She attempts to smile, but doesn’t quite manage. “I’m ready.”

“She’s a trouper,” he says affectionately.

“When’s the big move?” I ask.

“Two days and counting.” Smiling, he puts his arm around his daughter’s shoulder and hugs her against him. “We can’t wait.”

Silence falls, a thin ribbon of tension slicing through it. “We were just making dinner,” Atherton says. “I’ve got grilled chicken breast and some burned sweet potato fries.” He smiles, but I can tell he’s perplexed by my presence and growing concerned. “Still trying to get the hang of cooking, since it’s just the two of us now.”

“You’re divorced?” I ask.

A shadow passes over his features. “My wife, Jane, passed away last year.”

I wince. “I’m sorry,” I tell him.

“We’re doing okay now.” He hugs his daughter again. “Aren’t we, honey?”

The girl tries to match his smile, but fails, and ends up looking at the floor. “Yeah.”

“I won’t keep you,” I tell him. “I know you were involved with Baby Doe at the hospital and I was in the neighborhood so I thought I’d stop in and update you on my progress finding the baby’s mother.”

“Ah. Of course.” But I can tell he isn’t sure why an update warrants a personal visit from the chief of police as opposed to a phone call or e-mail. “We can sit in the living room if you’d like, Chief Burkholder.” He looks at his daughter. “Honey, you want to bring the three of us some of that coffee I just made?”

The girl has barely taken her eyes off me since I walked in. “Sure, Dad.” Reluctance rings clear in her voice, telling me the last thing she wants to do is leave me alone with her father.

“None for me, thank you,” I say quickly.

He ushers me to a spacious living room where a fire crackles in a stone hearth. “I take it you’ve found the mother?” he asks.

“Not yet, but I’m working on a few leads,” I say vaguely.

“I heard she’s Amish. Is that true?”

“I thought so at first, but now I’m not so sure.”

Chloe returns with coffee. She hands one of the mugs to her father and sets the other on the coffee table in front of me. I don’t know if her father notices, but her hands are shaking.

“The social worker seemed confident that she’d be able to find a foster family in the next couple of days,” I tell him. “She’s looking for a couple or a family to permanently adopt her.”

“It sounds like a happy ending for everyone.”

I acknowledge the statement with a nod. “We’re still hoping Baby Doe’s mother will come forward.”

He shakes his head. “I suppose these young mothers just don’t know about the Safe Haven law.”

I look at Chloe, including her in the conversation. “That’s the law that was enacted to protect new mothers from prosecution, if they’re unable to care for their baby and drop it off in a safe place.”