Every deputy outside this office must have heard the sheriff’s rant. And maybe he meant for them to. Henry starts to say something, but I silence him with a shake of my head.

“Sorry we bothered you, Walker. At least this way you won’t be surprised when the FBI comes into your parish to check out these bones.”

Sheriff Dennis’s eyes burn into Henry’s back as I hustle the reporter out the door. “Hold on, Penn.”

I stop and turn back.

“Shut the door.”

After I do, he grimaces again, then looks up with man-to-man intimacy. “Are you sure you want to stir up all this old trouble? In my experience, the only thing that happens when you do that is everybody gets covered in shit.”

“Maybe. But in my experience, you usually have to dig through a lot of shit to find the truth. Whether it’s old shit or new makes no difference to me.”

Walker studies me for a few silent seconds. “And you realize who you’re screwing with?”

My breath stops in my throat. “They’ve left me no choice, Walker. From what I can see, the Knoxes killed Viola, and they want my old man to pay for it. I’m not going to let that happen. Anybody gets in my way, it’s their lookout.”

Dennis nods slowly. “All right, then. Good luck to you, brother. I’ll think on what you’ve told me.”

“Don’t take too long.” I open his door. “Have a nice day, though.”

“Fat chance.”

“I went to Ole Miss, by the way.”

Dennis spits into his cup again. “I know.”

STANDING BETWEEN OUR VEHICLES outside the sheriff’s department, Henry gives me a look of contrition. “Guess I didn’t help much, huh?”

“It didn’t go too badly.”

“What did he say after I left?”

“Walker knows what’s going on in this parish.”

Henry gives me a suspicious look. “Did he admit that?”

“As much as he could, yes. He tried to warn me how dangerous this could be.”

“It would be a lot less dangerous if people like him did their jobs. We gave him the damn bones, and he wouldn’t lift a finger to investigate them!”

“Not even the FBI has done its job in these cases, Henry. Walker’s a rookie sheriff. Give him a few hours to absorb this. He may come through yet.”

“I’m not waiting around for that.”

“No, you’re not. You’re going to call John Kaiser and tell him about the bones.”

After an initial moment of shock, Henry grabs my forearm, his eyes bright with excitement. “Could you believe what Dennis said about the Bureau taking Morehouse’s body? That has to be Kaiser behind that, right?”