

"You were talking about her dad's womanizing. What's the story on that?"

"He used to drive up to Palm Springs to meet the ladies. He'd tell Medora he was working late and go keep company with floozies."

"You know this for a fact or was that just the gossip around town?"