Crime Scene at Cardwell Ranch - B.J. Daniels [23]
"Us?" Harlan said, sounding surprised. "Why would we know anything about her?"
Her. So they'd heard it was a woman. She couldn't believe how quickly word spread.
She hadn't meant to sound so accusing. "I just thought you might have some idea since you were both on the ranch during that time." Her parents were still together then, kind of, and her uncle had been working on the ranch and living in one of the spare bedrooms.
A look passed between them.
"What?" she asked.
"We were just talking about this," her father said.
"And?" she prodded.
"And nothing," Angus said.
"Anyone could have come onto the ranch and done it," Harlan said. "Could have driven right by the house or come in the back on one of the old loggin' roads. Could have been anyone." He looked embarrassed, as if he'd spoken out of turn. Or maybe said too much. He took a drink of his beer.
"So you two have it all figured out," she said, studying them. "That mean you've figured out who she was? Seems she went into the well about fifteen years ago."
"Fifteen years?" Clearly, Angus was surprised by that.
"Bunch of cowhands on the ranch back then," Harlan said. "Anyone could have known about the well. There's old wells and mine shafts all over Montana. Usually an old foundation nearby. Not that hard to find if you're looking for one."
Dana thought about the homestead chimney still standing and part of the foundation visible from the ranch house. Stood to reason, she supposed, there would be an old well nearby.
"All this seasonal help around here, the woman didn't have to be a local," Harlan said. "She could have been working in the canyon for the summer or even at the ski hill for the winter."
"Wouldn't someone have missed her, though?" Dana said, noticing her father was nursing his beer and saying little.
Harlan shrugged. "If she had family. If her family knew where she'd gone to in the first place. You know how these kids are who show up for the seasonal employment. Most move on within a few weeks. Could have been a runaway even. Wasn't there some bones found in the canyon a few years ago and they never did find out who that guy was?"
She nodded. The other remains that had been found were male and no identification had ever been made. Was the same thing going to happen with the woman's bones from the well?
She started to ask her father about his .38, but changed her mind. "You all right?" she asked her father.
Angus smiled and tossed his now empty beer bottle into the trash. "Fine, baby girl. I just hate to see you upset over this. How about I buy you a drink to celebrate your birthday and we talk about something else?" he asked as he opened the door to the bar. The blare of the jukebox swept in along with a blue haze of smoke and the smell of burgers and beer.
Dana met his gaze. His eyes were shiny with alcohol and something else. Whatever he was hiding, he was keeping it to himself whether she liked it or not.
"Maybe some other time," she said. "I have a date tonight."
"I heard Hud was back," he said, and grinned at her.
"I'm not with Hud, Dad." How many times did she have to tell him that she was never getting back together with Hud? "Lanny's taking me out to dinner for my birthday."
"Oh," Angus said. He'd never been fond of Lanny Rankin and she'd never understood why. All her father had ever said was, "I just don't think he's the right man for you."
* * *
AT THE LAW and justice center, Hud sat with the file on the Judge Raymond Randolph killing, still haunted by that night. Most of the night was nothing but a black hole in his memory. He couldn't account for too many hours and had spent years trying to remember what he'd done that night.
He shook his head. It was one of the questions he was bound and determined to get answered now that he was back in Montana.
How strange that his first case as acting Gallatin Canyon marshal was tied to that night. Coincidence? He had to wonder.
He opened the file. Since he'd left town right after the judge's death, he knew little about the case.
The first