“I might have,” Tarpin admitted. “Frankly, I don’t remember. It was a long time ago.”

“How long has Darrell been with the group?”

“Three, four years, I think. Go ask him.”

“I will,” Decker said. “Do you know if Darrell and Ernesto knew each other?”

“No, sir, I would not know.”

“Have you ever heard of a guy named Ricky Moke?”

“No, Lieutenant, I don’t know the name.”

“Darrell told my men that Ricky was also a member of the Preservers of Ethnic Integrity.”

“That very well could be. Like I said, PEI has over two thousand members.”

The stone face was back, so Decker couldn’t tell if he was lying. “What can you tell me about Darrell Holt…when he was at the camp?”

“Bright boy, but very troubled.”

“How was he troubled?”

“Acting out all the time. Lord knows Merv and Dee tried. Darrell wasn’t going to have it. Like I said, he settled down on his own.”

“Did he talk to you much?”

“Not too much.”

“What about Ernesto?”

“What about him?”

“Did he talk to you?”

“All the boys talk to me, Ernesto included. I don’t encourage it…the Baldwins don’t like it. It interferes with their therapy.” He faced Decker. “I’ll tell you one thing, Lieutenant. Ernesto felt bad about what he’d done to the temple—genuine remorse. What do Ernesto’s problems have to do with the murder anyway?”

“Right now, we don’t know who the intended victim was. Could be Baldwin. But maybe it was Ernesto.”

“Why would it be Ernesto?” Tarpin asked. “He’s just a kid.”

“Let me turn it around on you, Mr. Tarpin. Why would it be Baldwin?”

“Because the Baldwins dealt with some really bad kids—psychos with the flat, lizard eyes that you see on snipers. The doctors tried, but some kids are beyond redemption.”

“But why murder someone up here…in the mountains? Bad access, hard to escape, plus you have all these witnesses and potential enemies.”

“Not if the man was a survivalist.”

“Are you saying the boy was a graduate of the camp?”

“Maybe.” Tarpin faced him. “Why do you think the intended hit was Ernesto?”

Decker hesitated. How to talk without revealing too much. “To this day, I don’t believe he acted alone in the vandalism. I think Ernesto might have fallen into bad company, had remorse about it, and maybe some of those neo-Nazis were coming after him.” Decker tapped his pencil against his pad. “Did he ever mention a young woman named Ruby Ranger?”

Again, Tarpin broke into a disaffected stare. “Ernesto talked about her from time to time. She sounded like a bad egg.”

“Was she ever a patient of the Baldwins? Or don’t the Baldwins take girls?”

“They take anyone who needs them. I don’t know about Ruby Ranger. Why don’t you look her up in the office files?”

“That requires a subpoena.”