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it?”
    “Do what?”
    “Get along so well with this stubborn, strong
minded, opinionated, independent woman?”
    Greg just laughed. “Go ask Martha about being
married to someone with those exact same qualities. I’m willing to
bet that her answer will be the same as mine. We happen to love the
people we’re married to, because of who they are, not in
spite of it.”
    “I’m not all of those things,” Moose
said.
    I couldn’t help laughing.
    Moose studied me for a few seconds, and then
he asked, “What’s so funny, Victoria?”
    “Not a thing in the world,” I said as I
reached up and kissed his cheek. “You’re one of a kind. You know
that, don’t you?”
    “I’m not sure that you can say that so
emphatically. You and I seem to have quite a few things in
common.”
    I grinned at him. “I’m taking that as a
compliment. You know that, don’t you?”
    “Why wouldn’t you? I happen to think that
you’re just about perfect.”
    “You’re just biased because you’re my
grandfather,” I replied.
    “I certainly hope so,” Moose said. He glanced
out the window, and then added, “Sheriff Sourpuss is just about
finished with his meal. I suppose we’ll have to talk to him before
long.”
    “There’s no time like the present,” I
said.
    “I don’t guess we have much choice,” Moose
replied. “Lead on.”
    “We’re ready if you are,” I told the sheriff
as Moose and I approached him. “There’s a table free over by the
window we can grab.” I hated leaving Martha and Ellen to wait
tables and run the register, but hopefully it wouldn’t be for long.
At least things were slowing down enough for us to have a few
minutes. I found myself wishing that it would just take that long,
but I wasn’t about to hold my breath.
    As we got settled in, the sheriff pulled out
his ever-present notebook and pen, and then he looked at us. “Let’s
get started. First things first. Tell me everything that happened
from the moment you walked in that building.”
    “Actually, it sort of started before we even
made it inside,” I replied.
    The sheriff sighed for a second, and then he
said, “That’s fine. Start wherever you need to. Just don’t leave
anything out.”
     

Chapter 4
     
     
    “Are you sure that’s it?” the sheriff asked
as he finished taking the last note. Between the two of us, my
grandfather and I had relayed every word and expression that we’d
heard and seen in Roy Thompson’s office during our conversation
with Kelly.
    “Every last thing that we heard,” Moose
said.
    “Good,” the sheriff said as he stopped
writing and closed up his notebook. “I appreciate your
cooperation.”
    “That works both ways, doesn’t it, Sheriff?”
Moose asked.
    “What do you mean?”
    I explained, “Well, we were pretty
forthcoming with you. Can you at least return the favor? What did
you find out so far that we don’t know?”
    Sheriff Croft shook his head. “I shouldn’t
have to remind either one of you that it doesn’t work that way. I
wouldn’t even be here right now if you two hadn’t gotten to Kelly
Raven before I could manage it myself.”
    Moose waved a hand in the air. “That’s old
business, Sheriff; we’ve been properly scolded already. Surely you
can give us something. How else are we going to stay out of your
way if we don’t know where you’re headed?”
    He thought about it for five seconds before
he spoke. “I’m still collecting information, and I really don’t
have much more than what you two got out of Kelly. I will say this.
Her story is remarkably consistent in the retelling, from what she
told us.”
    “Was it to the point where it sounded
memorized, or was there enough variation that it sounded
believable?” I asked.
    “I don’t know. She seemed to hit the same
highlights with you as she did with me, but unless I knew exactly
what she told you word for word, there’s no way to know. You didn’t
happen to record your conversation with her, did