“I had a couple more beers at the park and then stopped off at the Moon on my way home. That’s why I wasn’t too steady on my feet. I went in the bedroom and laid across the bed. I didn’t look in Daisy’s room because it didn’t occur to me. I thought she was out with Violet, riding in the car. I figured Violet changed her mind and decided Daisy should see the fireworks. Next thing I know it’s morning and Daisy’s tugging on my hand.”

“And then what?”

“Then I went through the roughest two days of my life. Sunday morning, I called the sheriff’s department to see if they knew anything. I thought she might have been arrested, or in a car wreck. Deputy said no, but if I hadn’t heard from her by Tuesday, I could come in and file a missing-persons report, which is what I did when she hadn’t come back. I gave up drinking that day and I haven’t touched a drop of alcohol since.”

“And she never got in touch?”

“Not a call. Not a postcard. No word of any kind from that day to this.”

“Why’d you keep making payments on the car?”

“To show I loved her. To show I was sincere about changing my ways. I believed she’d come back, and on the day she did, if she ever did, I wanted her to know that I’d never lost faith.”

“It didn’t make you angry to have to pay for the car she went off in?”

“It made me sad, but in a way… if she had to go… I was happy she had that. Like a parting gift.”

“By then, everybody thought you’d done something to her.”

“That’s been my burden to bear and I hope I’ve done it like a man. I might sound bitter, but it’s not about her. It’s about the fact that I’ve been judged and condemned.” he reached for the bowl of peanuts and took one, then changed his mind and put it back. The dark sunken eyes came up to mine. “Do you believe me?”

“I don’t have an opinion. I’ve been on this one day. You’re only the second person I’ve talked to so I’m not in a position to believe or disbelieve. I’m gathering information.”

“And I’m telling you what I know.”

“What about the fifty thousand dollars she was said to have?”