What youre really saying is that you wanta talk to Arch when they let him go. Is that right? Yes, hes very anxious. Hes soldhis dirt and got Roxys property leveled, so naturally he’s anxious to see that construction is speeded up and that Roxy gets the benefit of the paved road. The contractor is willing to build along the property lines so he can haul the dirt to the second fill. Dirt from Roxy’s property went into the first fill. Lance didnt call back; Vanessa returned, they finished their dinner, and left. No, Murfin said, you never did. Bullshit. She grinned again.Well, I tried. She picked up the phone and punched a button. “Mr. Longmire, the beekeeper, is here. She listened and then she said. “He says hes a beekeeper. I dont.” There was another pause and then she said, “All right,” and hung up the phone. “Right through there,” she said, indicating a pair of sliding double doors. Thank you to my sweet and hilarious first editor Linda Siebels, one of the finest people Ive ever known. She mentioned that she was seeing someone, said Ellen. This was a while back. But she never gave a name. Were on the way home, landing in about three hours. Send Fred, and let Mike Freeman know that we need manpower again. I want four people on the house, day and night. You ever see me reading Braille? No. Because Im not blind. The overhead door of the two-car garage was up and the garage itself was partly filled by a large Ford station wagon that was two or three years old. The rest of the space was taken up with the junk that people put in garages because they cant think of anywhere else to put it. Probably. I told you to drop the stupid act. The gun is going nowhere. Valentines laptop was perched on his substantial gut and was being lifted into the air with each inhale and dipping with every exhale. The TV was on but muted. It looked to be one of those limited series that moved at the speed of light, just begging to be binged. An open and empty Dominos pizza box was on the carpet next to the couch. Twin empty bottles of Michelob rested next to it. The Russian was definitely an American in diet now. Its not your style, I said, rose, went over to the coffee pot, and poured myself another cup. Wheres the sugar? Mason said,Paul, no one has proven that my client was out there — yet. But if my client had been out there, she would have been sitting in Lutts car, listening to the radio, and the radio would have been playing so loud that she couldnt have heard the shot. Well, Mason said, grinning, thats something. Whats his background? Koontz stopped his speech and stared at the man who sat in the third row. It wasnt the first time Freddie Koontz had been heckled..