All the strength seeped out of Helen Hopkins as we watched.

“My poor girls,” she said. “My poor girls.”

She looked over at us, without really seeing us. “I thank you for coming,” she said stiffly. “I thank you. I’m in your debt. I’ll tell the girls’ fathers what you’ve said.”

Tolliver and I got up. Helen didn’t speak again.

“Now we leave,” Tolliver said, when we were outside. And after we stopped by the bank to cash Sybil Teague’s check, we got in our car and drove south out of Sarne.

We pulled into our motel in Ashdown a few silent hours later. Tolliver sat in the chair in my room after we’d eaten supper, and I perched on the foot of the bed.

“Tell me about going out with the trooper,” he said. His voice was mild, but I knew that was deceptive. I’d been waiting for that shoe to drop all day.

“He came by while you were gone flirting with that waitress,” I said. “He wanted me to take a ride with him.” Tolliver snorted, but I decided to ignore that. “Anyway, he talked, and he talked, and we got a milk shake, and then I realized that he just wanted to take me out to the cemetery and get me to tell him what happened to his wife.”

I could hardly bear to look at Tolliver’s face, but I sneaked a peek. To my relief, he wasn’t full of anger. He hated it when people took advantage of me, and he hated it more when the person was a man. But he didn’t want me to feel bad, either.

“Don’t you think he liked what he saw, and that’s why he came by the motel?”

I ducked my head. Tolliver’s hand smoothed my hair.

“No,” I said. “I think all along he planned on getting me there to his wife’s grave. I told him I had to be paid, Tolliver. So he took me by the bank and got the money.” I didn’t tell Tolliver it hadn’t been the full amount. “But I left it in the truck, because I felt so bad about the whole thing.” Bad and mad and guilty and hurt.

“You did the right thing,” he said, at last. “Next time, don’t go anywhere without telling me, okay?”

“You going to follow me?” I asked, feeling a little spark of anger. “What should I do when you go off without me? Make the woman promise to bring you back by ten? Take her picture so I can track her down when you’re late?”