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game.”
    “I thought I remembered Alex there. At any point after that did you leave the house?”
    “No.”
    “Not even to put the dog in her run?”
    “Last year I made a doggy door on that side of the kitchen. When I’m home, I leave it unlatched till bedtime so she can come
     and go on her own.”
    He frowned. “I must’ve missed it. Good idea, though, the winters we get. Did she do any unusual barking?”
    “Nothing like this morning, if that’s what you mean. Whenever Roxy hears movement, which is umpteen times a night around here,
     she lets out a bark or two. I don’t remember anything out of the ordinary last night.”
    “What time did you go to bed?”
    “Around one.”
    “Is that your usual hour?”
    “Mine. It was late for the boys.”
    “Those boys were up till one A.M. ?” His tone was that of someone used to kids who conk out shortly after sundown.
    “There was that Schwarzenegger movie on CBS, which ran long. And when Galen—he’s the seven-year-old—was channel-surfing during
     one of the commercials he caught a promo for the
Tonight Show.
Leno was going to have Sandy Alomar, who happens to be Alex’s hero of heroes. Plus some or other band—the kids could tell
     you the name—it’s the current rage of the elementary school set. So—” I spread my hands.
    “Both boys are in the summer recreation program?”
    “It’s two-thirds of my day care. They’re down the road with Sue Donnelly the rest of the afternoon.”
    “We noticed what looked like a connecting path through the woods—a little ways up from the creek?”
    “Right. The kids use it all the time.”
    “Does it run in the other direction too?”
    “Toward the Berkmeiers’? It’s farther from the creek that way and overgrown, but you could bushwhack through. I can show you
     the entrance—it isn’t obvious.”
    “Maybe later. That’s something I always wanted—water frontage. Step right out your back door and go fishing. How long have
     you been here?”
    “Right here? Four and a half years. I grew up in Albany and Danton Park, so I was familiar with the general area. After Cornell
     I worked out in the western part of the state, and then down in Florida and North Carolina.”
    “What brought you back?”
    “Family considerations.” I decided that wanted a little amplification. “My brother-in-law died.”
    “I’m sorry. Anyhow, about that path—we’re trying to work out how Ryan Jessup got from where his car’s parked to where he ended
     up. With those layers of dry leaves and pine needles, it’ll be a miracle if we find useful footprints. Did you notice any
     lights moving around out there last night?”
    “No. But the only good view you get in that direction is from the back kitchen window. There isn’t much reason to look out
     it unless you’re expecting somebody.”
    He glanced back, verifying. “Okay, can we go over what you told me about the pruner again? You’re positive you haven’t seen
     it in at least a week?”
    “I haven’t used it in over two weeks. I’m pretty sure it was still there last Friday, when I was getting something else from
     the back of the Bronco.”
    “And you don’t remember seeing it since then.”
    “I had no reason to look for it this week.”
    “And since you don’t lock up except at night, you think anybody working with you at Mariah Hansen’s could have reached in
     and lifted it?”
    “Also anybody who was working at Hudson Heights on Tuesday. I spent close to an hour there in the afternoon.”
    “Great! Now we’ve got most of the Garden Center contingent, plus Clete Donnelly’s Tuesday construction crew.” He shook his
     head. “Does anyone in that lot come to mind as having something heavy against Ryan Jessup?”
    “Not really.”
    “How about you? You said you didn’t get along professionally. Why?”
    “Ryan was brought in to stabilize the Garden Center financially. I didn’t go for some of the ways he went about it. Look,
     it