The Big Cat Nap

small local one but look how much money went into it,” BoomBoom concluded.
    “What do you mean?” Harry asked.
    “People look for patterns, connections. The first connection is, both men worked at ReNu, both good mechanics. The second is this place. And if they find bountiful women pimped on cars on Nick’s computer, well, that will be the third, but it doesn’t necessarily follow that those ties are crucial. They may be, they may not, but what I’m trying to tell you is, be careful. Two men are dead. Let’s not add one woman.”
    “I’ll protect her,”
Tucker barked.
    Pewter remained on the bleachers. She enjoyed looking down at them.
    “Yeah.” Harry paused a long time. “I did nearly get you killed once years ago. I’ll behave.”
    The two women had apprehended a killer inside a building. Although the murderer had a gun and had fired at will, both women had remained in command of themselves.
    “I hope so. Now, the next question is, when do you want to watch the drag races? I know you’re going to do it, and I’d better come with you.”
    “Friday.”

L ooking up at Dr. Nelson Yarbrough’s incredible silver hair, Harry, mouth wide open, gave thanks that the former UVA quarterback chose dentistry as his profession. He was so careful as he leaned over her. She’d chipped a tooth trying to dismantle the hydraulic pump on her 2750 John Deere.
    As the good dentist patiently worked, he asked in his rumbly voice, “I’ve seen a lot of teeth, Harry, and yours are good ones, but I’ve never known anyone to chip a tooth on a tractor.”
    Once his hands were out of her mouth, she replied, “John Deere. Good steel.”
    “Mmm-hmm.” He smiled, getting back to work as Beverly, his assistant, handed him the bonding agent.
    Nelson and his wife, Sandra, also a dentist, had in their youth been one of Albemarle County’s more glamorous couples. The years had not leeched away their good looks; however, now the kindness shone through. The pair, along with able assistance from Alice Hill and JoAnne Burkholder—a former county commissioner for Greene County—kept patients happy. Amy Doss and Holly Cox kept their teeth clean. One could tell a great deal about a business by the attitude of the people who worked there. This was the only dental office Harry had ever walked in to where the first thing one heard was raucous laughter.
    She did recall being in Larry Hund’s office and witnessing a pretty teenager being dumbfounded when confronted by the dentist’s movie-star looks. Charlottesville seemed to specialize in interesting dentists.
    Once out of the office, her tooth looking good as new, Harry trotted up the outside wooden stairs to Blue Ridge Embroidery. Evan Gruber was coming down.
    “Morning, Evan. Good to see you again.”
    “Harry, what brings you here?”
    “Picking up some T-shirts for St. Luke’s. Flag Day party. It’s a big annual do. The kids love it; I do, too.”
    Evan rubbed his chin, covered with a fashionable two-day stubble. Fashionable though it might be, it certainly gave his girlfriend brush burn.
    “Isn’t that the day you put flags in the cemetery?”
    Harry nodded. “Everyone does. All over America.”
    His question answered, Evan pointed with pride. “I got a new truck.”
    Harry turned around to look. A quilted stainless-steel refrigerated truck sparkled in the sunshine.
    “Wow.”
    “Ford truck; the bodywork was done down in Richmond. I mean, that sucker can frost you.” He beamed. “Full of dressed free-range chickens. Need to deliver them to Fresh!”
    “I saw you unloading a few days ago. I don’t recall you being in the poultry business.”
    “Not me. I just pick up the orders. I give anything extra, left over, to the Salvation Army.”
    “Good for you.”
    “Mostly drunks. Still.” He shrugged.
    Harry didn’t know if those who used the venerable organization’s services were drunks or not. She did know that about fifty-four million Americans went hungry each day. The figure so overwhelmed her that she always hoped it wasn’t true but feared it was.
    “Haven’t been down there in years.”
    “I go every day. Sometimes I use my old pickup to haul furniture to them, too.”
    “That’s good of you, Evan.” She hesitated a moment. “How long have you delivered to Fresh?”
    “Two years, give or take. I go over to the valley; still some poultry farms there. Stick to birds. Beef, lamb, pork, won’t do it. It’s not that it smells bad right away,