“I really can’t say,” Tashi said. “Not yet. We’ve got a lot of questions about what kind of kid Quinn was and what his Uncle Hamp did to shield him. It may not be anything. But it’s something we can’t ignore. To us, he looks like a person of interest.”

Maggie shook her head, forearm resting against the doorframe, as Tashi shifted the recorder strap on her shoulder. “I wish y’all all the luck,” Maggie said. “But we’re done. I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”

“Why not?” Tashi said, making sure to get the question on the record if Maggie was really going to cut them off. “You told us Brandon’s death has haunted you all of your adult life. Isn’t that right? Why quit on him now?”

“I’m not quitting,” she said. “But don’t you dare try and run down my husband. Y’all have no idea of the people who are whispering into your ear. Did you take a second to pause and look at the record of that man, E. J. Royce?”

“He was second-in-command to Sheriff Beckett for more than twenty-five years,” Tashi said. “He may be a reprehensible human, but we never found any marks on his professional record.”

“And why would you?” Maggie said. “You two can’t even find the records on one of the biggest mysteries in this whole county. Why would they keep around the records on a warped old racist like E. J. Royce? Why don’t you ask Quinn about that man and what he did back in 1977 to some black soldier who wandered into Tibbehah County at the wrong time?”

“Some say Quinn was pretty wild,” Tashi said, trying to stay on the question, not wander into some ancient history. “Two of his former teachers called him a juvenile delinquent. He once stole a county vehicle and nearly destroyed it in a chase along Highway 45.”

“He and Boom Kimbrough took a volunteer fire truck for a joyride,” Maggie said. “They weren’t but sixteen. It was stupid, but they were just kids.”

“That’s a felony,” Tashi said. “Right? And the charges were dropped a week later.”

Maggie started to pull the door closed, still watching Tashi from behind the screen. “Y’all two think you’re smart,” she said. “You don’t know a damn thing about my husband. Why don’t you check his record when he was in the Army?”

“We know who he became,” Tashi said. “We just want to know who he used to be.”

“Quinn’s always been the same person,” Maggie said. “You need to spend some time checking up on E. J. Royce. It didn’t take me long to learn he’s the nastiest racist old fool in this county. He has enough dirty secrets and lies to fill up a million of your podcasts. Whatever he’s saying about Quinn is a goddamn lie.”