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Jamie, this is Miss Winslow.”
    “Hello, Jamie,” Jenny said, smiling at the girl. She had blond hair and light blue eyes and her face was dirty. Her hair needed washing too, Jenny noted, and she wore only a pair of dingy white panties.
    “She’s a little bit shy with strangers, but she’ll get used to you.”
    Jenny thought of the sack of candy she had bought in the store, and she said, “I’ve got something you might like.” She moved to the front of the truck, opened the door, and picked out the sack.
    “Can she have candy, Mr. Varek?”
    “She loves it.”
    “Look, Jamie, would you like some of this?”
    The child stared at Jenny with round eyes and then smiled. “Candy,” she said and nodded.
    “Yes. Why don’t you and I sit over here, and we’ll watch your daddy fix the truck.”
    “Candy!”
    Jenny reached out and took the child, who came to her at once. She moved over to a bench by the picket fence and satdown on it, holding the child in her lap. She unwrapped one of the pieces of candy and gave it to Jamie, who popped it right into her mouth.
    Clay Varek was watching the two carefully, and then finally he nodded as if satisfied and began to jack up the truck.
    Jenny soon found that the child was not at all shy once she had assured herself that all was well. Between taking pieces of candy, Jenny asked her questions, and she answered freely enough.
    “How old are you, Jamie?”
    The little girl held up two grimy fingers.
    “Two? What a big girl.” Then, feeling guilty even as she formed the question, Jenny asked, “Is your mama inside?”
    Varek, by this time, had let the truck down and had heard the question. “She doesn’t have one,” he said gruffly.
    “Oh,” Jenny said. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to be nosy.”
    “Didn’t you?”
    Jenny rose at once and handed the rest of the sack of candy to Varek. “There, Mr. Varek, give these to Jamie.”
    “I’m sure she’ll find a use for ’em.”
    “And thanks for fixing my truck.”
    “No trouble.” Varek looked down at the ground for a moment and was silent. Jenny wondered what he was thinking, and finally he lifted his head and met her eyes. “I was wrong about the gun. Sorry about that, Miss Winslow.”
    “It’s all right,” Jenny said. “I shouldn’t have come into the house.” She turned and climbed into the truck, then started the engine and drove away. When she looked back, Jamie waved at her, but the man did not move. He simply stood there holding the child.
    ****
    “There’s no woman there as far as I can tell,” Jenny said. She had been cornered at once by Kat and Hannah, and she had explained her visit. She had left out the incident about the gun, but for some reason Kat was suspicious.
    “He’s probably a criminal and kidnapped that baby. Every baby has a mama!”
    “Not always,” Hannah said gently.
    “Well, I’ll spy on them!”
    “No, you won’t!” Hannah said sharply.
    The door opened at this point, and Clint walked in. “What’s happening?” he asked, then listened as Jenny told him about her encounter with Clay Varek. “Sounds a little odd. A man and a baby and no woman. But I’ve got some bad news.”
    “Bad news? What is it?” Jenny asked quickly.
    “It’s Sheriff Beauchamp.”
    “What’s happened to him?” Hannah said.
    “He was with some of his officers over in the north part of the county. They were raidin’ a still and there was shootin’. The sheriff was killed. Got him right in the heart.”
    “How awful!” Jenny said. “He was such a nice man.”
    “Yes, he was.”
    “Well, who’ll be sheriff now?” Kat said. She accepted death, at least in theory, more readily than the adults, who were all shaken by the news.
    “That’s right. There’ll have to be a new sheriff.”
    “There’s an election in two months, but the county commissioners have temporarily appointed Max Conroy.”
    Jenny blinked with surprise. “That man? Why, he’s awful!”
    Clint stared at her