No swing, no rockers, no cheery welcome mat by either
of the two doors. The one on the left was half glass
and no curtains blocked a view of a kitchen so spartan
and uncluttered, so lacking in soft touches of color or
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MARGARET MARON
superfluous knickknacks, that Richards instantly knew
that no woman lived here.
The door on the right opened into a large and equally
tidy office. More straight wooden chairs stood in front
of a wide desk where an open laptop and some manila
file folders lay. The top angled around to the side to
hold a sleek combination printer, fax, and copier. A
lamp sat on a low file cabinet beneath the side window
to complete the office’s furnishings. Both the desk and
the worn leather chair behind it were positioned so that
Lomax could work with his back to the rear wall and see
someone at the door before they knocked.
He sat, pulled the laptop closer and tapped on the
keys. “I’m assuming you’re only interested in the peo-
ple working here now? Not the ones who moved to the
other farms?”
“Everybody here on that last Sunday you saw your
boss,” said Richards.
“Right.”
More tapping, then the printer came to life with a
twinkle of lights and an electronic hum as sheets of
paper began to slide smoothly into the front tray.
“Two copies enough?”
“Could you make it three?” Richards asked.
“No problem.”
They waited while Lomax aligned the pages and sta-
pled each set.
“The first list, that’s the names of everybody working
here on the first of January. The ones with Xs in front
of them are those we fired or who quit.”
“Any of them leave mad?”
“Yeah, but Harris didn’t have anything to do with
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HARD ROW
them, if that’s what you’re asking. I was the one fired
their sorry asses.” His fingers touched the names in
question. “These two were always drunk. This one was
a troublemaker. Couldn’t get along with anybody. This
one went off his nut. Those five just quit. Said they
were going back to Mexico.”
Richards and Denning made notations of his remarks
on the pages he’d given them. “And the rest?” she
asked.
“They’re the ones we moved over to one of the other
