Gunner looked up. “The pews keep falling apart—too many sleeping people.” He dropped the hammer and screwdriver into a metal toolbox and hoisted himself to his feet.

“I didn’t mean to interrupt,” Nick said.

“I’m glad you did—I could use a break.”

“Do you take outside jobs? I’ve got a deck that’s falling apart back in Raleigh.”

“Sorry—I’ve got my hands full here. I cover a lot of ground.”

Nick smiled. “That’s what I was thinking last night when I saw you at Alena’s.”

Gunner smiled back but didn’t reply.

“I suppose you were a little surprised to see me too,” Nick said.

“As a matter of fact, I was.”

“You’re probably wondering what I was doing there.”

“The thought crossed my mind.”

“I’ll tell you if you’ll tell me.”

Gunner shook his head. “It’s not that simple, Nick. There’s a clergy confidentiality issue here; you see, Alena is a member of my congregation.”

“A witch in the church? You people are really reaching out.”

“She’s not a witch—you know that.”

“She seems to think so.”

“No, she doesn’t—I think you know that too.”

Nick nodded. “Can we sit down for a minute? I need to talk to you.”

They both took a seat on the newly repaired pew. Gunner wiggled in a little to test the quality of his work.

“These things are just as uncomfortable as I remember,” Nick said. “Nobody could sleep on this.”

“That’s sort of the idea.” He waited for Nick to continue.

“I want to tell you why I was at Alena’s last night,” Nick said, “even if you can’t tell me.”

“Oh? How come?”

“I think somebody else needs to know.”

“Why me?”

“Because I have a feeling you care about Alena’s welfare—and because I think I can trust you.”

“You’re definitely right about the first,” he said, “and I like to think you’re right about the second too. Go ahead—what’s on your mind?”

“There was a woman hired by the FBI to locate all the graves at the Patriot Center. I called her ‘Marge’—she had a cadaver dog.”

“Sure, the woman on TV.”

“You saw that?”

“Everybody did. I told you, news travels fast in a small town. She’s staying over at the Skyline where you are, isn’t she?”

“She was. I have a feeling she’s dead.”

Gunner did a double take. “Dead? How?”

“I think she might have been murdered.”

“By whom?”

“By someone who saw that interview; by someone who didn’t want those graves to be found; by someone with something to hide.”

“Have you told the police?”

“Not yet. I plan to in the morning. I wanted to wait a day and see if she’d turn up first.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Because Marge didn’t find those bodies, Gunner—Alena did.”