"Questions about what?"

"Your son."

"You have news of my son?"

"No, sir. We were hoping you might."

I noticed a tremor in Bogan's hand as he lay down the trowel. Double-gripping the barrel rim, he slowly pulled himself to his feet.

The word "flamingo" popped into my mind. The coloring. The spindly legs. Bogan's upper body seemed far too bulky for his lower limbs to support.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Cotton Galimore. My associate is Dr. Temperance Brennan."

Bogan bounced a glance off me but asked no follow-up question.

"We've been looking into the disappearances of Cindi Gamble and your son, Cale."

"That was a long time ago."

"Yes, sir."

Bogan's eyes narrowed. "Do I know you?"

"I was on the task force back in 1998." Galimore left it at that.

Bogan seemed to consider, let it go. "The police have reopened the case?"

Galimore did not correct Bogan's misinterpretation that he was still on the job. "Last week a body was found in a landfill next to the Charlotte Motor Speedway. You may have seen media reports."

"I don't follow the news." A nod in my direction. "What's her connection?"

"Dr. Brennan examined that body."

Bogan turned to me. "Was it Cale?"

"I think it's unlikely."

"But you don't know."

"Not with complete certainty."

Bogan opened his mouth. Before he could speak, music burst from my purse.

Apologizing, I withdrew a few steps, dug out my mobile, and clicked on.

And immediately regretted ignoring the caller ID.

"Sweet baby Jesus, Tempe. My life's going to hell in a hand-basket."

"I can't talk now, Summer." Hand-cupping my mouth.

"I'm going to die. I really am. No person on this earth-"

"I'll help you later."

"When?"

"Whenever."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Tonight?"

"Yes."

"You really cross-your-heart will?"

"Yes," I hissed.

Behind me, I heard Bogan ask, "You on some sort of personal crusade?"

"Nothing like that," Galimore said. "I just always felt we left that investigation a little too soon."

Outside the glass, the pond looked flat and gray, a pewter disk compressed by the afternoon's oppressive heat and humidity.

"Say it," Summer whined.

"Yes."

"Say you promise."

"I promise."

"I've completely given up on Petey. I don't like passing judgment on other people's taste. But if you take my meaning-"

"I have to go."

I was turning back to the others when something velvety brushed my elbow.

A tarantula image replaced the flamingo.

My instincts acted without clearance from my higher centers.

My hand flew up.

The mobile shot skyward, then augured into the gravel at Galimore's feet.

"I'll get it. I'm already covered with cow flop."

Before I could respond, Bogan scooped up the iPhone, stepped to a sideboard, and wiped each surface with a rag. "Good as new." Handing it back.

"Thank you," I said.

"Daytona's manners need improving."

At my confused look, Bogan pointed to a straight-back wooden chair beside the door. On it, a black cat sat grooming itself, one leg shooting the air like a Ziegfeld girl's.

"It's sticky in here," Bogan said. "Let's go to my den."

We walked single-file, Bogan, then Galimore, then I. Daytona abandoned his toilette to bring up the rear.

The house's interior was dim. And at least a zillion degrees cooler than the greenhouse.

The front door opened into a small foyer. Beyond, on the right, stairs rose to a second floor. Nothing fancy. No carved spindles or sweeping handrail. Just treads and banisters screwed into the walls.

Through the ceiling came muted thuds I assumed were footfalls on a treadmill. I had to credit Reta. She was booking.

Bogan led us down a central hall past amateur watercolors hung in cheap plastic frames. A landscape. A bowl of fruit. A gaudy bouquet.

In a few short steps we reached a kitchen, and the hall made a ninety-degree turn.

"I'll get some sodas." A skinny finger pointed to an open door. "Y'all go in there."

Galimore and I went left as directed and entered what had to be Bogan's den.

I could only stare in amazement.

THE ROOM HELD A SCRUFFY LEATHER COUCH AND MATCHING chair, a battered oak coffee table, and a flat-screen TV the size of a highway billboard. The rest of the room was a testimonial to NASCAR.

Display cases and shelving lined the walls, all crammed to overflowing. Above the cases hung framed posters, photos, and memorabilia. Freestanding items filled every unoccupied inch of floor space.

It was doubtful the Hall of Fame had more on exhibit.

My eyes roved the assemblage.

A hunk of asphalt carved into the numeral 3 and labeled as coming from turn one at Daytona. A life-size cutout of Denny Hamlin. A hunk of red sheet metal with some driver's name incised into the surrounding plastic casing. Autographed trading cards. Commemorative coins in velvet boxes. Flags. Sweatshirts. Caps. Die-cast models of hundreds of cars.

I guessed some of the items could be valuable. A black-and-white print that looked at least fifty years old. Team suits that seemed way out of date. A car door with the number 24 painted on the outside.

"Can you believe all this shit?" Galimore was equally stunned.

"The man is a fan," I said.

"More like a fanatic."

I crossed to look at some of the poster-size photos. Jimmie Johnson, kissing the ground after winning the 2007 Brickyard. Jeff Gordon, making a pit stop. Tony Stewart, raising an index finger at Watkins Glen.

I checked the old picture. It showed a man wearing goggles and high boots straddling an old-fashioned motorcycle.

"You know who that is?" Bogan was standing in the doorway holding three cans of Pepsi.

I studied the scrawled signature. "Erwin Baker?"

"Erwin 'Cannonball' Baker won the first race ever held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. That was in 1909, when the track was brand-new. Cannonball cycled back and forth across the country more than a hundred times, later served as commissioner of NASCAR. The guy was a legend."

Bogan held out a Pepsi. I took it.

"That was before the fancy-pantsification of stock car racing. Before diversification." He elongated the second syllable to show his disdain.

"Sorry?"

"Back in the day everyone knew whose sport it was. And drivers were tough."

"They're not tough now?"

"Back then men were men."

"Mister, we could use a man like Herbert Hoover again." Without mirth. I didn't like the vibe I was getting.

"What?'

"Never mind."

Bogan gave Galimore a Pepsi, then dropped into the chair and threw his bird legs over one arm.

Galimore and I sat on opposite ends of the couch. Almost immediately he slipped his cell from his pocket, clicked on, and spoke into it.

"Hold on." To us. "Sorry. Got to take this." Galimore set down his soda and stepped out into the hall.

"You're here because Wayne Gamble got himself killed, right?"

"I thought you didn't keep up with the news," I said.

"I don't. I watch racing. Gamble's an item because of the Coca-Cola 600. Stupak's a favorite. Was a favorite."

"Did you know Wayne Gamble?"

"Knew his sister." Bogan popped the tab on his can. "What do you want from me?"

"Your thoughts on what happened to your son."

"I've got none."

"Tell me what you remember."