Stone Junction

‘Shamus asked me to warn you that Volta is a very strong and cunning man who didn’t want the theft to occur.’

‘Do you think Volta had anything to do with it?’

‘Personally? No. But he is a powerful and perceptive man.’

Daniel rubbed his eyes. ‘Dolly, do you mind if I ask your opinion on an entirely unrelated matter?’

‘Hell, I’d be honored.’

Dolly listened as he explained his problem. When he finished, she said, ‘So you can only make love with the same woman once – if I got it right?’

‘You do.’

‘Well, you best make it good.’

Dolly left the next morning with Charmaine after assuring Daniel that if and when Shamus provided the names, Volta would contact him.

At about the same time, seventy miles upriver, Jade Lavelle and Annie Sawyer waited for Mommy to return from her morning dip in the Rouge. They met her on the trail. Her short silver hair was still wet from her swim. She listened as they explained Daniel’s problem, her clear hazel eyes shifting from one speaker to the other.

Mommy’s response was swift and definite. ‘Don’t get involved with him. He’s going in a different direction.’

Annie and Jade were startled. Mommy seldom spoke so directly or emphatically.

As they thanked her and turned to leave, Mommy added, her voice much softer, ‘I know – oh, how I know – they are attractive.’

Over the next month, as the harvest was cured, clipped, and distributed, Daniel tried to follow Dolly’s advice. But he was still limited, for whatever reason, to one orgasm with each woman. All the Commies soon knew of Mommy’s comment, and those who hadn’t slept with him hurried to do so. By Thanksgiving, he’d just about run out of Commie lovers.

Fishing for steelhead, Daniel nearly leapt in the river when Volta appeared behind him and said, ‘Any luck?’

‘None,’ Daniel said.

‘Well, here’s some. We’re fairly certain we know who killed your mother. The man who made the bomb, Gideon Nobel.’

‘Why?’ was all Daniel could say.

‘He was in love with her, had been for years.’

‘It doesn’t sound right,’ Daniel said. ‘For one thing, I’m sure she never mentioned him.’ He began to reel in.

‘That’s part of the reason – the feeling wasn’t mutual.’

Daniel started to say something, but Volta held up his hands. ‘Let me apologize for the cheap drama – it’s an old show-business habit. Let’s go on up to the house and I’ll start from the beginning. That is, if you’re done fishing.’

They walked back to the ranch house and sat in the living room. Volta began, ‘Dolly contacted Shamus, gave him your assurance that your mother had shouted a warning just before the bomb exploded, and Shamus, after considering it for a few weeks, sent the names of the other people involved.’ He handed Daniel a piece of paper. Daniel recognized Shamus’s scrawl.

Carl Fuller – driver

Olaf Ekblad – inside

Gideon Nobel – bomb

‘What does inside mean?’ Daniel asked.

‘Going inside with Shamus, for the actual theft. As soon as I received the names – I’ve been in Mexico – I put some of our best people on them, and they’ve found out quite a bit in the short time they’ve had.

‘Carl “The Throttle” Fuller is an old wheelman, a real pro. We found him in Minneapolis without any trouble. He claims all he knew of the setup was his end – procuring the cars, arranging the switches, times and places for picking up the others. He didn’t know about the diversionary bomb, and never met anyone else involved except Shamus.

‘Basically the same story for Olaf Ekblad – absolutely trustworthy, no nerves, and he could have written the manuals for most alarm systems. In fact, AMO has used his services in the past and we’ve found him utterly reliable. He knew a diversion was planned, but not what or who was involved.’

Daniel interrupted. ‘But this Gideon Nobel did?’

‘Listen for a moment. Gideon Nobel met your mother when she was sixteen or seventeen – it was in San Francisco, during one of her visits.’

‘I was too young then,’ Daniel said, disappointed. ‘I won’t be able to remember.’

‘They met in North Beach and he fell in love. For over a year they were occasional lovers – much too occasional for Gideon. Your mother, it seems, was something of a street legend at the time, showing up for a few days a month and then disappearing. At any rate, their affair is still remembered. Gideon was evidently captivated; your mother, less so. She went out with other men, and there were a few public scenes that leave little doubt of his jealousy and anger.

‘Gideon was a highly regarded sculptor then, at least among the avant-garde. His most memorable work is a set of twenty-four pieces sharing the central image of Mickey Mouse. In fact, it’s called