“I meant I was her friend when she was little,” she said, and sat down across from him. “Please understand, I hadn’t seen Coral Lee for years until she showed up here a few months back. I knew her at once, though she looked awful. She told me she’d just dropped Lexie off at a rehab. Sold her house to get the money, which shocked me. It was not Lexie’s first time through, you understand. But then she told me her own diagnosis, so I thought, well, why not sell the house? She hadn’t much time.”

The cocoa was creamy and rich, foamy from all the whisking. The real thing. “No indication where she meant to go? No thoughts about where Lexie could be now?”

“No. I’m sorry. When Lexie went into treatment, Coral Lee stayed with me for a few days, until it looked like Lexie would stick it out. Then she said she wanted to rent herself a place closer to the facility and visit every day. I told her she was welcome back anytime, and Lexie, too,” she said. “We’d taken them in before, you may know.”

“You mean the job at Funtime?” he asked.

“You have done your research! Yes. Lexie was such a cute little thing back then. I was taken with her. Hair like a buttercup, smile like sunshine. Larry and I never did have our own kids. It wasn’t in the cards for us. So I spent time with Lexie. She was sweet and quiet and neat as a pin. Loved books. I connected with her on that, but I felt bad she was so anxious about her grades. I think because her mother never was satisfied. If Lexie got an A, Coral Lee wondered why it wasn’t an A-plus. Lexie liked things peaceful, and I’m the same. As a littl’un, she would wring her hands and cry when Coral Lee got mad.”

Marshall nodded. This Lexie tracked with the girl Trey had described, confirming a corner of Trey’s story. A small corner. “Did she have any other friends at the church?”