"And it's two months to the World Series. You know, Archie, what I think of you personally has nothing to do with this. Not only are you a better detective than any native would be, but also you know darned well Harvey didn't shoot a man in the back. But after a week or two of nosing around, the native would probably think he did. Dawson does. Admit I'm right."

"You're always right sometimes."

"Then may I have some hot coffee?" My milk glass was empty, so I had coffee too. When we had finished it and I had paid the check, we left, and as we made our way through the clutter of tables and chairs about twenty pairs of eyes followed us, and about twenty other pairs pretended not to. Monroe County was pretty worked up about the murder of Philip Brodell. Its basic attitude to dudes was no help in bringing on the brotherhood of man, but after all, they brought a lot of dough to Montana and left it there, and shooting them when they were picking huckleberries was not to be encouraged. So the eyes at Lily and me weren't very friendly; it was her ranch boss that had pulled the trigger. So it looked to them.

At the parking lot behind the cafй I put my bag in the back of Lily's station wagon, among the items she had had on her list, before I got in behind the wheel. She was sitting straight so her back wouldn't touch the seat back, which the slanting August sun had been trying to fry. My side was okay. I backed out from the slot. On a list of the differences between Lily and me it would be near the top that I park so I won't have to back out when I leave and she doesn't.

It was only two short blocks to the Presto gas station, where I turned in and stopped at the pump. The gauge said half full and the gas in the tank at the ranch cost nine cents less per gallon, but I wanted Lily to have a look at a person named Gilbert Haight who might be there. He was-a lanky loose-limbed kid whose long neck helped to make up his six feet-but he was wiping the windshield of another car, and Lily had to twist around to get focused on him as I told the other attendant to fill it up with Special. But when the other car rolled off, the kid stood looking at us for half a minute and then walked over to my open window and said, "Nice morning."