“In the car. Too shy to come in.”

She wasn’t that shy yesterday, I think. She was upset, but she was articulate and direct when she talked about her feelings of being hurt by her cousin’s indifference.

“That’s too bad,” I finally say. “Tell her I enjoyed our talk yesterday. She’s a very smart young woman.”

Ruth’s wintergreen scent is so muted I can barely detect it. She sits staring at me, silent, and shifts her eyes to the window behind me. Then back.

“Ruth, what’s going on?” I ask.

“I wish I knew.”

She hesitates, and I prod her gently.

“Can I have some water?”

I pour her some from the Brita pitcher on my desk.

“I don’t know how to say this, but something is wrong. I think those kids are a mess. They need someone to look after them. They won’t come to Idaho with me. My husband said it would be okay.”

“The county will provide services,” I remind her. “They’ll have someone to look after them. I promise.”

She nods. “I think they might need more help than a weekly visit by a case worker.”

I push a little. “What are you getting at, Ruth?”

She finishes her water like she’s just run a marathon. She crosses her arms and pulls in.

“Tell me what you observed, Ruth. We can help.”

She finally speaks. “I don’t want those two separated; I just want you to pay extra attention to them.”

I don’t know what she means so I let silence fill my office. I’ve pushed her enough. I’ll let Ruth tell me what she wants to tell me when she’s ready.

Finally, she does.

Her hands are folded now on the table in front of her.

“At first I thought that Sarah was a little off, when she didn’t seem to recall anything that she and Eve had done as children. They were close. She’d just found a way to block out memories, good or bad.”

“Eve and I talked about that,” I say.

“She told me. I felt it too, Detective Carpenter.”

I drink my coffee and remind myself not to interject again or we’ll never get to where we need to go.

“After everyone left,” she goes on, “we talked awhile outside and made s’mores at the big firepit. We all went to bed. Eve and I stayed in the master bedroom. Eve fell asleep almost immediately and I just lay there, staring at the ceiling and wondering how any of this could have happened.”

She sat there across from me, collecting her thoughts.

“I heard crying coming from the hallway. It was soft and plaintive. It was a kind of whimper and I couldn’t put out of my mind that she’d cried so quietly, so privately, during the service. She was letting it out, trying hard not to wake anyone.”