I didn't even think about it until after the murder up on the meadows.
Then, when I remembered it, I thought it might be important.'
Kerney restated: 'Did you tell anybody about your suspicions, before or after you talked to Jim?'
'No. I was off yesterday. I just stayed at home working around the house. Didn't see anybody to talk to, except the family. Why are you asking me these questions? Shouldn't you be out looking for a job?'
'Do my questions bother you?' Kerney countered.
'It's no skin off my nose, but you're wasting your time. You got no job, no authority. So why push it? It ain't gonna make you any friends, not that you have any I know of.'
Kerney shrugged.
'You're Henry Lujan's uncle.
Tell me about him. Is he having any kind of problems at college? Money worries, perhaps?'
Amador got red in the face.
'Madre de Dios, are you out in left field. If you think Henry's got anything to do with this, you're crazy.'
'Everything's okay with Henry? Is that what you're saying?'
'I'm not saying anything,' Amador corrected. He pointed at a small man with a receding hairline who was restacking plywood.
'That's Steve Lujan. Henry's father. Maybe he'll talk to you, maybe he won't.
But don't do it on my time, while he's working.'
'What's the problem, Amador?'
'I don't have a problem, you do,' he snorted, looking up at the gringo.
'Poking around in other people's business isn't healthy. You get my meaning?'
'It's been fun working with you, Amador. Thanks for all the help.'
'Screw you,' Amador replied.
Kerney walked out into the sunlight, thinking that it must have taken Steve Lujan a good long time to grow the Zapata mustache that drooped majestically over his upper lip. It also occurred to him that Amador was right: he hadn't made very many friends in Catron County.
Carol made a final check mark on the inventory control sheet and raised her head. She pushed the box filled with Kerney's uniforms, equipment, weapon, and shield to one side of her desk.
'That does it,' she said, as Kerney dropped the keys to the ranger vehicle in her hand.
'I'll get you a ride back to Reserve.'
'Thanks,' Kerney replied.
'Anything happening you'd like to tell me about?'
Kerney tilted his head toward the open office door.
Carol got up and closed it.
'What is it?'
'What do you know about Henry and Steve Lujan?' Kerney asked.
'I need some background information, and Amador wasn't inclined to cooperate.'
'That doesn't surprise me,' Carol said, returning to her chair behind the desk.
'He keeps family matters to himself. Both Henry and Steve are temporary employees who work every summer for me.
Henry's a college student, and his father sells firewood, flagstone, and landscape rock to the folks in Silver City during the off-season.'
'What do you know about Henry?'
'Not much. Amador recommended him to me.
He's been reliable. Uses the money he makes for his college living expenses. He went to school up in Albuquerque his first year. Didn't like being so far away from home, so he transferred to Western New Mexico University in Silver City. Is he a suspect?'
'No, but he's one of two people who were in the area when Padilla was murdered.'
'That's stretching it,' Carol replied.
'He was on duty at the lookout tower. I checked the radio log.
He couldn't possibly get to and from Eldennan Meadows in an hour.
Impossible. Who's the other person?'
'Amador,' Kerney replied.
'He camped out at the construction site the night before we found Jose Padilla and his grandson's body.'
'I didn't know that,' Carol said, wrinkling her nose.
'Although he's done it before. It's not out of character.'
'That's good to know. And Steve Lujan?'
'He got laid off at the copper mine down by Silver City. Three years ago, I think it was. Worked there for ten or fifteen years. Commuted home on the weekends. It must have hit him hard, financially.
He's got three kids in college. Henry's the youngest.'
'Are all the kids still in school?'
'The oldest, Leonard, is working on a master's degree in El Paso. Henry and his sister are still going to Western as far as I know.'
'What about Henry's mother?'
'Yolanda works down at the Glenwood District Office as a secretary.
Charlie Perry hired her right after he came to the district. About two years ago.
I'm sure you've met her.'
'I have. Does anybody in the family have a criminal record?'
Carol raised an eyebrow.
'That's a tall order. The Lujan and Ortiz families are rather large.
How deeply do you want to delve?'
'Just the principals we've been talking about.'
'Amador served eighteen months for a residential burglary when he was younger. Twenty years or so ago. He got a governor's pardon right before he started working for the Forest Service.'
'Do you know the reason for the pardon?' Kerney inquired.
'I think Edgar Cox arranged it for him. Edgar was chairman of the county commission at the time.'
'So Henry and Steve have a clean slate?'
'As far as I know. Henry, certainly. With Steve I'd only be guessing, but Catron County is too small for me not to have heard something.'
'Any womanizing?'
'Steve?' Carol asked incredulously.
'Yolanda would hand him his huevos on a platter if he tried.
And if she didn't do it, Amador would.' She spread her hands out in a gesture of helplessness.
'Sorry I can't give you more. As far as I know, Steve, Henry, and Amador are solid citizens. I don't see them as bad guys.'
'That helps.'
'Speaking of bad guys, Charlie Perry came back this morning. He wanted to know if you had filed a final report.'
Kerney held out the papers.
'Thanks,' Carol said.
'I think I'll mail it to him.
Another reply came in to your inquiry right after Charlie left. A BLM officer down in Doming would like you to call him. He just got back from a trip to Washington and read your fax message.' Carol pushed a piece of paper across her desk.
Kerney picked it up.
'You aren't going to give this to Charlie?'
Carol smiled sweetly.
'Of course I am. I'll mail it to him with your report. He should receive it in three or four days.'
'That should do nicely.'
