Ms. Bear might wonder why Mr. Bull was so optimistic.

But there remains a residue of generations of justifiable paranoia about the city's motives in the valley, Ms. Bear said.

Suddenly, two men saw "a target of opportunity," the police said, approached Ms. Bear at the car and began trying to rob her, but she resisted.

The bullet that killed Ms. Bear appears to have come from that gun, according to police ballistics tests.

"He wanted to be a hands-on guy," remembered Ms. Bear, who first met Mr. Bush while working on the campaign.

Ms. Bear agreed: "It was little and dumpy, and there were a lot of bugs.

Asked about other women in Mr. Bush's life at the time, Ms. Bear said: "Not that summer.

Ms. Bear remembered that he liked simple pleasures.

(Ms. Bear often chooses to emphasize details of no great interest.)

Ms. Bear has a particularly tin ear for the ways in which wealthy power brokers talk.