Henry swallowed hard. “What did Snake make you do, Glenn?”

“I can’t say it.”

“Yes, you can. Let it go, brother.”

Another sob. Then the old man croaked, “Unnatural things. Sins against God. Like in Leviticus.”

Henry shuddered at the images this conjured, but also at the raw pain in the man’s voice. “Did you kill Jimmy Revels, Glenn?”

“No. I couldn’t of done that. That boy was different. Whenever Snake hit or cut Luther, Jimmy acted like it hurt him worse than it did Luther. Which was crazy, cause Revels was a skinny little thing, and Luther was a damn gorilla. And—when we had our way with Viola … Jesus.”

The stunned numbness of the earlier interview had returned. “Wait a second. Are you saying Jimmy and Luther saw Viola raped? How could that be?”

“Don’t you know anything, Henry? Snake went crazy after Frank died. He sent some boys to grab Viola again. He claimed it was to make them boys talk, and then to shut her up, but he just wanted her again. And them boys didn’t know nothing, Henry. Nothing Snake wanted to hear, no ways.”

Henry was “gobsmacked,” as an English reporter he knew would say. “If Viola witnessed so much, why on earth did Snake let her live?”

“I already told you that.”

“Ray Presley and Dr. Cage?”

“Yeah. Jesus … I took too many pills. I ain’t used to this pain patch they got me on.”

Henry sensed that he was going to have to wait until the next interview to get to the bottom of this story. They’d already passed the time limit Morehouse had set on their conversation. But he had to make one more stab at the case that meant the most to him—

“Wilma?” Morehouse said sharply.

Henry’s breath caught in his throat. The silence lasted so long that Henry thought Morehouse had hung up. But after some indeterminate delay, Glenn whispered, “Did you hear that?”

“I didn’t hear anything.”

“You didn’t hear a click?”

“No. I think we’re fine. But we’d better go. Her show must be over.”

“Wait … I still hear her TV. Listen to me, Henry. You’re a good ole boy. I know you mean well. But you need to start paying attention. They know where you live, and where your mama lives, too.”

Henry’s face and palms went cold. “My mother?”

“How you think they operate, son? They hit you where you’re soft.”

“Who exactly are you talking about? Snake?”

“All of ’em. Snake, Sonny, Billy, Forrest … even Brody and his son-in-law. Don’t kid yourself. You were right about that flamethrower, too. They’ve still got it. You hear me? It still works. And that’s a shitty way to die. I wouldn’t wish it on a Jap.”

“Glenn—”

“There’s one more thing. Something I need to clear up. I lied to you about something today. Something big.”