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everyone else. But Ruth believed she’d proven her point and went back to her office.
    ******
    Curt Devereux returned sooner than Claire expected, sat down, and made himself comfortable.
    â€œWhat do you think?” she asked him.
    â€œIt looks like Vail’s writing, except for the places where it gets large and sloppy.”
    â€œHe might have been under stress.”
    â€œHe could also have been on drugs. He was a known user.”
    â€œIt could explain the reference to La Sagrada Família.”
    â€œThe sacred family. I thought that was an ironic reference to his own family.”
    â€œPossibly. It’s also an unfinished church in Barcelona. The masonry walls seem to be sliding off the frame, which is the way some people perceive things when they’re on LSD.” Claire had taken LSD while traveling through Europe with her lover, Pietro, in 1967 and 1968. At the time she thought it explained the artistic vision of some artists, including Vincent van Gogh and Antoni Gaudí.
    Curt didn’t question her about LSD, which was all right with Claire. She had no desire to be discussing thirty-year-old acid trips in her office. On the other hand, Curt showed a remarkable lack of curiosity for an investigator.
    â€œThe style of the journal also seems to be Vail’s,” he said.
    â€œI’d say so, but it’s not up to the standard set by A Blue-Eyed Boy,” Claire replied.
    â€œI’ll let you be the judge of that. I was reading more for content myself. This is the first I’ve heard of Lou. Do you know who he is?”
    â€œNo,” Claire admitted. “I was rather surprised that Jennie Dell was never mentioned, since she was with Jonathan in the canyon.”
    â€œShe claims she got there on the tenth. She signed in at the ranger station that day. I never found anything to contradict her story. There were only a few entries after she got to Slickrock.”
    â€œShe was his girlfriend. You’d think he’d have had some thoughts about her.”
    â€œVail was a self-centered individual. He was concerned about getting his draft notice and angry at his folks for not getting him a deferment.”
    â€œWould they really have been able to?”
    â€œIt wasn’t unheard of for prominent businessmen to get deferments for their employees. The Vails sold their products to the army. They were major contributors to the Republican Party. They had influence.” Curt leaned forward in his chair, resting his bear-paw hands on his knees. “I never thought the family gave Jennie her due. She was always very cooperative with the investigation.”
    The light in Curt’s eyes when he talked about Jennie set off an alarm in Claire. A middle-aged man investing power in a younger woman, she thought. Of course, Curt hadn’t been middle-aged when he’d known Jennie Dell. He had probably been the same age as she, but he was a ranger and Jennie was a footloose hippie.
    â€œShe was a good-looking woman,” Curt said, “with long blond hair down to her waist. Jonathan Vail didn’t appreciate what he had. Did you make me a copy of the journal?”
    â€œYes.” Claire handed it over.
    â€œI’ll reread it, but I hope I’ll find more in the cave than I did in the journal. I’ll need to contact Tim Sansevera.”
    Claire supplied his address and phone number.
    â€œI want to see exactly where he found the briefcase, and I’ll need to examine the duffel bag and to see if there is any other evidence in the cave. You know as much about Vail as anyone. Would you be interested in going to Sin Nombre with Sansevera and me?”
    Claire wondered whether this was proper procedure, but she was delighted to be asked. “I’d love to,” she said.
    â€œHow is your schedule?”
    â€œNo problem. I could go anytime this week or over the weekend.”
    â€œI’ll set it up for Saturday.” Curt stood up