“I wish I’d worn boots,” Andrea groused, glancing down at her sneaker-clad feet. “The ground’s still frozen and the bottoms of my feet are cold.”

“It’ll be warm in the barn.”

“You’re right. I forgot that barns were heated.”

Hannah didn’t bother to correct her sister. Strictly speaking, Andrea was right. Barns were heated. They were kept warm by herding in all the cattle, keeping them together in a closed space, and utilizing their body heat. When it came to barns in the winter, BTUs stood for Bunched Together Until Summer.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Andrea asked, stepping over a frozen rut in the road.

“It’s probably a bad idea, but somebody’s got to do it.” Hannah eyed the farmhouse again. “I don’t see any lights on in the house. Do you?”

“No, it’s dark. Winnie’s probably been in bed for hours. She told me once that she gets up at five. Can you imagine getting up that early?”

“Oh, yes.”

“Of course you can. I forgot that you get up early, too.”

Hannah didn’t say anything. Now wasn’t the time to give Andrea any grief about sleeping in. As they walked closer, Hannah noticed that Winnie’s sedan and her pickup truck were parked in the driveway. The house was perfectly silent, and the only things moving were the shadows from wispy clouds scuttling across the moon.

“Why don’t we tell Mike what we know and let him look for the gun?” Andrea suggested, not for the first time.

“I told you before. Mike can’t get a search warrant on speculation alone. And he can’t search anywhere without a warrant. If we don’t do it, nobody will.”

In the pale, blue light of the moon overhead, Hannah could read her sister’s expression. Andrea was seriously considering that option.

“Don’t even think about backing out now,” Hannah told her sternly. “You’re the one who told us that Winnie hid her valuables in the barn.”

“Yes, but I didn’t know I’d have to come out here and look for them! What if Alice made up the whole thing? Lots of kids fib when they’re in grade school.”

Hannah knew her sister was trying to bail out, but they’d come too far to give up now. Andrea had gone to school with Alice Henderson and she’d told them about what Winnie’s youngest daughter had brought to class for Show and Tell. Hannah was pretty sure Alice’s story was accurate. It sounded like something Winnie would do. “But Alice showed you the gold medallions Winnie won for her prize cows, didn’t she?”

“Yes, but maybe Winnie didn’t keep them hidden in the barn. Alice could have fibbed about that.”

“Why would she fib?”