The rain had pretty much stopped as I drove the hun-
dred yards or so down the highway, then turned into
the rutted lane. A few yards off the road, a left fork
continued on down the slope into the woods and pre-
sumably to the creek. The right one ran along the far
edge of fields green with winter rye and would eventu-
ally lead over to Ward Dairy Road, so named for the
54
HARD ROW
original dairy farm. A knot of patrol cars blocked the
left lane, which seemed to be the center of activity, so I
did a U-turn and backed into the other one.
As I expected, someone alerted Dwight and in a cou-
ple of minutes he slung his raincoat in back and eased
his tall frame into the front seat beside me with a head-
shaking smile. “Couldn’t resist it, could you?”
“Not me,” I said, handing him the sandwiches and hot
coffee. His brown hair was dark from the rain. “I’d’ve
let you stay out here and starve, but Miss Phyllis was
worried about you. I think she feels guilty that Taffy
brought you out on such a cold wet day.”
“Who’s Taffy?” he asked around a mouthful of ham
and lettuce.
“Their dog. The one that found the hand. Was it a
left or right?”
He uncapped the coffee and took a long drink, then
grinned at me. “I thought you said the Wards told you
everything.”
“I forgot to ask them that particular detail. Miss
Phyllis was freaking just thinking about it in Taffy’s
mouth.”
“It’s a right hand.”
“Too bad it wasn’t the left. A ring might have given
you a lead if he was wearing one.”
We both glanced at the gold band gleaming on
his own left hand. The words I’d had engraved there
wouldn’t have helped anyone identify the owner, but
the date could narrow it down a bit.
“I just hope the guy’s prints are on file.” He finished
the first sandwich and unwrapped the second.
“The fingertips are still intact?”
55
MARGARET MARON
“Some of them.” He didn’t elaborate and I didn’t
ask. “The cold weather helps. We found the left arm
about an hour ago. Makes us think that the other arm
and hand might be here but some animal could have
dragged them off. Coons or possums or more dogs
maybe. Their tracks are all over and something’s been
