“Norm, if you knew them, now would be a good time to tell me,” I press. “Two people are dead and there’s no doubt in my mind there’s some connection to you.”

He tries to cover his discomfiture with a laugh, but this time the sound that squeezes from his throat more resembles a whimper. “Look, I may have had a beer or two with them, but I didn’t run with them. We weren’t friends.”

“You mean recently?”

“No. When we were young. High school, for chrissake.”

“So then, what’s the connection?”

“I don’t know. Maybe all of this is … random.”

“This is not random.” I take a breath, ratchet back my impatience with him, and soften my voice. “I can’t help you unless you help me.”

“What do you want from me?” he cries.

“The truth. All of it.”

“I’ve told you everything I know.”

I pause long enough to let him absorb everything that’s been said. “Norm, I haven’t put all of this together yet, but I think these two murders may be related to a cold case from back in 1979,” I tell him. “The Hochstetler case.”

“I remember it. That Amish family. But I was only a teenager at the time.”

“Did you know the Hochstetlers?”

He hesitates. “No.”

“Do you know anything about what happened the night that family was murdered?”

“Of course not.” He makes a sound of disbelief. “What the hell are you insinuating?”

“I’m not insinuating anything. I’m trying to solve two homicides, get a killer off the street, and maybe keep you safe in the process.”

“I had nothing to do with that.” His lips peel back, exposing small, artificially white teeth. “How dare you accuse me of—”

“I didn’t accuse you of anything.”

From two feet away, I can hear his molars grinding. “This is outrageous. I ask you for help, and you come into my home unannounced and start making wild accusations, all because you haven’t the slightest clue how to do your job! I’m a sitting member of the council, for God’s sake.”

“Norm, I need you to level with me. If there’s anything you’re not telling me, you need to come clean. Right now.”

He stares at me, his mouth open, his chest rising and falling. “I’ve told you everything I know.”

“I’m not going to let this go,” I tell him. “Do you understand?”

A quiver runs the length of his body. In the periphery of my vision, I see his right hand curl into a fist. And I know he’s struggling to control a temper run amok. That if he loses the battle, I’d better be prepared to defend myself. I’m not sure what it says about me, but I’m pretty sure I’d take a hit for the opportunity to arrest him.