of bookshelves and then back again. slowly turning the glass of port
around in his hand. 'So you think--what? Fernandez saw some animal
behaving really strangely, doing something that spooked him enough to
go load up the shotgun?'
'Maybe.'
'Could he have been going outside to shoot this animal because it was
acting rabid or crazy in some other way?'
'That's occurred to us, yes. And maybe he was so worked up, so
excited, that's what brought on the heart attack.' At the study
window, Jack stared at the lights of the cowboys' bungalows, which were
unable to press back the densely clotted night. He finished the
port.
'I assume, from what you've said, Fernandez wasn't a particularly
excitable man, not an hysteric.'
'The opposite. Ed was about as excitable as a tree stump.'
Turning away from the window, Jack said, 'So then what could he have
seen that would've gotten his heart pumping so hard? How bizarre would
an animal have had to be acting--how much of a threat would it have to
be seemed--before Fernandez would have worked himself up to a heart
attack?'
'There you put your finger on it,' the attorney said, finishing his own
port.
'Just doesn't make sense.'
'Seems like we have a mystery here.'
'Fortunate that you were a detective.'
'Not me. I was a patrol officer.'
'Well, now you've been promoted by circumstances.'
Paul got up from the corner of his desk. 'Listen, I'm sure there's
nothing to be worried about. We know those raccoons weren't
diseased.
And there's probably a reasonable explanation for what Ed was going to
do with that gun. This is peaceful country. Damned if I can see what
kind of danger could be out there.'
'I suspect you're right,' Jack agreed. 'I brought it up only because
. . well, it seemed odd. I thought if you did see something peculiar,
you ought to know not just to dismiss it. Call Travis. Or me.' Jack
put his empty glass on the desk beside Paul's.
Y'll do that. Meanwhile . . . I'd appreciate if you didn't - mention
this to Heather. We've had a real bad year down there in L.A. This is
a new start for us in a lot of ways, and I don't want a shadow on it.
We're a little shaky. We need this to work, need to stay positive.'
That's why I chose this moment to tell you.'
'Thanks, Paul.'
'And don't you worry about it.'
'I won't.'
''Cause I'm sure there's nothing to it. Just one of life's many little
mysteries. People new to this country sometimes get the heebie jeebies
cause of all the ope space, the wilderness. I don't mean to get you on
edge
