Winter Moon

talked again, on June seventeenth, he had the feeling Ed had seen something more but was holding out on him."
        "Why would he hold out on Potter? Fernandez was the one who got Potter involved in the first place." The attorney shrugged. "Anyway, on the morning of July sixth, Travis was still curious, so he went out to Quartermass Ranch to talk to Ed-and found his body instead. Coroner says Ed had been dead no less than twenty-four hours, probably no more than thirty-six."
        Jack paced along the wall of horse photographs and along another wall of bookshelves and then back again. slowly turning the glass of port around in his hand. "So you think-what? Fernandez saw some animal behaving really strangely, doing something that spooked him enough to go load up the shotgun?"
        "Maybe."
        "Could he have been going outside to shoot this animal because it was acting rabid or crazy in some other way?"
        "That's occurred to us, yes. And maybe he was so worked up, so excited, that's what brought on the heart attack." At the study window, Jack stared at the lights of the cowboys' bungalows, which were unable to press back the densely clotted night. He finished the port.
        "I assume, from what you've said, Fernandez wasn't a particularly excitable man, not an hysteric."
        "The opposite. Ed was about as excitable as a tree stump."
        Turning away from the window, Jack said, "So then what could he have seen that would've gotten his heart pumping so hard? How bizarre would an animal have had to be acting-how much of a threat would it have to be seemed-before Fernandez would have worked himself up to a heart attack?"
        "There you put your finger on it," the attorney said, finishing his own port.
        "Just doesn't make sense."
        "Seems like we have a mystery here."
        "Fortunate that you were a detective."
        "Not me. I was a patrol officer."
        "Well, now you've been promoted by circumstances."
        Paul got up from the corner of his desk. "Listen, I'm sure there's nothing to be worried about. We know those raccoons weren't diseased..And there's probably a reasonable explanation for what Ed was going to do with that gun. This is peaceful country. Damned if I can see what kind of danger could be out there."
        "I suspect you're right," Jack agreed. "I brought it up only because .. well, it seemed odd. I thought if you did see something peculiar, you ought to know not just to dismiss it. Call Travis. Or me." Jack put his empty glass on the desk beside Paul's.
        Y'll do that. Meanwhile… I'd appreciate if you didn't - mention this to Heather. We've had a real bad year down there in L.A. This is a new start for us in a lot of ways, and I don't want a shadow on it.
        We're a little shaky. We need this to work, need to stay positive."
        That's why I chose this moment to tell you."
        "Thanks, Paul."
        "And don't you worry about it."
        "I won't."
        "Cause I'm sure there's nothing to it. Just one of life's many little mysteries. People new to this country sometimes get the heebie jeebies cause of all the ope space, the wilderness. I don't mean to get you on edge "Don't worry," Jack assured him. "After you've played bullet billiards with some of the crazies loose in L A there's nothing any raccoon can do to spoil your
        

CHAPTER FIFTEEN.
        
        During their first four days at Quartermass Ranch- Tuesday through Friday-Heather, Jack, and Toby cleaned the house from top to bottom.
        They wiped down walls and woodwork, polished furniture, vacuumed upholstery and carpets, washed all the dishes and utensils, put new shelf paper in the kitchen cabinets, disposed of Eduardo's clothes through a church in town that distributed to the needy, and in general made the place their own. They didn't intend to register Toby for school until the following week, giving him time to adjust to their new life. He was thrilled to be free while other boys his age were trapped in third-grade classrooms.
        On Wednesday the moving company arrived with the small shipment from Los Angeles: the rest of their clothes, their books, Heather's computers and related equipment, Toby's toys and games, and the other items they hadn't been willing to give away or sell. The presence of a greater number of their familiar possessions made the new house seem more like home.
        Although the days became