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.''I don't blame you for feeling like that,' I said.'No way I could shoe that horse,' Marino said.'No way I'd want to, either.''They can pick you up by the teeth and throw you.They paw, cow kick, slap their tail in your eyes.It better'd be plain as day who's in charge, or you're in for a world of trouble.'Dorr straightened up, rubbing his lower back.He returned to his forge to fire another shoe.'Look, Hughey,' Marino said as we followed.'I'm asking you to help because I think you want to.You cared about those horses.You gotta care that someone's dead.'The farrier dug in a compartment on the side of his truck.He pulled out a new shoe and grabbed it with tongs.'All I can do is give you my private theory.'He held the shoe in the forge's flame.'I'm all ears,' Marino said.'I think it was a professional hit and that the woman was part of it but for some reason didn't get out.''So you're saying she was an arsonist.''Maybe one of them.But she got the short end of the stick.''What makes you think that?' I asked.Dorr clamped the warm shoe into a foot vice.'You know, Mr Sparkes's lifestyle pisses off a lot of people, especially your Nazi types,' he answered.'I'm still not clear why you think the woman had anything to do with it,' Marino said.Dorr paused to stretch his back.He rotated his head and his neck cracked.'Maybe whoever did it didn't know he was leaving town.They needed a girl to get him to open his door -- maybe even a girl he had a past with.'Marino and I let him talk.'He's not the kind of guy to turn someone he knew away from his door.In fact, in my opinion he's always been too laid back and nice for his own damn good.'The grinding and hammering punctuated the farrier's anger, and the shoe seemed to hiss a soft warning as Dorr dipped it in a bucket of water.He said nothing to us as he returned to Molly Brown, seating himself on the stool again.He began trying on the new shoe, rasping away an edge and pulling out the hammer.The mare was fidgety, but mostly she seemed bored.'I may as well tell you another thing that in my mind fits with my theory,' he said as he worked.'While I was on his farm that Thursday, this same damn helicopter kept flying overhead.It's not like they do crop dusting around there, so Mr Sparkes and I couldn't figure if it was lost or having a problem and looking for a place to land.It buzzed around for maybe fifteen minutes and then took off to the north.''What color was it?' I asked as I recalled the one that had circled the fire scene when I was there.'White.Looked like a white dragonfly.''Like a little piston-engine chopper?' Marino asked.'I don't know much about whirlybirds, but yup, it was small.A two-seater, my guess is, with no number painted on it.Kind of makes you wonder, now, doesn't it? Like maybe somebody doing a little surveillance from the air?'The beagle's eyes were half shut and his head was on my shoe.'And you've never seen that helicopter around his farm before?' Marino asked, and I could tell he remembered the white helicopter, too, but didn't want to seem especially interested.'No sir.Warrenton's not a fan of helicopters.They spook the horses.''There's an air park, flying circus, a bunch of private air strips in the area,' Marino added.Dorr got up again.'I've put two and two together for you the best I can,' he said.He grabbed a bandanna out of a back pocket and mopped his face.'I've told you all I know.Damn.I'm sore all over.''One last thing,' Marino said.'Sparkes is an important, busy man.He must've used helicopters now and then.To get to the airport, for example, since his farm was sort of out in the middle of nowhere.''Sure, they've landed on his farm,' Dorr said.He gave Marino a lingering look that was filled with suspicion.'Anything like the white one you saw?' Marino then asked.'I already told you I've never seen it before.'Dorr stared at us while Molly Brown jerked against her halter and bared long stained teeth.'And I'll tell you another thing,' Dorr said.'If you're out to railroad Mr Sparkes, don't bother poking your nose around me again
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