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It just should have gone to Washington or a ain

He understood why Henri had insisted it stay in Lily He wanted to knoho’d gotten hold of the skull--and who’d put it in the basee room of the Gilded Lily

"Sheriff Sloan Trent," he said, accepting her hand and nodding to the others in acknowledgreeted hiiven name There wasn’t a lot of formality in Lily

"I’m here to take you to our offices We have a roo you need"

She nodded "I bringthe black case she carried over her shoulder "We should be fine Thank you, Sheriff"

"My pleasure, Agent Everett You ready?"

"I am"

There was a chorus of "lovely to meet you" and "nice to make your acquaintance" and other cordial state with "See you later, Sloan!"

He led the way to his SUV--then hesitated He’d been raised to open doors for ladies, but wasn’t sure what the protocol ith an agent He decided he’d be daer door She thanked him as she slid in

An aard silence followed as he drove down Main Street, then along the paved road that passed by a s of houses and ranches on ser tracts as he traveled the six miles from the heart of Lily to the modern "don" area of town

She broke the silence

"So, Logan said he sometimes worked with you in Texas But you’re from Lily?" she asked

"I am," he told her

"It’s really remarkable," she said Her voice see to be pleasant and cheerful "The town, I mean--not that you’re from it"

"It’s remarkable in its preservation, I suppose Toht at the OK Corral and all that," he said "We had our share of outlaws, but none that caught the Aination like Wyatt Earp and his brothers Of course, Wyatt Earp wrote books that fostered the popular conception of the Old West"

"Ah, but Lily has the Gilded Lily," Jane said

"And Tolanced her way "But the Gilded Lily has never been closed It’s been an operating theater since it first opened And while the Birdcage had its ‘cages’ or ‘cribs’ in balconies so its ladies of the night could entertain during perforiti ladies only entertained clients in their roo clientele to the saloon and ‘entertainment’ center across the street Of course, the Gilded Lily tried for a higher class of clientele," Sloan said

She laughed softly "Convenient where they placed the Old Jail Right next to the Gilded Lily"

"Within shouting distance," he agreed

"And across the street from the saloon"