He drove to the seamstress shop. The bell chimed as he opened the door. Sitting behind a sewing machine, a gray-haired woman gazed at him without blinking. Mrs. Belvidere did not recognize him; she had met him only once before, a dark-skinned man who spoke strangely, who came from a place that she did not know. He needed to be charming, mild. Certainly she would have known about the trial and Adela’s role in it.

Ram clasped his hands behind his back. “I am looking for a woman who works here, Señora Adela Rey Vasquez.”

“Does she know you?” Her voice was tremulous. “What do you want with her?”

“I have an urgent message to give her. She knows me well. My name is Ram. I am related by marriage to her cousin Rosa.” The woman did not seem impressed by this information.

“Adela no longer works here. I begged her to stay. But she told me that she had to go away for a while.”

He should not hold out any hope. “Did she say when she would come back? Did she say where she was going?”

She looked at him with suspicion. “I asked her the same thing, Mr. . . . Singh.”

She had guessed the name without him giving it. He had underestimated her. Nothing in this town could be secret. “She is a nice girl,” Mrs. Belvidere said finally. “How did she become mixed up in a mess?”

“Yes, madam,” Ram said, hands still clasped behind his back. He did not want to answer her question. If he could just seem good enough, compliant enough, would he get more information? “I hope she is safe,” he said.

“Yesterday morning, some fellas from town were asking for her. I won’t say who they were. They said they had some business with her. I asked what kind of business would two grown men have with a Mexican girl like her? They just laughed.” Mrs. Belvidere’s voice might have a tremor, but she spoke clearly. “It didn’t sound none too nice. Well. She was a good girl, and I asked her to stay, but she said she didn’t think she’d be back.”

Her words beat upon him. He could not accept their finality. He turned to go.

“If you find her, tell her that I will miss her. She was a fine worker. Don’t know who I’ll replace her with,” the woman said.

“I will, madam,” he said.