“Let me refresh your recollection.” He handed copies of a document to the judge and Karen, which they had both seen before and the judge admitted without objection. Then he handed it to Bagley. “This is your ops log from that month, correct?”

“Yes,” said Bagley. He shifted in his chair again, like suddenly the weight of his extra flesh was heavier than it had been.

“That’s your handwriting on there, making additional notes?”

“Looks like it.”

“Do you see the entry for May 22, on the second page? The one you highlighted in yellow?”

“Yes.”

“So if I’m reading this correctly, that bus was scheduled to depart for New Orleans at six-fifteen a.m., with Mr. Gannon as the driver and Ms. Lee and Mr. Peña as the guards.”

“That’s what this says, but I don’t remember which guards were on it.”

“Is that because they have disappeared?”

“Excuse me?”

“You didn’t know that Mr. Gannon, Ms. Lee, and Mr. Peña are all missing and presumed dead?”

“I heard something about Gannon, not so much about the other two. But we all know a lot of people who were lost, or just lost track of.”

“Or silenced,” said Donny. “Do you remember who was on that bus when it went out?”

“I’d need to see the manifest.”

“Turn to page six.”

Bagley flipped the pages, and read.

Donny held up his copy, and pointed at the spot Bagley was reading. “Do you see that blank space where the names are supposed to be?”

“Yes.”

“So did the bus go out empty, or did you white out the names?”

“I didn’t blank anything out. Someone else must have done that, after I filed it.”

“But you were the one who highlighted the bus in yellow.”

“I don’t remember what I highlighted or didn’t highlight four years ago.”

“What if I told you one of our sources says there were just two prisoners on the bus who were supposed to be transferred to the Superdome.”

“Objection,” said Keller. “That testimony isn’t in the record.”

“Noted,” said the judge. “You can answer, Mr. Bagley.”

“That wouldn’t be unusual. Sounds right.”

“Do the names Gil Harrison and Juana Croat ring a bell?”

“Yes.”

“Why do you know those names?”

“They were the poisoners. The ones who tampered with the corn.”

“That was what you believed.”

“Still is.”

“Not your kind of people.”

“Objection,” said Keller.

“Withdrawn,” said Donny. “Do you remember seeing them on the bus when it went out that day?”

Bagley took a minute to consider his answer. He didn’t look at the judge, but you could see he felt her gaze. “Yes,” he said.

“And the bus came back the same day.”

“Yes.”

“Before dark.”

“Yes.”

“Is that enough time to get to New Orleans and back?”

“No.”

“But there were no prisoners.”

“No, sir.”

“Where did they go?”

“I don’t know.”

“Did you ask?”

“No.”