“Why do you think they did this last night?” I ask.

Steve pauses, then looks at Mama. “Was James harassed when news came out he was going into business with Mark Davidson?”

“A bit,” Mama says. “It wasn’t easy fitting in a few months after we moved here and it became clear we were staying.”

“What kind of things were happening before the Davidsons were killed?”

I sit up straight. I don’t remember much about before, just everything that fell out after.

“Phone calls. Then hang-ups. Cold shoulders out in town. But nothing we weren’t used to,” Mama says.

“Was he worried about going into business with Mark Davidson?”

“James never worried about nothing.” Mama laughs. “He said the land was there to be built on, but people were too scared to buy it up. If he didn’t do it, someone else would eventually. When he explained it like that, what could I say?”

“James should have told me about this,” Steve says.

“Told you what?” Mama says. “If the murders had anything to do with the Klan, then they would have killed James, not Mark and his wife.”

All those visits, talking about the case, Daddy never mentioned any of this. I wonder what else he might be hiding. Steve stares at the boarded-up window, looking like he’s having the same thought.

Mama takes another bite and doesn’t say more. Then she grabs her plate to clean up.

“Come on now, Corinne, I got to get to work,” Mama yells up the stairs.

“Are you going to ask my daddy about this?” I ask Steve.

“I am.” His mouth is a thin line.

“Good,” I say.

“He might have kept things to himself to protect you all. You ever seen any harassment?”

“Just about the case,” I say. “People driving by, name-calling. But all things that were related to the trial.”

“There might not have been a need to bother you all once your dad was convicted.”

“But now…”

“Now your dad is represented by an organization known to help those wrongfully convicted. And there could be something bigger going on with your dad’s case.”

“Connected to my brother?”

“I don’t know about that. But you all weren’t visible, or a threat. Until—”

“The interview Jamal did. Then Angela being killed and you coming to town to work on my daddy’s case.”

Steve doesn’t respond. It only makes me worry more about Jamal. Steve clears his dishes, then meets Mama and Corinne by the door.