Quinn turned to Maggie and she shrugged. Quinn knew she wanted him to help these women. This whole Brandon Taylor thing was causing some friction in the Colson household. Tashi Coleman had asked Maggie about him and Brandon having a falling-out in high school, which surprised him. The truth was Quinn barely knew the kid.

Quinn slid out of the booth. “Ask Javier for some tinfoil and some hot sauce.”

“Sorry about your lunch,” Tashi said. “This won’t take long.”

Quinn followed her out of the El Dorado to where she’d parked a little Toyota. Her friend Jessica sat on the hood and handed Tashi the big microphone they carried around everywhere they went in Jericho.

“Go ahead.”

“Did you guys win?” Tashi asked, smiling. She sat down beside Jessica on the hood of the car. Everyone was all smiles and friendly.

“Brandon’s team got beat forty-three to thirteen,” Quinn said.

“How old is Brandon?” Jessica said.

“I don’t mean to be rude,” Quinn said, “but my carne asada’s getting cold.”

Tashi crossed her arms over her chest, looking a little nervous behind the thick black glasses, biting her upper lip. “OK,” she said. “How did you know where to dig?”

“It’s an open investigation.”

“Could the body be from the time Brandon went missing?”

“We don’t know.”

“How old’s the body?” Tashi said. “And when was the victim killed?”

“Body was of a young woman,” Quinn said. “We can’t be sure yet how long it was down there.”

“Are we talking the Civil War or modern times?”

“I can’t talk about all that now,” he said. “You need to understand why we keep an open investigation closed to the public. It’s not on account of being secretive.”

Tashi held the mic in her hand. It was an odd-looking thing, about as big as a softball and covered with fuzz. Jessica stood up by the curb, arms wrapped around her waist, her blue hair looking washed out and dark at the roots. Quinn smiled at them, waiting for them to get what they needed so he could finish his damn lunch.

“Is that it?” Quinn asked.

“You’re a big hunter. Right?”

“Easier to tell you who doesn’t hunt around here than who does.”

“And you’ve been hunting since you were Brandon’s age?”

“Younger,” Quinn said. Jessica pulled the blue hair from her eyes and stared at Quinn as he stood close to their car. She wasn’t worried. She looked hungry and eager. Quinn tried to count all the piercings in her left ear but quit at eight.

“Did you ever hunt on the land where you found the body?” Tashi asked.

“Nope.”

“Never?” Jessica asked. “You got in trouble for hunting on private land before. Right? Even back when you were a little kid.”