“Oh my God, he was so dumb,” she said, laughing. “Didn’t last five minutes and then he tells me he loves me.”

“Ick.”

“Yep.”

“Is that it?” Tashi said. “That can’t be it. Is that the old man’s house?”

“Start recording,” Jessica said, slowing and turning up a dirt hill. “We’re here.” At the top of the hill was a ramshackle dwelling slapped together with old boards, tin, and lots of plastic sheeting. A big, rangy hound appeared at the top of the drive, baying and moaning. A half dozen more dogs, looking of the same breed and type, joined the hound. They were all white with patches of black and brown, long, droopy ears, and long legs.

“Son of a bitch,” Tashi said. “I’m not getting out. I hate dogs. A chihuahua bit me when I was a kid and I still have the scar.”

A little old man with jug ears came out of the house, bald and slump-shouldered, wearing nothing but a pair of khaki shorts and rubber boots. He held a big stick and started swatting at the pack of dogs. “Go on, git,” he said, yelling. “Git. You sorry-ass bastards.”

Tashi let down her passenger window. “Mr. Royce?”

The old man smiled and licked his dry, cracked lips. His face covered in white whiskers. Skin chapped red, with a bulbous nose. Clear blue eyes. “Didn’t I tell you little girls to call me Sweet Daddy? Y’all come on inside. These dogs won’t hurt you a bit. They ain’t nothin’ but bark.”

Tashi rolled up the window and turned to Jessica, who turned off the ignition. “OK. I’m not worried about the dogs,” Tashi said. “But this old coot? Holy shit.”

“Second-in-command under Sheriff Hamp Beckett.”

“Jesus.” Tashi nodded, took a deep breath, and opened the car door. “OK. OK.” The old man saw the big microphone in her hand as she moved toward him. He stared at her for a few seconds and then broke into a big grin.

“Didn’t think y’all would ever find me, did you?” he said. “Ain’t it pretty out here?”

*   *   *

“Why are we out here again, Sheriff?” Reggie Caruthers asked.

“Not a bad question, Reggie,” Quinn said. “Don’t blame you asking. But if I told you, you’d think I might’ve gone insane.”

“I heard you told the folks who owned this land you were looking for a body?” Reggie said, toeing at the dirt in the wide-open field. “And you might know right where to find it?”

“It’s probably nothing,” Quinn said. “And it’s probably best we keep this whole matter between us. I made a promise to my wife. And being a married man, you know what that’s all about.”