She got up from the sofa and went to the window, where she watched Henry rolling in the snow. Her face had a sunken cast to it, which reflected years of hard living. She was in her midthirties but looked a decade older. I knew Sandra drank a lot, smoked a lot, and probably dabbled in harder stuff, too. She could go toe-to-toe with any of the men at the mine when it came to swearing and telling dirty jokes. But something changed in her eyes when she saw her son. When it came to Henry, she was a mama bear with a cub.

“Do I need to get Norm over here?” she asked us, turning away from the window. “If you seriously think I could have done this, maybe I need a lawyer.”

“We’re just trying to figure out what happened,” Darrell replied. “Do you have any idea who could have done this? Did you hear any talk about Brink over at the mine? Any threats?”

“I stopped listening to talk long ago. The only thing I do at the mine is try to get through my shift without someone sticking their hand down my pants. If I do that, it’s a good day.”

“I know it’s not easy for the women over there.”

“Not easy? It’s been seven years, Darrell. Nothing ever changes. That first year, I was one of four women in the whole place. All I wanted was to do my job. Instead, they grabbed me, harassed me, threatened me, did everything they could to get me to quit. They tried to buy me off to get me to go away. But you know what? You go through that shit, and you decide pretty fast that you’re never going to let them win. I would have chewed glass before I gave up my job.”

Darrell let her light another cigarette before he continued. “When did you last see Brink?”

“About ten days ago. Norm and I spent four hours in a deposition at Brink’s house. The two of us on one side and Brink and his circus parade of lawyers, paralegals, and secretaries on the other.”

“How did that go?”

“Oh, great. Lots of fun. Brink asked me everything from how many abortions I’ve had to how often I diddle myself. He wanted a list of all my sexual partners in the last ten years. I asked if he had a calculator.”

“They can do that?” I asked.

“They can do whatever they want unless a judge says no. Norm says they’re trying to intimidate us. They figure we don’t want our dirty laundry aired in court. Me, I don’t care if they ask me to show off my Adam & Eve toys for the jury. They can’t shame me.”

“Did the other women get the same treatment from Brink?” Darrell asked.