Smith gave a loud, exasperated sigh. Bobo figured he hadn’t planned on telling the whole community at once, or this early. But the sheriff must have decided to make the best of the situation, since he raised his voice to a public announcement level. “I might as well tell all of you at the same time. Aubrey Hamilton was not the woman she said she was. More accurately, she was Aubrey Hamilton Lowry.”

The people of Midnight moved closer to Smith, Bobo, and Fiji. Bobo saw that they were all tense and angry, and if he’d had room for any other emotion, he would have felt touched.

“Married?” The Rev looked as though the word had been torn from his throat. He looked even sterner than usual.

“Formerly married,” the sheriff said. “Though she told them at the steakhouse that she’d gotten divorced and was in the process of changing all her legal papers back over to her maiden name. In fact, her husband, Chad Lowry, was shot and killed by police officers in Phoenix, Arizona.”

“Shot? Doing what?” Teacher asked.

“Robbing a bank.”

“He was a career criminal?” Bobo said. He almost hoped that would be the case.

“Not exactly,” the sheriff said. “He was a member of a white supremacist group, Men of Liberty. MOL is based in Arizona, but it has branches in all the southwestern states, including Texas.”

“No,” said Bobo. He turned to face Olivia Charity. “It’s all part of the same thing,” he said.

“What is?” Olivia said. But she narrowed her eyes at Bobo, who caught that warning a second later.

“It’s all part of her pattern of deceiving me,” Bobo said, making a good recovery. “I was a fool to think she loved me.”

That made everyone acutely uncomfortable, and they all looked away. All but Fiji. He looked down into her eyes and saw nothing but steadfastness. “I was a fool,” he repeated softly.

“Never,” Fiji replied. “She was the fool.”

There was a shout from down the slope, and they all turned to look in that direction. A deputy came up, a woman, her black hair pulled back into a tight bun. She was carrying a plastic bag. In it was an old gun. Smith went over to her and held it up to have a good look.

They all stood silent. Bobo didn’t know what anyone else was thinking, but he was back in that land where unpleasant revelations were the norm. He hadn’t lived there in a while, and he hadn’t wanted to return, ever.

Olivia was standing right behind him, he could see from the corner of his eye. She was looking at the gun. “I know that piece,” she said, making sure her voice was low, but of course, Fiji heard her.

“From where?” she asked, equally quietly.