“Ever say he was unhappy with his marriage?” I ask.

Dan doesn’t answer right away.

I give him a little push. He’s holding back. “What’s on your mind, Dan?”

“Oh, I don’t know. One time he told me, now he was a little drunk, he said that Ida didn’t always do what he wanted her to do.”

“What did he mean, if you know?” Sheriff asks.

Dan looks at me. He’s embarrassed about something.

“It’s fine. Go ahead.”

He nods. “Okay. It creeped me out. He told me that he’d trained her to do what he wanted and lately she’d been holding back.”

Ruth Turner’s “hand-picked” comes to mind just then.

“You mean sexually?” I ask.

He nods again, his face now pink. “Yeah, that’s the way I took it.”

We talk a bit more, mostly about his artwork. Sheriff asks if he knows any of the other neighbors and if they were close to the Wheatons.

“Old Maxine used to have the kids over,” Dan says. “Said they were nice kids. That relationship fizzled out; not sure why.”

“I chatted with her already,” I say.

He gives me a smile that’s almost a wink. It’s disarming. “You see her cats? Merritt called her Crazy Cat Lady.”

I smile. “I thought one of them was going to go home with me. Or at the very least attach itself to my calf.”

“No shit,” he says. “I have one showing up here every now and then. I imagine cats don’t like living in those conditions. Her heart is in the right place, but anything over two cats is too many.”

“Do you know the people holed up in the mobile?” I ask.

“Nope,” he says. “Place has been abandoned for years. No power. Surprised it’s still intact. Guess some people just need a roof over their heads and don’t care what it’s like. Meth-heads stayed there for a few months. They’re gone now. I think whoever has it now uses it on weekends only.”

“Some vacation getaway,” Sheriff says.

“I guess you could call it that,” Dan says.

“What about the Torrances?”

“Those gals keep to themselves. Just like everybody out here, I guess. I haven’t seen either in months. Last time I was over there was to return one of their Nubians. She got loose, ended up way over here. Regina was glad to get her back. Amy was inside and didn’t come out to say hello. Regina went in and got me a nice brick of their cheese. Give a big hello from me, when you speak to them. Always liked those girls and how they ditched the city to make a life out here. Kind of like Little House in the Big Woods.”

Sheriff and I thank him for his time. I hand him my card.

“Please call if you have anything to add,” I say.