The Murder Book

weeks later, the dog passed on.'

Her eyes were fierce. 'Do you get what I'm saying, young man? Dr. Harrison gives people things. He gave Pierce that camera and gave me a bit of peace by letting me know the nightmares had nothing to do with me. Because I was wondering if they did, maybe Pierce's being cooped up here with an old spinster after all those years on his own was having a bad effect on him. And- Lord forgive me- when I watched Pierce thrash around, I couldn't help wonder if he'd somehow backslid.'

'Into drug use.'

'I'm ashamed to admit it, but yes, that's exactly what I wondered. Because it was drug seizures that brought him into the hospital in the first place and to my ignorant eye, these looked like seizures. But Dr. Harrison assured me they weren't. Said they were just bad nightmares. That it was Pierce's old life rearing its ugly old head. That I was nothing but good for Pierce and shouldn't ever think otherwise. That was a great relief.'

'So the nightmares thinned to two or three times a month.'

'That I could live with. When the thumping started, I'd just roll out of bed, go to the kitchen for a glass of water, walk outside to calm the horses, and when I'd return, Pierce'd be snoozing away. I'd hold his hand and warm it up- the nightmares always turned his hands icy. We'd lie there together and I'd listen to his breathing slow down and he'd let me hold him and warm him up and the night would pass.'

Another hawk's swoop striated the wall. She said, 'Those birds. They must smell something.'

'The nightmares thinned,' I said, 'but they returned the last few days before Pierce's death.'

'Yes,' she said, nearly choking on the word. 'And this time I started getting worried because Pierce didn't look so good in the morning. He was worn-out, kind of clumsy, slurring his words. That's why I blame myself for letting him take Akhbar. He was in no shape to ride, I shouldn't have allowed him to go off by himself. Maybe that time he did have some kind of seizure.'

'Why'd you test Akhbar for drugs?'

'That was just me being stupid. What I really wanted to do was have Pierce tested. Because despite what Dr. Harrison had said when the nightmares came back, I let myself lose faith in Pierce, again. But after he died, I couldn't bring myself to come out and admit my suspicions. Not to Dr. H. or the coroner or anyone else, so instead I laid them on poor Akhbar. Figuring maybe once the subject of drugs came up, someone would catch on and test Pierce, too, and I'd know, once and for all.'

'They did test Pierce,' I said. 'It's standard procedure. The drug screen came back negative.'

'I know that, now. Dr. Harrison told me. It was an accident, plain and simple. Though sometimes I still can't help thinking Pierce shouldn't have been riding alone. Because he wasn't looking good.'

'Any idea why that last week was rough for him?'

'No- and I don't want to know. I need to put all this behind me, and this isn't helping, so could we please stop?'

I thanked her and stood. 'How far from here did the accident occur?'

'Just a ways up the road.'

'I'd like to see the spot.'

'What for?'

'To get a feel for what happened.'

Her gaze was level. 'Do you know something you haven't told me?'

'No,' I said. 'Thanks for your time.'

'Don't thank me, it wasn't a favor.' She leaped up, walked past me to the door.

I said, 'The spot-'

'Get back on 33 heading east and take the second turnoff to the left. It's a dirt path that leads up a hill, then starts swooping down toward the arroyo. That's where it happened. Pierce and Akhbar tumbled from the rocks that look down into the arroyo and ended up at the bottom. It's a place Pierce and I rode together from time to time. When we did, I used to lead.'

'About Pierce's photography.'

'No,' she said. 'Please. No more questions. I showed you Pierce's darkroom and his pictures and everything else the first time you were here.'

'I was going to say he was talented, but one thing struck me. There were no people or animals in his shots.'

'Is that supposed to be some big psychological thing?'

'No, I just found it curious.'

'Did you? Well, I didn't. Didn't bother me one bit. Those pictures were beautiful.' She reached around me and shoved the door open. 'And when I asked Pierce about it, he had a very good answer. Said, 'Margie, I'm trying to picture a perfect world.' '

CHAPTER 36

She stood by the Seville, waiting for me to leave.

I turned the ignition key, and said, 'Did Dr. Harrison mention taking a vacation?'

'Him, a vacation? He never leaves. Why?'

'He told me he might be doing some traveling.'

'Well, he's certainly entitled to travel if he wants. Why don't you ask him? You're going there right now, aren't you? To check up on my story.'

'I'm going to talk to him about the unsolved case.'

'Whatever,' she said. 'Doesn't bother me being checked up on, because I'm not hiding anything. That's the thing about not letting yourself get involved in hopeless things. Less to worry about. The shame about my Pierce was he never really learned that.'

The turnoff she'd described led to an oak-shielded path barely wide enough for a golf cart. Branches scraped the Seville 's flanks. I backed out, left the car on the side of the road, and hiked.

The spot where Pierce Schwinn had died was half a mile in, a dry gully scooped out of a granite ledge and backed by mountainside. A sere corridor that would fill during rainy seasons and transform to a green, rushing stream. Now, it was bleached the color of old bones and littered with silt, rocks and boulders, leathery leaves, snarls of wind-snapped branches. The largest rocks tended toward ragged and knife-edged and glinted in the sun. Up against them, a man's head wouldn't fare well.

I walked to the edge and stared down into the arroyo and listened to the silence, wondering what had caused a well-trained horse to lose its footing.

Contemplation and the warmth of the day lulled me into something just short of torpor. Then something behind me skittered and my heart jumped and the tip of my shoe curled over into open space and I had to jump back to avoid pitching over.

I regained my bearings in time to see a sand-colored lizard scurry into the brush. Stepping back from the ledge, I cleared my head before turning and walking away. By the time I reached the car, my breathing had nearly returned to normal.

I drove back to the center of Ojai, cruised to Signal Street, past the fieldstone-lined drainage ditch, and parked in the same eucalyptus grove, where I peered through blue shaggy leaves at Bert Harrison's house. Thinking about what I'd say to Bert if I found him. Thinking about Pierce Schwinn's nightmares, the demons that had come back to haunt him during the days before his death.

Bert knew why. Bert had known all along.

No movement from the old man's house. The station wagon was parked right where it had been. After a quarter hour I decided it was time to make my way to the front door and deal with whatever I found, or didn't.

Just as I got out of the Seville, the door squeaked open and Bert stepped out onto his front porch in full purple regalia, cradling a large, brown, paper shopping bag in one arm. I grabbed the Seville 's door before it clicked shut,