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Trisha slid out of the Jeep and joined us, though she kept quiet as I explained what had brought us out to the Smoots’ trailer.

“Let me see the text from Joey.” Jenna extended her hand to Trisha, who opened her phone and got to it quickly. After Jenna read it, she said, “You searched for his whereabouts because you didn’t believe him?”

“I didn’t.” Trisha’s eyes filled with tears. “He and I went to Nogales last year. He forgot he had a knife in his back pocket, and we were detained on our way back into Arizona.”

“A knife, not a gun?” I interjected, knowing what a bad idea it was for anyone to try to cross the border with a firearm. They could be detained in Mexico for a long time.

“Just a knife.”

“That’s not illegal,” Jenna offered.

“I know, but we got scared.” A tear rolled down her cheek. “Joey and I got together about two years ago, but he’d been a hell-raiser before that. I told him I would only date him if he shaped up. He did! I mean, he really did.” Trisha wiped off the tear and then a few more. “I freaked when we got detained. I was worried they were questioning us for something else Joey had done, but he kept saying he was on the straight and narrow, and I just didn’t see any sign of anything else. I mean, he is kind of lazy, but we were working on that too. He’s a diamond in the rough—really, he is.”

Jenna and I nodded at her to continue.

She did. “This text is too casual, if that makes any sense. Plus, I think he’d be scared to tell me if he was in trouble. It didn’t fit, so I opened the location app right away after the text and realized the phone was at the trailer. I was hoping Joey was too, but I gotta tell you, I didn’t think he would be.” She held out the phone. “This is all so not Joey, you know?”

Jenna looked at me. I could see she was searching for my reaction. I thought about it for a moment and then nodded. I didn’t think Trisha was overreacting.

“Okay, then. Let me look around.” Jenna said.

“Wait, do you want me to turn on Joey’s phone?” Trisha asked. “Hazel wouldn’t let me touch it because of prints and stuff.”

“Good call. Yes, let me get you some gloves and then we’ll see what we can see. I’ll look around.”

“Good.” Trisha nodded and sniffed.

I could tell she was relieved that Jenna was listening to her. I was too.

We got the phone on, but the battery was so low that Trisha couldn’t get farther than the home screen. We couldn’t find a nearby charger so Jenna bagged the phone and took the passwords, telling Trisha she’d charge it at the station and take a look. I had a charging cord in the Jeep, but I didn’t offer to get it because I wondered if Jenna just didn’t want Trisha there when she took the first look at the phone. More tears fell down Trisha’s cheeks.

“It’ll be okay, Trisha,” Jenna said. “We’ll figure it out.”

Trisha nodded and took a deep breath.

Jenna couldn’t understand the bones and seemed momentarily overwhelmed at the idea of having to sift through them to look for clues to any crime. I told her I didn’t think there was anything to find in the piles, that they’d been accumulating over the years, but considering everything going on, I could be wrong. I told her about Jerry’s lifelong walk-and-gathers through the desert.

She blew a deep breath out of puffed cheeks. “That’s just more overwhelming than I can contemplate at the moment. I’ll tell Verro about these.” She took pictures. “I thought it was supposed to be quiet in Black Vulture. I’ve never had to investigate piles of bones. Will you be available to take a close look through them? I can’t imagine the reaction I would get from Tucson investigators if I make such a request.”

I didn’t have that sort of time, really, but I would make it if necessary. “Sure.”

“I’ll let you know.” She paused. “I need to get back to town and log Joey’s phone since it is looking like it could be evidence. I don’t know what Verro will want, but he’ll probably come out here too,” she signaled with a wave, “and look more deeply into everything around here. I’d like to find Joey, but after what you told me, I’m worried that he and Jerry might have run into something foul out there somewhere.”

“I can look around. I have the Jeep—wait, I have an even better idea.”

“I’m listening.”

“There’s a guy camping out by the caves,” I waved too, but in a different direction. “He has an ATV. I could get ahold of him, and we could do a grid search.”

“Graham something or other?”

“You’ve met?”

“No, but Verro told me about him.” She paused. “I don’t think the police have an ATV. Verro mentioned he had a dirt bike, but I don’t know if he meant desert-type dirt. I can’t imagine why not.”

I shrugged. “We didn’t have a real force until recently.”

She nodded. “All right. Do it, and report back later.”