“She was pretty decent,” Tolliver said as we got into the car. “Probably the most relaxed funeral home person we’ve ever dealt with.”

That was certainly true. “She seemed to take us pretty much in stride,” I said.

“Nice change.”

I nodded.

Pastor Doak Garland pulled into the parking lot in his modest Chevrolet just as Tolliver was putting the keys in the ignition. He approached the car, so Tolliver turned the key and pressed the window button.

“Hello again,” Doak said, bending down to look at us.

“What are you busy doing?” I asked, hoping he wouldn’t ask us about our own visit to Sweet Rest.

“Well, one of the bodies is already being released tomorrow, Jeff McGraw’s, so I’m here to talk to Cleda about the service. I think we’ll need extra traffic control, so I’ve already been to the sheriff’s department, and I think Cleda needs to be prepared for an extra visitation night.”

“This is going to take it out of you,” Tolliver said. “There are a lot of services coming up.”

“Well, I wasn’t the minister for all these boys,” Doak said with a gentle smile. “But the whole community will turn out for each funeral, so we’re all in for a hard time. And maybe we should be. How could this happen in our midst, and we knew nothing?”

That was too big a question for me. “Wouldn’t some of that be due to the former sheriff, Abe, um, Madden?” I said. “Wouldn’t some of that be due to his policy of pretending the boys were runaways instead of missing and in danger? He seemed willing to shoulder his share of the blame at the memorial meeting the other night.”

Doak Garland looked taken aback. “Maybe we shouldn’t be into pointing fingers,” he said, but he didn’t say it with any force. It was clear he wasn’t thinking about Abe Madden’s role in the terrible drama for the first time. “You really think that had a bearing?” he said.

“Of course,” I said, surprised. I didn’t know Abe Madden. I didn’t have to be careful of his feelings or his reputation. “If his attitude toward the vanishing boys was really the one I’ve heard described, then of course it had a bearing. Possibly if the investigation had gotten under way quicker, we’d have a few more kids walking around alive.”

“But will assigning blame make this any easier?” Doak asked rhetorically.

I decided to take the question literally. “Yes, it will, for everyone but Abe Madden,” I said. “Assigning blame does help people feel better, in a lot of ways. At least in my experience. Plus, if you can correct the behavior that led to the problem, the problem might not repeat itself.” I shrugged. Maybe, maybe not.