“They might do it for some reason of their own,” Billy said calmly. “That black DA hates Penn Cage. And Billy Byrd’s got no love for the doc. But you didn’t answer my question, Pop. Did you two have anything to do with that old woman’s death?”

Sonny started to speak, but Snake shushed him with a hiss.

“Talk to me, Uncle Sonny,” Billy commanded. “Don’t pay Daddy no mind. This is too important.”

“We’d been watching her some,” Sonny admitted. “And we might have done it, Bill. She talked to Henry a couple of times, you know. But he didn’t print anything about it, and you’d told me you had a way of knowing ahead of time if Henry was going to print anything too bad. So we laid off.”

Snake got to his feet, reached into his shirt, lifted a leather cord from around his neck, and dropped his JFK half dollar onto Billy’s desk. Billy saw the two familiar holes in the coin that had fascinated him since childhood. For Billy, the sharp, circular rim of that bullet hole in JFK’s pristine profile always evoked the horror of the Zapruder film.

“I’d have damn sure killed Viola,” Snake said, “if Dr. Cage hadn’t done it first. And I wouldn’t have asked your permission, neither. That’s Eagle business, and it’s got nothing to do with you.”

Billy shook his head wearily, wondering why his father hadn’t mellowed with age, like most older men he knew.

“That bitch made a promise,” Snake said, as if reciting holy writ. “She knew the penalty if she broke it, and she came back to Natchez anyway. She called down her own punishment, same as Glenn. They took the choice out of our hands.”

Billy leaned forward and flipped up the half dollar with a fingernail. “You’re damned lucky Dr. Cage did you that favor,” he said softly. “If he did.”

“He did,” Sonny said. “I swear it, Billy.”

“Good. Because if you two killed that old woman without clearing it first, Forrest would drop the hammer on you.” Billy looked pointedly at his father. “It don’t mean a thing to Forrest that you’re blood, either. You know that.”

“Did Forrest call you about Viola?” Sonny asked anxiously. “Did he say something?”

“No discussion of Forrest,” Billy said. “Not even here.”

Sonny nodded quickly, but Snake looked furious. “I came here to ask permission, goddamn it—on Glenn and Henry—and all you’ve done is sit there and jabber about being careful. And now you threaten us?”