“Correct,” Elsie answered. “Pauline said it was just a friendly hello.” She made a dismissive sound. “I knew a lie, which didn’t surprise me. Pauline had been a drug addict and alcoholic. Most of the time, when she was with me, I could keep her under control. But she’d get resentful of me. I told her it was a bad idea. I told her it was doomed to fail. But she was a grown woman. If she wanted to be stupid, what could I do?”

“Tell me about that night, Elsie. The night that Pauline died.”

“I have to think.” She sighed. “I believe she went out around seven. It was daylight, that much I know. I offered to drop her off, but she said she’d rather walk.”

“Okay,” Decker said. “She left the house at seven to walk into town?”

“Yes.”

“When was the next time you saw her?”

“You’re missing parts of the story,” Elsie said. “It would be better if I told you what happened.”

“Sorry. Go on.”

“Pauline left at seven or a little after. I was worried. From everything that Pauline said, Brock was bad news. I know he used to abuse her. I know he beat her. He treated her like dirt. Why would she want to see him?”

For sex, Decker thought. Instead, he waited for her to continue. She wasn’t about to cut to the chase. He’d just have to be patient. Right now, it was all about Elsie Schulung.

Elsie crossed her arms in front of her chest. “Pauline could be so pigheaded. ‘You’re not the boss over me.’ She reminded me of some of the people I used to work with in the home. But they had an excuse. They were mentally compromised. What was Pauline’s excuse? Why would she willingly go back and meet with that horrible man? Huh?”

“I don’t know,” Decker said.

“Does that make sense to you?”

“I don’t know her frame of mind, so I couldn’t tell you.”

“Well, it doesn’t make sense to me!” A snort. “Anyway, if she wants to be stupid, let her be stupid. I went about my evening. I read. I knitted while I watch a documentary on climate change. I wasn’t going to wait around for her. I went to bed.”

“What time?”

“About ten or eleven. I didn’t even call her to check up on her. I’m not responsible for her goings and comings, right?”

“She was a grown woman,” Decker said.

“Exactly.” Elsie took a sip of water. She looked at the ceiling.

She was stalling. Decker prompted her. “You went to bed around eleven. Then what?”

“Between ten and eleven. I don’t know the precise time.”

“It’s fine, Elsie. You’re doing a great job.”

“A great job of what?” she snapped back.

“You’re giving me details that I didn’t know about.”