suggested. And if, on the way, you find anything that belongs to Miss Fallon, just toss it over here.”
Slick and his girlfriend, Tammy, turned and walked inside, hurling a few more insults that Diane didn’t quite hear. She shook her head. What a pair.
Travis climbed in the back with Diane and looked over the boxes she was repacking.
“Roy was so proud that the museum was interested in his arrowhead collection. He said he might get a plaque with his and his grandfather’s name on it hanging in the museum. He was worried that you might not accept the collection, ’cause he didn’t have an exact location where they were found.”
“His grandfather left a detailed diary telling generally where he found things in the woods,” said Diane. “We don’t have an exact location, but our archaeologist assures me that the collection will be useful—at the very least, to catalog the types of points found in the area.”
“So Roy’ll get his plaque?” asked Deputy Conrad.
“Yes,” said Diane. “This is going to be a nice collection for the museum.”
Travis Conrad nodded. “Good. I’d like to put that in his obituary, that he’s getting a plaque. He’d be proud.”
“Yes, he would,” said Diane. “I’m glad Mr. Massey didn’t get into the boxes with the really large points,” said Diane.
“He’d of taken them for sure,” said Deputy Conrad. “I was thinking about Dances with Wolves, ’bout them soldiers wiping their butts with John Dunbar’s diary. Slick didn’t get Ray’s grandfather’s diary, I hope?”
“No. Fortunately, we have that. Our archaeologist has been studying it,” said Diane.
Travis nodded. “Tell me, were you bullshitting about the details of that skeleton?” he asked.
“No. All the information I mentioned I got from the skull. It’s pretty standard observation in my business. Although I didn’t see it for very long, I did get a reasonably good look at it. I may be wrong on some of the details, but I wasn’t making it up. They got rid of a human skeleton somewhere,” said Diane. “It had been cemented up in that hollow tree for no longer than a year. I’m fairly certain of that.”
Diane got out of the vehicle and walked across the road to the ditch, where Slick had dumped the pieces of the rotten tree. Deputy Conrad followed her. She looked through the pile and picked up a curved piece of wood and a piece of concrete.
“Souvenirs?” asked Conrad.
“I thought this would make a nice bowl,” she said, smiling.
“This . . . this thing . . . that happened to Roy and Ozella will take all our time,” he said. “We don’t have the manpower to investigate this right now.”
“I understand. You don’t mind if I take some souvenirs, do you?” she said.
“No, just let me know if they are interesting,” he said.
“Sure. Listen, try to convince your father to call in the GBI,” said Diane.
Travis nodded. “I’ll have the coroner on my side. He’s the local large- animal veterinarian, and he’ll be just as out of his depth as I am. I know how to lift fingerprints, but that’s the end of my expertise. I think Daddy will see it our way.”
“Who will do the autopsies?” asked Diane.
“That’s a good question. That will be the coroner’s choice,” he said.
“You might think about Lynn Webber. She’s in Rosewood,” said Diane.
“For Daddy’s part, that’s two strikes against her. She’s from Rosewood, and she’s a she. Sheriff Conrad is kind of traditional about women.”
“Lynn is very charming,” said Diane.
Travis grinned at Diane. “It’d take a lot to charm Daddy.”
“Like you said, it’s the coroner’s choice,” she said. She walked back to her vehicle and put the wood and concrete in the back.
“That it is,” he said. “You know, I’m afraid we’ve left you with a real bad impression of us here in Rendell County. There’s good people here. They’re very conservative and traditional, but they are hardworking, God-fearing people who want to keep their kids safe from a lot of the bad stuff that goes on in the big cities.”
“I know. I liked the Barres a lot. I’m sure there are many others like them here,” said Diane. “I hope there’re not too many like Slick and Tammy.”
“They are fairly unique,” he said. “Listen, Daddy’s going to want to talk to you. He’ll probably give me hell for letting you go home, but I figure you’ve been through enough for one night. And it’s not like we don’t know where to find you.”