Thats just the thing. I cant think of a single one. Look, Im not blind to what Deton and most of the county looks like. Poor old country people. Not very educated. Borderline poor. A place where people like Floyd Branch and his sons are pretty much the norm. They might lead sketchy lives, but they are, for the most part, pretty quiet. We dont have real troublemakers here.

Outside of seventeen-year-old guys having lots of sex and drugs with underage girls, Kate said. She regretted it the moment she said it. There was the slightest flinch in both Barnes and Foster as she basically insulted their town.

This was probably an outsider, DeMarco said. Someone passing through town or, maybe more realistically, someone meeting up with a local dealer like Randy Branch and sticking around to start some trouble.

Could be, Kate said. Most murders in small towns end up being the work of someone not local.

So that makes the net a lot wider, Barnes said. Great.

In the meantime, Kate said, getting to her feet. Is there any way we could get files on any arrests for violent activity in Deton and the surrounding towns over the course of the last five years or so?

I can get that together for you, Foster said. But Im afraid it wont be much.

They adjourned their little meeting, Kate deciding not to pay another visit to Jeremy Branch before she left. The longer he sat in the interrogation room with his thoughts, the better chance they had of him revealing something else.

But she was pretty sure that avenue was all used up.

And she was also sure that if they didnt find another one soon, Mercy Fuller might never be seen againalive or dead.

CHAPTER NINE

The floor was hard and cold. Shed been sitting on it for days and it had made her backside go numb. Her back was aching, too. There was nothing comfortable about the place. It was dark, it smelled bad, and it felt like a coffin.

Maybe it is my coffin, she thought. Maybe this is where I die.

This thought made her want to start bawling again, but she was too tired to cry. She doubted there was enough moisture in her body to produce any more tears.

Although the space was much larger than an actual coffin, she could not ignore the way the place made her think of a grave. She wasnt sure how long she had been here because of the darkness. She had no idea if it was day or night. She could have been here for maybe two days…or maybe five. Maybe longer. She had no idea.