She glanced at Winifred hopefully. The old woman was looking into the grave with an odd expression on her face. It could have been regret or even pleasure. It could have been indigestion. Carly didn't know Winifred well enough to judge. But if Carly had to bet, she'd go with a grim kind of pleasure.

"Carly?" Andy said. "Why don't you ride back with us? There's plenty of room. We could talk about family and things."

Winifred shot him a black look. "I'm paying her, not you. When I want her to interview you, I'll tell you."

"Hey. Indentured servitude is passe," Andy said. "She's a fully grown woman. She can talk for herself."

"She certainly can," Carly said distinctly. "Thank you for the offer of a ride, but Miss Simmons y Castillo and I have a lot to discuss before I'll be ready to interview family members."

"I won't be here long," Andy warned.

Thank God. Carly managed a smile. "Telephones work for me."

"They aren't very personal."

"Handicaps just make a job more interesting."

Andy's blue eyes narrowed. He turned and stalked after his parents.

Winifred laughed, a sound almost as rusty as a raven's warning cry. "Just like the Senator. Doesn't think there's a female alive that won't spread her legs for him."

Carly hesitated, then decided that it had to be covered sometime, and now was as good as any. "My research hinted that the Senator was rumored to be very, um, sexually active when he was young."

"He lifted every skirt he could get his hands on, and he got his hands on most. When he was too old to perform, he got those erection pills and kept at it until he died."

Carly's eyebrows rose. "He managed to keep his romantic life out of the media."