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leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. “This is going to be a great wedding, and the reception’s going to be so much fun. It’ll be at the golf course and everybody in town’s invited. Sis Gooding will do the food – she does the food for everything in Wadena. There’ll be perogies and cabbage rolls and turkeys and hams and jellied salads that match my attendants’ dresses and crepe paper and fairy lights looped through the tree branches and a country band that plays ‘Careless Love’ for the bride-and-groom dance, and people clinking glasses to make Leland and me kiss.” In the candlelight, Margot’s face glowed. Leland reached over and touched her cheek. Then he gave her his slow-blooming, transforming smile.
    In addition to his wedding day, there was another significant event on Leland’s agenda. The next morning our university was awarding him an honorary doctorate. It wasn’t his first, but Leland didn’t dwell on himself, he focused on me. “It must be a thrill to have an earned doctorate.”
    “At the time it was simply a relief,” I said. “I was a widow with three children, and if I was going to get a job teaching, I had to finish my dissertation. Most academics just see the Ph.D. as a union card.” I met Leland’s eyes. “Of course, there are circumstances where a union card can be a powerful tool.”
    Zack picked up on the challenge in my words and cleared his throat. Margot watched with interest, but Leland was unruffled. “Because a union prevents people like me from shoving workers around,” he said.
    “If you understand that, why is the Village Project nonunion?” I said.
    “You know the answer to that, Joanne. A union project costs more. That means more investors – more people to answer to. There’s a saying in the development business: ‘Beg for forgiveness, not for permission.’ I’m not going to waste time begging for permission. I’m going to do whatever’s necessary to take this district back to what it once was.”
    “And tomorrow you get your reward,” I said. “The scarlet hood with the gold silk lining,”
    “And I can’t wait to see you in it,” Margot said.
    Leland’s voice was even. “You may get to see more than that.” He turned to me again. “You’re on campus, Joanne. You must have heard something about the protest that’s apparently being planned for the ceremony.”
    “From what I’ve heard, it’s not going to amount to much,” I said. “Some of the graduands on stage are planning to turn their chairs so their backs are to you when you speak.”
    “I can handle that,” Leland said. “Actually, I can handle most things.” His voice was flat. He wasn’t bragging, simply stating a fact.
    As Margot and I were bringing in dessert and coffee, Zack’s cell rang. He took the call, exchanged a few words with his caller, said, “Okay, thanks,” and broke the connection.
    “Peyben’s off the hook, Leland,” he said. “The police are now treating Danny Racette’s death as a homicide.”
    Leland tented his fingers and stared at them silently for a few seconds. “That doesn’t make Danny any less dead,” he said at last. “So what makes the police suspect murder?”
    “They discovered a treasure,” Zack said. “Sifting through every square inch of that grid they drew over the detonation area finally paid off. The cops were looking for something that shouldn’t be there, and this afternoon, they found fragments of what appeared to be a timing device.”
    “And our crews use electronic detonators,” Leland said. “That blast was scheduled for 3:00 p.m. and it went off at 2:20 when Danny was checking the site so he could give the all clear.” Leland sipped his coffee. “Do the police have any theories about who did it?”
    “If they do, they’re not sharing,” Zack said. “Leland, this afternoon Joanne told me that Ed Mariani was looking into rumours that the group opposed to The Village has been recruiting gang members.