Memento more. I honestly don't remember ever seeing it,; though. Isn't that strange. It reminds me the other dayj I found a big, ugly eye in that same cabinet. It was so evil I tossed it."

Sampson held her gaze. “Strange coincidence,” he said, shaking his head. He was thinking that Alex refused to: believe in coincidences. “As far as you remember, your husband never mentioned Sergeant Ellis Cooper?” he asked.

Billie shook her head. She seemed a little spooked now. “No. He rarely talked about the war. He didn't like? it when he was there. He liked it even less once he came back and had time to think about his combat experiences.”

“I can understand that. When I got back to DC I was stationed at Fort Myers in Arlington for a couple of months. I came home in my dress greens one Saturday. I got off a bus in downtown Washington. A white girl in bell bottom jeans and sandals came up and spat on my uniform. She called me a baby murderer. I'll never forget that for the rest of my life. I was so angry I turned and walked away as fast as I could. The hippie girl had no idea what happened over there, what it's like to get shot at, to lose friends, to fight for your country.”

Billie clasped her hands together and slowly rocked back and forth. “I don't know what to tell you about Laurence. I think you probably would have liked him Everybody did. He was very responsible, a good father to our children. He was a thoughtful, loving husband. Before he died, and I'm talking twenty minutes before he was executed, I sat with him in the prison. He stared into my eyes and said, ”I did not kill that young man. Please make sure our kids know that. Make sure, Billie." '

“Yeah,” Sampson said. “Ellis Cooper said something like that, too.”

It got quiet in the living room. A little uncomfortable for the first time.

Finally, Sampson was compelled to speak. “I'm glad you called, Billie. Tonight was great for me. Thank you. I need to go now. It's getting late.”

She was standing beside him and she didn't move. Sampson leaned down and kissed her cheek. God, she was so tiny.

“You do think I'll break,” she said, but then she smiled. “That's all right.”

She walked him out to his car. They felt compelled to talk again, mostly about the night sky over the ocean, how expansive and beautiful it was.

Sampson got into the Cougar and Billie started to walk back to the house. He watched her, and he felt sorry that the night was ending and he'd probably never see her again. He was also a little worried about her. How had the straw doll gotten into her house?

She stopped at the stairs to the house, one hand on the banister. Then, almost as if she'd forgotten something, she walked back to his car.