“If it is Maria prowling around the Cedars,” Bobby said, “she’s amazingly slippery, and with Paredes gone what are you going to do with your physical fact? And how does it explain the friendly influence that wiped out my footprints? Is it a friendly or an evil influence that snatched away the evidence and that keeps it secreted?”
“We’ll see,” Graham said. “I’m going after a flesh-and-blood criminal who isn’t you. I’m going to try to find out what your grandfather was afraid of the night of his murder.”
After a time he glanced up.
“You’ve known Paredes for a long time, Bobby, but I don’t think you’ve ever told me how you met him.”
“A couple of years ago I should think,” Bobby answered. “Somebody brought him to the club. I’ve forgotten who. Carlos was working for a big Panama importing f
