“I don’t think we should be up here,” she said, but Harvey cocked his head to her. He knew when she was trying to hide something. “What were you doing up here?” he asked. She had nothing to tell him. She pulled Harvey’s coat tighter around her.

“Something’s up,” Harvey said.

They pulled up in front of Jules Bart’s house and Harvey honked his horn. They waited a moment. Harvey was just about to open his door when Jules Bart stepped outside. He was tucking his shirt in his jeans but when he saw Louise he stopped still and adjusted his cowboy hat. Louise had to turn her face from him, unsure if Jules was aware of her recent visit. Harvey rolled down his window. “Can we use your phone?”

“Is there a problem?” Jules asked.

“I suppose you could say that,” Harvey said. Jules Bart rubbed his eyes and glanced at Louise but did not acknowledge her.

“A girl’s been found up on the hill,” Harvey said. “We need to call someone.”

Jules nodded his head and Harvey Stoner walked into the house alone.

Jules walked up to her side of the car. He kicked at the mud. “Rain’s stopped,” he said. She looked at his face but he did not give her any sign to indicate he knew what she had done. Louise looked at his boots, wanting to say something, but Stoner leaned out the door then and called to her.

She assumed Harvey would call the state police. She was surprised to hear Charlie’s voice on the line. “What’s going on?” Charlie said, and the sound of his familiar voice brought back the tight feeling in her chest. She swallowed, not wanting to cry. “What are you doing with that guy?” He began to scold her about Harvey Stoner but she did not listen. She waited until he was finished and then she told him the bad news.

“Hemaucus is dead,” she said, and she told him where he would find the body.

“Louise,” he said, “you didn’t find her, did you?” Before Charlie could apologize she hung up on him. She couldn’t bear his kindness now. It had begun to rain again. A hard rain. She saw rain pouring from the bill of Jules’s cowboy hat. She got back into Stoner’s car and watched Jules in the side mirror as they left him.