Someone gave voice to one of them, others within hearing would nod, that was an entire conversation. A particular favorite was: You don’t use your time, it’ll sure use you. From every indication Carl Hazelwood had been well used by time, long before he wound up pinned like a specimen moth to a carport wall. I’d barely got back to the office from talking to Sarah, who’d been picked up by Adrienne after she put their exhausted father to bed, when Don Lee answered the phone and handed it over. Val Bjorn jumped right in. “Hey, I have your man. Had to hold my head right, figure out which way to look. His fingerprints . . .” She trailed off. Because I’d not responded? “You had it already, didn’t you?” “Just.” “Day late and a dollar short.” I filled her in on the Hazelwood family’s arrival. “Not that this in any way lessens my appreciation of your efforts, you know.”
