all know he was old as the hills, but if anyone sent him out
before his time it was Snider and Tanner."
"Thanks. You're probably right."
"You bet I'm right. And we won't let them off the hook
now, will we?"
She unlocked her car door, then turned to face Clyde,
noticing how his brow was furrowed with concern. "No, we
won't!" The words came Out with fresh resolve, and then she
nodded firmly. "Somehow, we're going to make them sorry
they ever got into this land development business in the first
place."
He grinned. "Now that's my girl!"
Jeanette stopped by the newspaper office on Monday and
Maggie took her directly to her office and invited her to sit
down. She had given this conversation much thought and
even more prayer. She began speaking slowly, in a gentle
voice. "Jeanette, I know you loved your grandfather very,
very much. And just for the record, I think he was a won-
derful, dear old man. But I also know that you think my
article caused his-"
54Melody Carlson
"I didn't come to talk about that," she snapped back.
Then she abruptly stood, switching her purse to her other
hand with impatience. "I only came here to discuss
Grandpa's dog."
"Yes, Lizzie's a delight. We've enjoyed having her."
Jeanette appeared slightly surprised, almost as if she'd
suspected Maggie to be the type of person who might poison
or torture a poor, homeless animal whose master had died.
Maggie continued, once again using a calm, gentle voice.
"I will understand perfectly if you want to take the dog with
you. However, you should know that Lizzie and I hit it off
the day I first visited your grandfather. In fact, although I
only knew him briefly, I was quite fond of him." She picked
up the figurine and turned it around in her hands. "And I felt
absolutely horrible to find him like that-"
"You found him?" Jeanette's eyes narrowed. "I thought
it was Rick."
Maggie looked directly into the woman's eyes. "Look, I
have absolutely no reason to lie to you about anything. And
if I hadn't come to care so deeply about your grandfather, I
wouldn't even bother trying to convince you of the truth."
She set down the figurine and picked up an edition of last
week's paper, holding it out toward Jeanette. "And if you're
half the person your grandfather believed you to be, I'd think
you would want to read this article for yourself. He spent a
lot of time telling me his side of the story, all of which is
included here."
Jeanette reluctantly took the paper. "Rick Tanner says it's
just a bunch of lies."
"Why don't you read it, and then judge for yourself?