“It’s a bit melodramatic, but I took it as a good sign,” I said.

“What are your plans for tonight?”

“I was expecting to head home, but now I think I’ll hang out until we know what we’ve got down there.”

“You can’t go back to the Sun Bonnet.”

“No, but there are other motels.”

“Spend the night at my place. Tannie leaves first thing tomorrow morning. You’ll survive one night on the couch. I’ve done it before myself. Meanwhile, we can lock your car in my garage and get it off the street in case the son of a bitch comes looking for it.”

“If I stay, I’ll either need to do laundry or borrow some underwear.”

“We’ll do both.”

“This is such guy stuff. I love it,” Tannie remarked, taking in the various gatherings of men.

Detective Nichols joined Tim Schaefer on the far side of the road, introducing himself to Jake and Steve Ottweiler. After a few more minutes of conversation, Nichols returned to us. He knew by then that the Ottweilers owned the property and that Daisy was the only child of the missing Violet Sullivan. He introduced himself to Daisy, and I could see her taking him in-glasses, clean-shaven, nice smile. There was a shift in her posture. Clearly she found him attractive.

He glanced at the clusters of onlookers out by the road. Even with their limited line of sight, there was something compelling about the work. “I’m about to have the deputies clear these people out of here. This is not a spectator sport. If we need to bring in additional equipment or manpower, I don’t want to have to work around all the looky- loos and parked cars. I’m going to have you give the deputy contact numbers in case I need to get in touch. I’d appreciate your keeping quiet about anything you’ve seen or heard. We don’t want details getting out. The less information we have in circulation, the better.”

“It’s all right if we stay?” Daisy asked.

“As long as you do what you’re told and keep out of the way.”

“How long will it take? I know you can’t say exactly…”

“I’m guessing two days. No point being hasty and damaging the car beyond what nature’s already done.”

“But you haven’t found anything?”

“Not so far. I understand your concern about your mother and I’ll keep you informed. As soon as we free the car, we’ll take it to the impound lot. We’ve got a storage facility, where we can warehouse the vehicle while we go over it. Right now we have no idea what evidence we’ll find, if any, after all this time. What about your father; have you talked to him?”