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treats he gets in town. He’s a bottom-less pit.”
    Several moments later, they sat in Millie’s homey kitchen. A collection of decorative ceramic cows lined the countertops, and collectible kitchen gadgets from bygone eras covered the walls. As Millie poured the coffee, Sister Agatha waited, looking at a shelf containing sets of salt and pepper shakers all in the form of pigs and hogs.
    â€œCrime scene work has been completed. I got the list of allthe evidence they found and gave the sheriff a copy before I left last night—well, earlier this morning,” she said at last.
    â€œAfter looking at the list, did he remember anything new?” Sister Agatha asked.
    â€œNot to my knowledge, but I didn’t stick around long after that. You might want to go back and talk to him again. No telling how things look to him this morning now that he’s had a chance to recover from what happened and been given time to think.”
    Sister Agatha sipped Millie’s blend of coffee. It was smooth and better than any she’d ever tasted. “This tastes wonderful.”
    â€œThanks,” she answered. “It’s one of my favorites.” She took a sip, then met Sister Agatha’s gaze. “The sheriff asked me—off the record—about the crew who worked the refreshment stands yesterday. In particular, he wanted to know about the mayor’s son-in-law, Mike Herrera.”
    â€œIs it true that Herrera was arrested for possession and for dealing drugs?”
    â€œYeah, but except for that one offense, his record’s clear. From what I’ve seen and heard, the guy’s really cleaned up his act since that bust,” Millie said. “Supposedly, Robert went to bat for him with JD before the wedding as a favor to his niece, who needed someone in her corner. JD didn’t want Cindy to marry him, for obvious reasons, but they sorted it all out.”
    â€œYou know, it’s funny. Mayor John David Garcia goes by JD, and his daughter goes by Cindy, not Cynthia. Yet Robert’s never been called Bob.”
    â€œYou never met him, did you?” Millie observed. “If you’d known him, you wouldn’t have asked me that question. Nobody took shortcuts around Robert. He was particularly that way around the station. Once he made lieutenant, Robert begandemanding accountability to an impossible degree. He wanted to control everyone and everything around him. That attitude extended to his personal life, too. I’ve heard that he had his wife completely cowed. All throughout his campaign she stood in the background, smiling but never saying a word. I have a feeling that nothing she ever said was quite good enough for Robert, so she figured it was easier to stay out of the way.”
    â€œRobert sounds like a tyrant, but he obviously had people who were loyal to him. From what I’ve already heard, Al Russo was working quite hard to get him elected.”
    â€œThat’s true enough,” Millie conceded. “Then again, that was Al’s job.”
    â€œHas Robert’s body been released to the family yet?” Sister Agatha asked.
    â€œNo. Maybe in another two days or so, depending on how long OMI—the Office of the Medical Investigator—takes with the autopsy,” Millie said. “That’s my guess, anyway.”
    Sister Agatha finished her coffee, then stood. “I’m going to go over to the park and take a look around. It’ll help me put things into perspective. Thanks for your help, Millie.”
    â€œThe area around the crime scene’s still taped off,” Millie warned.
    â€œI figured that, but maybe just being in the vicinity will spark an idea or two for me. I’m hoping to spot something the others have overlooked.”
    â€œWith your journalist background, you don’t look at the scene with the same eyes as a police officer, so I guess that’s possible.”
    Millie’s tone said far