“I suppose,” she said, still whisking and whisking. “Except Larry was easy to live with. I love Coral Lee dearly, but that woman is Jesus-bit clean through.” Her tone made it plain that this was not a compliment. She must have seen Marshall’s surprise, because she added, “The Jesus that got his teeth in Coral Lee is not the Jesus I know. Even sterner than Larry’s. Truth be told, I felt sorry for Lexie. Coral Lee would put her braids in so tight you could see the hairs a-pulling at her scalp, like to pop.” She shot him a mischievous glance. “And that right there, young man, is a metaphor.”

It made Marshall chuckle, in spite of everything. “Were you a teacher, ma’am?”

“No, no,” she said. “Unless you count Sunday school. I just like a book in the evenings.”

“Maybe someone else from your old church would have better contact information?” Marshall prompted.

Her mouth turned down. “Might be so, but I mostly went there for Larry. I’ve lost touch with those folks over the years.”

Marshall was learning a lot, but not the right things. Nothing that told him where Lexie might be holed up now. “Did Lexie have a close friend when she was a girl? Someone she might be with now? So far my investigation indicates that she and her mother are not currently together.”

“Oh, no! I hope that doesn’t mean she’s back to her old ways?” She looked genuinely upset at the thought.

He reassured her. “I have no reason to believe she’s fallen off the wagon.”

She turned back to her cocoa. “That’s all right, then. No, Lexie didn’t have friends growing up. Not like you mean. I was her friend.” Mariah was musing almost to herself now as she turned the stovetop off and poured the cocoa into two ceramic mugs, filling both perfectly. “She was homeschooled until after her daddy died and Coral Lee had to go to work. I don’t mean in a co-op or group like they have now. Just her and her mama. That child had no idea how to socialize by the time she got to real school. She was like one of those puppy-mill dogs. She didn’t know how to play.”

He looked at her, very serious. “So you were her friend. But you haven’t heard from her directly? Just her mother?”

She came over and passed him one of the mugs. His said today i need a whole lot of christ and then in tiny letters under and a little bit of coffee. Hers was yellow and said blessed in curly script.