He did not say that she couldn’t know. That even if we are sure of someone, we can’t be totally sure. He did not say that as a mother, she of course would believe her son incapable of such a thing, no matter how justified the act might have been.

“I know for certain he didn’t kill that poor excuse for a man,” she said firmly, as if she heard his thoughts. “I know because I shot Finley myself.”

* * *

“He took after him again. I never saw Jeremy so angry. There comes a time when a boy isn’t a boy anymore, and won’t stand for it. You had that right.” Beth told her story while they continued their stroll in the park. “I figured it was only a matter of time before Jeremy did something about it. Then he’d end up either hanged or transported, even though he was provoked to it.”

Chase knew better than to ask questions or demand information. He had considered Beth, but had rejected the idea. Beth was the person who healed and helped. Not a person who killed.

“Then there was that man poking around,” she added. “One like you. Mr. Finley had hired him to look for evidence about Minerva, that she had a lover or whatnot. I didn’t like that. I feared he would either find enough to convince a court, or he would make it up. If he didn’t, Mr. Finley was likely to just steal her. Who would care or know, except me? She weren’t really safe, even if she had left him, was she?”

“No.” With no family to rely on or run to, Minerva was vulnerable as long as she remained married to Finley.

“What did it, though, was seeing him again. He came right to our door on his horse. Minerva saw him and she looked like death itself. Jeremy went out there and told him to go, that he had no rights there. The man’s response was to use that crop on Jeremy again, slashing down from on high on that horse, again and again. Jeremy finally grabbed the crop and threw it aside, but his face was cut and his neck—it was like the old nightmare come alive again. So I took the pistol we kept in the house, and waited for him while he was on his ride in the forest. He liked going there, even if the land weren’t his. Liked pretending he was lord of some manor, when he was lord of none.”

“Did he think it not odd that you were there?”