No one said a word until they were inside the house. The place was pungent with ammonia and lye soap. The floors had been mopped and polished, the yellow-and-red floral sofa and matching drapes had been cleaned. On the floor, Katie and Earl sat on a hand-loomed circular rug, playing building blocks. Earl was erecting a stacked tower, and Katie took extreme delight in his construction. An open cereal box lay on its side; its contents had spilled out in a heap. A trail of ants were working their way over to the brown sugary balls. Katie looked up when she saw the old couple enter, even smiled at Decker. But Earl stiffened. Only when Pappy D reassured his son that the policeman hadn’t come to take him away did Earl relax and return his attention to the blocks.

“Knot down?” Katie asked.

“No, Katie, not yet,” Earl answered. His tone was very serious. Carefully, he added another block to his tower. “Now, you kin knock it down.”

“Knot down?”

“Yes.” Earl turned to Hollander, giggling as he talked. “She likes to knock down.”

The old man said to the old lady, “Take the two little ones in the other room, Granny.”

“I wanna stay here, Pappy,” Earl said.

The old man tousled the small man’s head. “You kin come back in a minute or two, son.”

Earl didn’t move.

“Go on and git now. Don’t make me say it twice, Earl.”

Granny Darcy led the two “children” into a back room out of Decker’s sight. Pappy Darcy motioned Decker and Hollander to the sofa. He stood, gazed out the window. A minute passed before he spoke. Finally, he said, “She ain’t right in the head. My pardon for…for what happened out there.”

“When did she start acting that way?” Decker asked. “After Luke’s death?”

“Before. It started when Earl was born, got worse when Luke married. After Luke died…”

Pappy Darcy turned toward them. His face was long and tired, eyes bright blue but hooded with sadness, cheeks pitted and slack. A turkey wattle fell to his Adam’s apple. He left them alone for a moment, came back with two napkins full of ice. Hollander placed his on his hand, Decker’s went to the back of his neck.

“The baby-making thing,” Pappy said. “When she found out that…that Linda’s womb was being filled up with other men’s seed. She went lunatic, believed in her heart that it was evil what Linda was doing. She thought Linda was the Devil.”

“But Luke agreed to it,” Decker said.

“’Cause Linda wanted it so bad,” Pappy said. “She was driving my poor boy crazy. Driving me to the poorhouse.” He shook his head. “Thirty thousand dollars I gave those two over six years. You have any idea how much money that was for me? Had to refinance my land, Manfred always on my back, waiting for me to default.”