Contents ( 85)
- Contents
- Part I
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Part II
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Part III
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Forty-Eight
- Forty-Nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-One
- Fifty-Two
- Fifty-Three
- Fifty-Four
- Fifty-Five
- Fifty-Six
- Fifty-Seven
- Fifty-Eight
- Fifty-Nine
- Sixty
- Sixty-One
- Sixty-Two
- Sixty-Three
- Sixty-Four
- Sixty-Five
- Sixty-Six
- Sixty-Seven
- Sixty-Eight
- Sixty-Nine
- Seventy
- Seventy-One
- Seventy-Two
- One
- Two
- Reading Group Guide
- A Conversation with the Author
- Acknowledgments
- About the Author
“She needs her dignity,” Meg said. “She’s lucid in the day. Do you know how awful it must be when she’s sober and lucid and sees what her life’s become? It’s not safe with all this mess, but moreover, it’s no way for the woman to spend the last part of her life.”
Colin let her words sink in, and after he did, he felt a good degree of shame that he’d never considered his mother’s dignity as part of the whole equation.
“Well, I suppose if you can convince her, that’d be great,” he said. “And very appreciated.”
“I’ll talk to her tomorrow.” Meg nodded at the staircase. “Make sure she gets to bed. I’ll wait here… I’m not navigating those stairs.”
“Agreed.”
“Then let’s walk around the neighborhood,” she said. “I just want the air and…I don’t know. The stars. I don’t want to just sit on the couch tonight. I’m feeling…”
“Feeling what?” he asked.
“I’m not sure.” She walked up to him and kissed him. “There aren’t that many days left we can walk around the neighborhood, just the two of us.”
He felt himself smiling. “There are such things as babysitters, you know.”
“I don’t mean like that,” she said. “I mean soon we’re going to be parents. And then we’ll never not be parents. I still want to do some things as not-parents. I don’t know why, but that’s important.”
“A walk sounds nice,” Colin said.
As he climbed the stairs and made his way to his mother’s room, Colin thought about what Meg said, about how they would soon never be not-parents.
So much permanence attached to it.
But this thought was transient, and by the top riser, he’d returned to what had been swirling through his mind when Meg walked in. His thoughts about Rose Yates.
There were two things he needed to read, Colin thought.
Just two things.
One: the decades-old transcript of Cora Yates’s interview in the aftermath of Caleb Benner’s disappearance.
And two: anything written by J. L. Sharp that he hadn’t already read.
Thirty-Three
TRANSCRIPT OF INTERVIEW—(SC)
Interviewee: Cora Davis Yates (minor)
Investigator: Det. Michael Patterson
Bury Police Dept.
In attendance: Logan Yates (father of interviewee)
Date of interview: September 20, 1995
Re: Case 76887-A
MP: Okay, for the record, today is Sunday, September 20, 14:37 hours. I’m at 1734 Rum Hill Road in Bury, New Hampshire, speaking with Cora Yates. Logan Yates, Cora’s father, is also in attendance. After this interview, I’ll be speaking with Cora’s younger sister, Rose. Cora, I just want to remind you you’re not in any trouble, okay?
CY: Okay.
MP: Our only focus here is finding Caleb. That’s the goal. We’re talking to everyone who was at the party Friday night, and I want you to tell me everything you remember. And I’m not going to care about underage drinking or anything like that.
LY: Were you drinking?
MP: Mr. Yates, please, this will go much faster if you let me ask the questions.