We ended up sitting together in the main lobby for lack of any place better. It was a small cheerless area clearly not intended as a waiting room. At least the ER had offered a television set and a few live green plants. I said, “You heard about the car?”

“That’s all anybody’s talking about. I guess there’s no doubt it’s hers.”

“Not in my mind. I mean, what are the chances another car would be buried out where hers was last seen?”

She shifted in her chair. “I’m going to ‘fess up to something, but I don’t want to hear you scream. You promise?”

“Scout’s honor.”

“As it so happens, I saw Foley at the Tanner property that Friday night.”

“Doing what?”

“Tinkering with a bulldozer that was parked near the road. I heard him start it up.”

“You’re positive it was Foley?”

“I couldn’t swear it was him, but who else could it be?”

“Just about anyone,” I said. “In the as-it-so-happens department, what were you doing there?”

“Ty and I had gone out to the house. We weren’t supposed to be dating, and it was the only place we could think of where we wouldn’t be seen. We were in that second-floor bedroom in front when we heard him drive up.”

“And you were… what-smoking dope? Making out?”

She rolled her eyes, tucking a strand of blond hair behind one ear. “Oh, please. None of us smoked dope in those days. We’re talking about the ‘50s. We were square as they come.”

“So you were doing what?”

“Okay, we were necking if you must know the truth. When the car pulled up, we thought it was a security guard coming to check on the house, so we hightailed it out the back and waited until we heard the ‘dozer start up. Ty figured that would cover the sound of the truck.”

“So you didn’t actually see Foley face on?”

“I just told you that. The point is, if it was him, he had plenty of time to dig a hole.”

“What kind of car? I’m assuming you’d have recognized the Bel Air.”

“Of course. Most of the time I can’t tell one kind of car from another, but I know it wasn’t Violet’s. Her car was pale and it would have stood out. There was enough of a moon that it would have been obvious.”

“What do you remember about the car? Two-door? Four-door? Light? Dark?”

She made a face, shaking her head in the negative. “I saw it, but I didn’t really look. I was scared we’d get caught and that’s all I cared about. And before you even ask, no, I didn’t tell the guys from the sheriff’s department.”

“Because you didn’t want to admit you were trespassing?”