AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Named for a French-Canadian fur trapper who went into the mountains and never came back,” Diana said. “Jacques La Ramée or LaRamie. They named the mountains and river and then the town after him. So they’re all named after an explorer who you could say failed to explore.”
“I read he was killed by jealous fellow fur traders,” Jerry said.
“See,” I said brightly, “at least Sherman didn’t die. Well, until he did die, of course. But he survived the war and he’s not famous because he died.”
My failed attempt at cheer had everyone — including me — looking eagerly toward the sound of someone approaching from beyond the hallway’s right hand turn at the door to the news director’s office door. From there, the hallway led to the new break room, editing bays, studio, and deeper into the building.
Dale, a news aide, came into view around the corner, clearly more absorbed in what came through his earbuds than where he was.
He’s a good kid. But seeing him makes me miss Jennifer Lawton even more.
Once our news aide extraordinaire, computer whiz, and major part of a group of us solving murders, Jennifer was living just north of Chicago, immersed in a special program at Northwestern University. A major coup for her. A major loss for KWMT... and me.
Dale said good-bye, apparently ending a call, and focused on us. “Did you hear? Someone died out at Elk Rock Ranch. Shot. I heard it on radio traffic—”
Before anyone else reacted, Leona exclaimed with spurious excitement. “I’ve got it! How we make Sherman stand out. We claim it as the murder capital of Wyoming.”
“Sherman, Wyoming. Small town living, lots of dying,” Walt immediately suggested.
“Great place to live — if it doesn’t kill you,” Jerry said.
“Live and die in W-Y,” contributed Diana.
“Only the last one works in this case,” Dale said solemnly. He does tend to be literal. “This one’s out of town. Like I said Elk Rock Ranch.”
“Where is this ranch?” I hadn’t heard of it before. Not that I knew all the ranches in the county or anywhere close. But I’d learned some from working for KWMT-TV and more from my connection with Tom. He owned the Circle B, north and west of town, nestled partly into the mountains, where the vegetation was lusher than the eastern part of the county, which required irrigation to wrest a living out of the Big Horn Basin’s semi-arid plateau.
“Way down in the southwest corner of the county, closer to Cody than Sherman, so it gets most of its business from that direction, closer to Yellowstone.”
“Why does that location give them business?” Last I heard, cattle didn’t care how close to Yellowstone they were. Except for being closer to Yellowstone’s wolf packs. That the cattle might care about, since the wolves didn’t recognize park boundaries.
“It’s a dude ranch,” Diana said. “Draws tourists.”
Ah. A different kind of livestock entirely.
Audrey cursed under her breath as a light on her console flashed. “That’s Mike. Hoping for good news.”
Mike had bought KWMT-TV largely from saving and investing his earnings during an NFL career with the Chicago Bears. Wisely, he continued his job as a sports reporter/part-time anchor at a network affiliate in Chicago.
He’s deservedly on the rise in his career. No reason he should give that up.
Besides, his visibility there helped get our first new hire here — Nala Choi, a December graduate from Northwestern. We had two more in line for later this year.
We had exciting changes cued up... if only we could fill the anchor, news director, and general manager jobs.
“Hey, there — good to see a crowd,” he said cheerfully from the screen. He immediately caught the mood. “What’s up?”
Audrey flicked a look toward me. I looked back steadily.
She’d wanted — and deserved — a position of authority in the newsroom. That included delivering bad news.
She drew in a breath. “Sherman’s not on any of the town lists.”
Mike’s turn to mutter a curse.
As Audrey started to cover the same ground of other towns hogging spots on the lists, Walt melted away with a few words about a verdict watch at the courthouse, Jerry didn’t bother with an excuse when he headed toward the studio, and Leona pointed at Mike on the screen and said, “No excuses. Get somebody,” before marching off.
“I can’t stay on long,” Mike said after Audrey finished. “Elizabeth, if we can set up a call soon—”
