The Dry

Falk and Raco arrive at Jamie’s farm, where he lives with his forgetful grandmother. Jamie begins his account of the afternoon the Hadlers died by stressing that if he had known what Luke was going to do later that afternoon, he would not have let him leave his farm. He and Luke were at the Fleece the previous night, where “anyone could have heard” Luke offer to help Jamie with his rabbit problem (71). Through fragmented flashbacks, Jamie recalls that Luke seemed distracted and was not shooting well. Jamie tried to get Luke to share what was on his mind, but Luke only makes a comment about women “carrying on about God knows what anymore,” without sharing anything else about Karen (72). 

They shot the rabbits (with Jamie's Winchester ammunition) for about an hour, and then Luke left in a hurry, saying he had “things to do” (73). Jamie says the police called around 6:30 p.m., and that in the meantime he had been working in the fields and then had dinner with his Gran. Falk notices that “Mrs. Sullivan [jerks] her pale gaze up in surprise” but does not contradict her grandson (74).