The Triggerman Dance

"The shop is owned by someone whose name you don't need to know," she began. John detected the relish of power in her voice, the pride of one who commands. "This man has a brother-in-law. Brother-in-law works for Puma. Coincidence? Maybe or maybe not. Let's say it is. Puma, we learn, is a competent amateur engraver. He actually earned money during college working for a trophy company, even though his family was rich. Coincidence that the bullet casings left behind for us were engraved? Let's say that's a coincidence, too. Then, there's this—Puma loves to hunt big game, and big game hunters use big rifles, sometimes a .30/ 06 caliber because it's powerful and accurate. Puma—and the men he hunts with—have taken and made four hundred and eighty yard shots. We know this because he's listed in the Boone &c Crockett record books, and in the Safari Club International record books. Coincidence again? Yes, let's call it all coincidence, again. We can afford to be generous."

With this, Dumars stopped at the table and drained the rest of her water. John noted the sheen of sweat on her forehead and the way her hair stuck at the temples.

"Then," she continued, "there's the fact, too, that Susan

Baum broke the story about Teresa Descanso—the shooter' aunt—accusing Patrick of rape. It was explosive. The accuse* murderer dumped the public defender because he couldn't get results on Patrick, and let Glory Redmond take the case pro bono. You can imagine the circus she made of it. She didn't even try to link Patrick to Descanso with physical evidence, which was smart. What better could they do—Redmond argued—than ai eyewitness? All the while, Baum crusaded in print, with a series of articles in which Descanso, then another woman, accused Patrick not only of the rape, but of solicitations for prostitution public drunkenness and aggravated assault. Baum argued to he readers what Redmond was arguing to her jury, that a white male-establishment-Orange County DA was ignoring the fact while prosecuting a fifteen-year old scholar for defending hi family. Orange County is supposed to be the hotbed of conservatism, the Republican citadel, the land of the John Birch Society right? Redmond and Baum set out to challenge that assumption And the question of Patrick's supposed exploits in the barrio-dramatized by Baum's articles—probably helped deadlock the jury. The shooter's name, by the way, was Jimmy Ruiz."

"I remember now," said John. "Justice please. Justice please Free the hero, Jimmy Ruiz."

"You weren't so out of touch down in Key West, were you?' asked Dumars with a smile.

"Stick to the story, Sharon," snapped Weinstein.

Dumars's smile faded. She looked at Joshua briefly, thei back to John.

"All right. To add insult to injury, Baum wrote an unflat tering column about Puma two years after the trial was over. Shi implied that Puma had become a loose cannon, a profiteer, a racist, a nuisance. Why? Because when Puma moved out to Liberty Ridge, he had opened a private investigation and security firm that catered to the rich and, she tried to prove, refused business from minorities of any color. Baum chose off Puma in print, be cause Puma had donated generously, very generously, to certain organizations that Ms. Baum dislikes. Organizations such as the California Association of Peace Officers, the NRA, the Freedom Foundation, the John Birch Society, Ducks Unlimited and the California Republican Committee. Her slant was something like 'here's a man so embittered by the death of his son that he's become infected with hatred.' Ms. Baum seemed to have a point as Puma had given money only to the Mormon church before Patrick was murdered. Since then, not a penny. I feel that the article was overly aggressive and a violation of Puma's privacy, though—"

"—Sharon, don't—"

"—Josh, let me continue ... I agree completely with Baum's conclusions. But what I feel doesn't matter. So, back to our line of logic, is it coincidence again, that Susan Baum was the intended target? Okay, we can call it coincidence again."

Sharon made another run on the water machine, filling up her third cup. Then she pulled out one of the chairs and sat. John watched her coat-close back over the gun.