Tashi knocked again, the recorder strapped over her shoulder and microphone in hand almost becoming an extension of herself. The music grew softer and Maggie appeared down the hall with a basket of laundry in her arms. She didn’t look pleased to see Tashi. Maggie put down the basket and came to the screen door, not opening it, only looking through the mesh at Tashi. “We’re done,” she said. “I’ve tried to be polite. But y’all don’t seem to understand. I can’t believe you’d accuse Quinn of something so horrible.”

“I didn’t accuse him of anything,” Tashi said. “We heard some details and we went right to him. That’s what we do. We investigate.”

“Quinn and I didn’t even know each other back then.”

“Not at all?”

“We were friendly, but we weren’t friends,” Maggie said. “Y’all are trying to make it like Quinn had some kind of secret thing for me. He had a girlfriend named Anna Lee Amsden. They were in love and damn near got married right out of high school. Why don’t you talk to her? I wasn’t but just some knobby-kneed kid to him.”

“Are you sure?”

“You bet,” Maggie said, ready to close off the conversation and slam the solid-wood door. “Sorry you drove all this way.”

“Can I come inside?” Tashi said. “Just for a minute? I know you’re angry. But if you would just answer a few questions, maybe we can clear this part up and we can move on. Your husband won’t work with us anymore. You know why we’re here, Maggie. The only thing that’s important is finding out what happened to Brandon Taylor. That’s it. And in doing so, we’re going to piss some people off. I’m sorry. It’s just part of the process.”

Maggie hung there behind the screen door, not bothering to open the latch. Her eyes an intense green, her mouth a tight little knot. “I’m busy, Tashi,” she said. “I’ve got four days’ laundry to finish in the next few hours while I study for certification in geriatrics and still pick up my Brandon at school. How about I call you later?”

“You never call us back,” Tashi said. “Every time we try and talk, you say you’re busy.”

“What more do we need to discuss?” she said. “You want me to tell you Quinn had the hots for me when we were kids and took some shots at Brandon? That’s truly the craziest damn thing I’ve heard in my life.”

“Some people swear it happened.”

“Who?” Maggie said. She asked the question with contempt, like she already knew who.