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I considered him again. I respected his legal acumen. I deplored his — in my opinion — excessive discretion on matters not strictly legal.
I tried again. “There’s something you’re not telling me, James.”
Deadpan, he said, “There’s a lot I’m not telling you. That’s my job.”
CHAPTER THIRTY
I relayed word for word the little I’d heard to Diana. She was the only one I could reach and she was on her way to an assignment.
“What do you make of that, Elizabeth? I mean the scene with Randall Kenyon. The rest of it’s pretty straightforward.”
I considered for half a beat.
“Randall Kenyon had been trying to persuade James Longbaugh to represent him — to make the sale of Elk Rock Ranch from Wendy to Randall happen.
“James declined.
“Randall used the well-tested method of winning over people by calling them insulting names.
“Somehow James withstood those blandishments and kicked the man out of his office.”
“Makes sense,” Diana said.
“Doesn’t get us any farther.”
“No, it doesn’t.”
****
Scott Hoole was home when I called from the station.
That wasn’t a huge surprise.
More snow fell in the mountains overnight. In Sherman we got slush. When they said the eastern pass to Cooke City was closed for the winter, they meant until summer. Spring — even Wyoming spring — didn’t count.
But Scott Hoole not only didn’t seem affected by being snowed in, he didn’t even mention it.
When I identified myself he responded, “Gee said you’d call.”
I did not rush out my appreciation for his food or which of the restaurants he’d been associated with was my favorite.
Not that I was above that.
But, first, I was calling about the killing of his long-time friend.
Second, common sense said that a man who’d retired to Cooke City, Montana, was not longing to relive his giddy celebrity days.
So, I warmed up Scott Hoole with questions about how he started working for Elk Rock Ranch and if that was how he and Keefe became friends.
“No, we were already friends. Some of the kids at school thought he was weird. I liked him. He wasn’t much interested in being my friend back, but I wore him down.” He chuckled. A nice sound. Low and warm, like melted chocolate.... which made me think of one of his signature desserts that—
“As for working at Elk Rock, they didn’t hire too many locals — most kids who had wrangling skills worked on their family’s place, not for somebody else. But I was from town.” He chuckled. “And Keefe’s friend. His mom knew me and she ruled the kitchen.
“Started as kitchen assistant. Worked my way up. Gave me a taste for cooking, so to speak. Learned more from Ulla Dobey than all of culinary school. I kept getting better and better jobs, farther and farther away. But everyplace I went, one of my conditions was I had three weeks of vacation during the summer. I’d go back every year, cook for Elk Rock, see my family and friends... Though there aren’t many of those left. My family’s all gone or moved and now Keefe...”
He cleared his throat.
Then he asked, “How’s Brenda doing? I need to call her.”
