I stepped from the Jeep, hitching up my belt. It always sagged under the weight of my service weapon.

“So you talked to Bruce then?” she said.

“I told you I was going to.”

She took a hit off her Juul. “I don’t see any bullet holes in you, so that’s something.”

“Why are you following me, Bibi?”

“My mother is desperate to blame somebody for Grandfather’s death. I thought it would help if you understood why. They met in London, you see, and he was the one who introduced her to my dad. Eben was the father she never had, by which I mean he wasn’t a violent, displaced farmer from a country that no longer exists and never should have existed in the first place. So this wild-goose chase she’s sent you on—it’s not just about closure. My mother needs someone to be punished. The universe has been thrown out of balance by my grandfather’s dumb death. Mariëtte Chamberlain sees herself as an agent of cosmic justice.”

I thought of the slanders Jewett had hurled at Bibi: that she had deceived her grandfather about her affections, that she was addicted to drugs, that she had come out of Chamberlain’s death with riches and a sweet living situation.

“And what about you?” I asked. “What do you need?”

“To have my mom back, the way she was before. I know it won’t happen. Life doesn’t move in reverse.”

Just because Jewett was a crank and a bigot didn’t mean he was wrong about everything. Bibi might well be a liar who didn’t welcome anyone taking a fresh look at her grandfather’s death. I decided to test her.

“I think there’s something else you haven’t told anyone,” I said, “and maybe it’s weighing you down.”

In an unconscious imitation of her mother, she lifted her chin so that she seemed to be looking down her nose at me. “Where’d you get your degree in psychology, Warden?”

“The usual place: a box of Crackerjacks. What’s on your mind, Bibi?”

“Grandfather loaned Bruce money. I don’t know how much or why. Enough that it became a bone of contention.”

“Is that why he asked for your opinion of Jewett, do you think?”

“No, he never mentioned anything about a loan.” She sucked some nicotine from her little plastic stick. “I overheard a phone conversation when I was visiting the farm one day. Grandfather had a booming voice. He spoke loudly because he refused to wear his hearing aids.”

“You’re sure it was Jewett on the other end?”

“Grandfather called Bruce ‘Cap’n,’ even though he was never an officer. So, yes, I’m sure.”

“Do you remember the specific words your grandfather used?”

“‘I’m not your banker, Cap’n. I agreed to give you six months and I want my money.’”

“Any idea what Jewett needed the funds for?”