Norm hesitated. “Not really. Not directly. But I did ask about him in my interviews with some of the mine workers.”

“Why?”

Norm took a moment to decide what information he was willing to share with us. “Ruby’s experience at the mine was different from most of the other women’s. I wanted to know why she wasn’t getting harassed. I wondered whether her being married to a deputy gave her some kind of protection.”

“Did it?” I asked.

“I think so, but I wasn’t able to prove it. Nobody admitted anything about Ajax intimidating or threatening them. However, there was one incident that made me curious. It was all hearsay, and I was never able to confirm it. In fact, everyone I talked to denied that it happened, but that only made me more suspicious.”

Darrell leaned forward in his chair. “What was it?”

“According to one of the women on our side, Ruby did have something bad happen to her at the mine. This was well before the lawsuit was filed. Probably five or six years ago. My witness insists she saw a mine worker expose himself to Ruby and try to get her to give him a hand job. He was new to the job. An out-of-towner. What makes it interesting is that the mine fired him the next day. He left town and never came back.”

“But your witness doesn’t know who he was?”

“No. She doesn’t remember his name. I asked Ruby about the incident in her deposition, and she told me that nothing like that had ever happened. I couldn’t find a single worker who would back up the story, either. The really strange thing is, it’s like this guy never existed. I went through the mine’s employment records, trying to find anyone who was hired and fired within a short period of time. No luck. They must have scrubbed their records.”

“What does that have to do with Ajax?” I asked.

“That I could establish in court? Not a thing. I couldn’t tie him to this at all.” Norm shook his head. “But in the dozens of harassment incidents we’ve documented against the women at the mine, this is the only time that the mine ever took action against one of the men. Someone made a move on Ruby, and they immediately shut it down and got rid of him. Now if this had happened later, after the lawsuit got filed, I could see them wanting to protect her, because she was on their side. But back then? It doesn’t make sense. Why help Ruby and ignore what was happening to the others? The only answer I could come up with is that Ajax got involved. Either alone or by getting his uncle to intervene as the sheriff. That was speculation on my part, but that’s what my gut tells me. And I trust my gut.”