Richard had had an unfortunate marriage right out of high school to a girl who was employed at the Boobie Bungalow. Enough said. Fortunately, the people of Columbus had forgiven him. And Richard had worked hard to remain a bachelor.

Now he said, “I should have known something was wrong.”

“Don’t blame yourself.” I poured Coffee-mate into my cup and watched it swirl out. “What about that phone number I gave Sister? The Gordons in Seattle.”

He shook his head. “They didn’t know what I was talking about. Daddy hadn’t heard of them, either. He still swears he saw Mama up at that snake-handling church where you found the dead girl.”

I looked at the clock. Susan’s funeral should be over by now. The freezing drizzle had stopped here in Birmingham. I hoped it had up in Steele.

“You didn’t have any trouble coming off the mountain from Sister’s, did you?”

“You mean the ice? No, it’s melting. I’m used to driving on icy streets in D.C., anyway.”

Ice was ice, Birmingham or Washington. Slippery as hell. But I didn’t say anything.

“About the car, though,” Richard continued. “I sure don’t want it. I’d be expecting a snake to crawl out from under the seat all the time. But it’s a nice car. Leather seats. Not too many miles.”

“But what if it was a legitimate sale?”

“Then the Crawford family can have it. I don’t know why they would want it, though. Seems like every time they got in it they’d think of that guy being eaten alive by snakes.” He shivered as if a rabbit had run over his grave. “God, I can’t think of anything worse. Talk about your nightmares.”

“They could sell it. There are two small children involved who are going to have to be raised and educated. I’m sure anything would help.”

“I suppose so.”

“Are you going up to Oneota to see your daddy today?”

Richard nodded. “In a little while.” He sipped his coffee. “You know what I’d like to do? I’d like to take a look at that church and house, see if any of Mama’s stuff is there.”

He looked at me. “Do you think there’s any chance that Daddy really saw Mama?”

“I don’t know how.”

I explained how the church was sitting against a huge rock and how we could have seen anyone who came out through the side or front door.

“Couldn’t you have looked away for a minute or just not have been paying attention?”

“I suppose.”

I knew he desperately wanted to find his mother, to know that she was safe.