He led us to a four-season porch overlooking the backyard and the thick forest. Norm’s house had started small, but he’d expanded it with a second story, a finished basement, a detached garage and workshop, and a multilevel deck, all of which he’d built himself, with help from his son, Will. In the middle of the snowy lawn, I could see an elaborate swing set Norm had constructed years earlier. I’d pushed Will there when he was just a little boy, but since then, he’d turned seventeen, grown to six foot two, and become a high school running back.

I took a seat on a wicker sofa, but Ajax remained standing, as if he could use his height to intimidate Norm. I knew that wouldn’t work. Norm simply eased into a cushioned armchair and took a sip from a glass of orange juice. He wore an L.L.Bean checkered flannel shirt, cream-colored khakis, and heavy wool socks with no shoes. He always looked comfortable in his surroundings, whether it was at home, at the courthouse, or deep in the woods.

Norm was in his midforties, rangy and lean, with thinning blond hair and long sideburns. He was a rarity around here, in that he wasn’t a native. He’d been born in Madison but had grown up hunting and fishing in this part of the world thanks to his father. After he graduated from law school and married his wife, Kathy, he’d whisked her away to Black Wolf County, bought this house, and built up a legal practice in an area that didn’t trust lawyers. People had mixed feelings about him from the start. He was a Sierra Club Democrat in a region where mine workers thought the environment was code for taking away their jobs. Even so, there was a legal niche to be filled in this area, and he filled it. When you got caught doing ninety with six empty cans of Schlitz in the front seat, you needed someone like Norm.

“Gordon Brink,” he said, leaping to the correct assumption about why we were there. “Wow, that’s a shock. Just horrible. I talked to the coroner about it, and he filled me in. I wouldn’t wish that kind of death on anyone. Not even Gordon.”

“The coroner told you about the crime scene?” Ajax asked with surprise.

“Oh, sure. He wouldn’t do it with anyone else, but Ross and I go way back. He knows that if you arrest somebody, I’ll probably be the one defending him. Anyway, I suppose you want to ask about the argument I had with Gordon last week, right? Ruby told you about that?”

I watched Ajax deflate as Norm took the air out of his big news. “Yeah, what was that about?”