Henry had to struggle to bring up the words. “I believe she knew what happened to her brother, Jimmy Revels, back in 1968. And to Luther Davis, of course.”

Shad Johnson made a sour face. Henry figured the DA resented his mention of the case because Henry had pushed him for months to look into it. Johnson claimed he could take no action without new evidence, but Henry had pointed out the catch-22 that there was unlikely to be any new evidence until the investigation was reopened.

“Be that as it may,” said Johnson, “you seem to be the last person outside the family who spoke to Mrs. Turner, other than her doctor. Did she say anything during your interview that might make you think she was contemplating suicide?”

“Suicide?” Henry felt his cheeks grow hot. His preconceptions about Viola’s death went spinning off into space. “No, she didn’t. I interviewed her twice, by the way. And she gave me no reason to think she was contemplating something like that. She seemed like a strong woman, despite her illness. Spiritually, I mean. Physically she was very weak.”

“Did she say anything about her doctor?”

Henry detected a hostile edge in the DA’s voice. “You mean Dr. Cage?”

“Yes, Tom Cage. How did you know Dr. Cage was her doctor?”

“Mrs. Turner reminisced a little about working for him. She seemed very fond of him. She complimented Dr. Cage’s dedication to his patients, regardless of their race. Dr. Cage was making daily visits to her home, I believe, trying to ease Mrs. Turner’s last days as much as possible. She couldn’t breathe very well by the time I interviewed her. Conversation was difficult.”

“Did you ever see Dr. Cage at the Revels home?”

“No. But I was only there twice.”

Shad suddenly stood, which revealed his somewhat diminutive height. Henry was a gangly six feet two, and towered over the DA, but the smaller man was animated by an energy that more than equalized the difference.

“Can you keep a secret, Mr. Sexton?”

“I’ve kept some for nearly forty years.”

“Will you respect a request to go off the record?”

“That’s my bread and butter, Mr. Johnson.”

The DA’s eyes bored into Henry’s with unsettling intensity. “We may be dealing with a case of assisted suicide here. Or even murder by a physician. That’s why I’m involved in this matter.”

Henry had already accepted the possibility of murder, but this new suggestion floored him. “You mean Tom Cage?”

“That’s what the evidence points to at this time.”

Henry gulped audibly. “Whoa. Look, I don’t even want to hear that. I don’t believe it, either.”

“Nevertheless, there seems to have been a pact between Mrs. Turner and Dr. Cage to that effect.”

Henry felt more flustered than he had in some time. “Well … what exactly do you want from me?”