“You know what would be even better?” he asks. “If you would let me finish interviewing her without you in the room. Kids talk more if the parents aren’t listening in.”

Again I know he’s right. “Fine. I’ll wait out here but you’ll come and get me right away if she asks for me, right?”

“Sure thing,” he agrees, steps back into the room and closes the door before I can change my mind.

I try to listen through the doorway but all I can hear is the low murmur of voices. I give up and check my phone for messages from Max. Nothing. I send Max a text telling him that his sister is in the hospital and he needs to call right now. Just as I hit Send I recognize Cora Landry’s parents walking down the long corridor. I rush to catch up with them. “Mara,” I call.

I can’t remember her husband’s name, just know that he manages a place that sells farm equipment. Mara’s eyes are red and swollen from crying and her blond hair is pulled back in a messy ponytail. Like me, she appears to have dressed in a hurry. Normally polished and put together, this morning she wears an oversize sweatshirt, paint-speckled yoga pants and a pair of moccasins. “Mara,” I say, her name catching in my throat. “I can’t believe this happened! How’s Cora doing?”

She presses a tissue to her red-tipped nose with shaky fingers. “She was stabbed. In the face and here.” With shaky fingers she indicates a spot just below her ribs. Mara’s face crumples and she leans into her husband.

“I’m so sorry,” I say, swallowing back my own tears. “Was Cora able to say what happened?”

Mara’s husband shakes his head. “No. She wasn’t in any condition to talk to the police. But the witness said she saw a car with three people inside just before she found Cora.”

“This is my husband, Jim,” Mara says, remembering her manners even in her distraught state. “This is Beth, Violet’s mom.”

I’m embarrassed that I don’t know the Landrys better. My shift at the gas station usually ends at five and Violet spends nearly every day after school at their house. I should have made more of an effort, thanked them for giving my daughter a place to go besides an empty house.

Mara fishes into her purse for another tissue. “A nurse told us Violet was here but she couldn’t tell us how she’s doing. Was she hurt?”