brow to Richards and she gave a half nod to indicate
that Mrs. Harris’s presence had registered. Someone
else to check on.
In the meantime, she set her legal pad on the table
before her, looked at the list, and asked Lomax to send
in Jesus Vazquez.
An hour later, the two deputies had finished question-
ing all four men, who each swore that he knew noth-
ing about the murder. They were all vague about that
Sunday, although they remembered Monday very clearly
since that was when their friends left on the trucks, the
same day that
they had not seen
Who hated him?
Shrugs. Why would anybody hate him? He was the
big boss—
implemented them. Only one man admitted ever speak-
ing to Harris and that had been months ago. The work
was hard, but that’s what they were there for. Their
quarters were okay. They got paid on time. Lomax and
Juan between them kept the camp pretty stable because
Juan had children. So no open drug use. No drunken
displays of violence or excessive profanity.
212
HARD ROW
The sheds? Why would anyone go over there on
Sunday? Sunday was a day off in the wintertime. Those
who were leaving had spent most of the day packing up.
Those who were staying had either played cards or gone
into town or visited a club—El Toro Negro in Dobbs or
La Cantina Rosa in Cotton Grove.
By midday, the deputies had finished with their ques-
tions and Denning had cleared all four men. Their relief
was evident when Denning tore the fingerprint cards
to shreds. Nevertheless one man held out his hand for
the scraps and stuffed them into the half-empty mug of
coffee on the table.
213
C H A P T E R
24
Dwight Bryant
Late Tuesday Morning, March 7
% Although Dwight would always prefer fieldwork
to clearing his desk, paper had piled up that needed
his attention and a rainy March day was as good a time
as any to tackle it. After deploying his detectives, he
