“His momma lives down the hill,” Della Mae said, pointing. “That boy ain’t none of my concern.”

“Maybe I could come in for a moment,” Lillie said. “You’ve always been a big help to me.”

The old woman had let the door go from her fingers and stood there behind the glass, staring, studying on things. She finally shrugged, cracked the door, and nodded Lillie into her home. “Well,” she said. “Come on, then.”

Lillie hadn’t been assigned the case yet. But she would be soon. Lillie heard what Quinn had found in that shed after those kids disappeared, knowing it wouldn’t be too long before a warrant would be posted on the NCIC. Lillie had already put in a request to her boss, the Old Man up in Memphis, that she had prior knowledge of the Byrd family and the case and would like to be temporarily assigned to the North Mississippi Task Force. She wasn’t sure how he’d react but hoped he’d grant her request as soon as the order popped up.

Della Mae led her into her sitting room, taking a seat in a high-backed green chair that looked as if it was made of velvet. She had on an elaborate housecoat of red, blue, and yellow paisley and wore large, dangling gold earrings. Her hair looked fresh from the beauty parlor, stiff and high in black and grays, and her nails bright red, at least an inch long, and sharp as talons.

“Why you looking for the boy?”

“I think he’s in trouble.”

“That boy’s always in trouble,” she said. “Ain’t his fault. It’s the fault of Mr. Dupuy. That man’s not welcome here. And he should’ve known to keep to himself and away from my grandbaby.”

“Some folks think his girlfriend killed her mother.”

Della Mae McCade nodded, making a little sound with her tongue, and cocked her head.

“Y’all think Ladarius caught up in that mess?”

“I know it,” Lillie said. “He left town with the girl.”

“That girl running from the law?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Lillie said, leaning forward in the chair, hands clasped between her knees with the Sig digging into her hip. “Her name’s TJ Byrd.”

“Her people that Byrd family?”

Lillie nodded.

“Lord God Almighty,” Della Mae said. “Why would a good boy like Ladarius go and get himself mixed up with a trashy white family like that? He was raised better.”

Lillie didn’t answer. A younger black woman about Lillie’s age poked her head in from the other room. She was dressed in black leggings with a long red top that hit down below her waist. When she saw Lillie, the woman gave a big grin and waved.

“Oh, hey, Lillie,” said Devynn McCade. “What you doing back in town?”

“Gina Byrd’s dead,” Lillie said. “I came down to ID the body.”