front of him.
“I will have my answers, whether they come from you or Reuben or the evidence. I want to know why that girl had the key to that house. I want to know if she was living there, and if so, why.” Shane’s voice never rose in volume, but it became colder with each word, like a winter storm blowing across the fields.
Reuben felt it and steeled himself against the fight to come. From the worry lines creasing his cousin’s face, he knew Tobias felt it too.
Tobias turned and walked to the wall of the barn. He stood facing it, his hands in his pants’ pockets, his head bowed.
“Reuben, I don’t want to arrest you for murder, but you have to give me a reason not to. You have to give me something. At least start by answering my questions.” Shane leaned forward, both hands on the table. “Why was this girl here? What happened to her? And how did she come to have the key to your grandfather’s house?”
“Maybe she stole it.” The words tore out of Tobias like lightning ripping across a clear blue sky. He stalked back across the room, stopped inches shy of the table, and stood staring down at the key. “Maybe she stole it. We didn’t even know she was staying there. I give you my word that I’ve never seen that girl before today, before I saw her on the stretcher. She could have been a runaway. Reuben’s in the field all day, and I’ve been busy at my job in town and over at Esther’s.”
“All right. I suppose that’s possible.” Shane looked at Reuben, locked gazes with him. “Is that your take on it? We have a forensics team in the house now. We won’t find any of your DNA in there? Any of your fingerprints on anything of hers that might be in there? No evidence that you’ve been in there?”
“It’s our
grossdaddi
’s house. Of course you’ll find evidence, but it will be very old.” Tobias shook his head. “We haven’t been in that house in several years. Our
schweschdern
come over and give it a good cleaning every spring, but it’s too big for two bachelors to live in. That’s why we chose to live in the barn instead.”
“All right. DNA does degrade over time — heat, sunlight, and moisture will all affect any traces that have been left in the house since it’s been closed up.” Shane paused, scrubbed his hand over his face. “But if what you say is true, I shouldn’t find any signs that either of you have been there recently.”
“No. We haven’t.” Tobias slapped his hand on the table, satisfied they’d reached some compromise. “And then you’ll go?”
“I didn’t say that, and you have to stop answering for Reuben. He’s not mute. I know that. He has to answer for himself. I have to receive a statement from him or—”
Two knocks sounded on the door to the barn, and Andrew Gavin stepped through. Reuben felt his pulse kick up a notch, felt sweat begin to trickle down the small of his back, but he forced his expression to remain neutral.
“Black.” Gavin pulled off a ball cap he was wearing as he stepped into the room. “Evening, Tobias, Reuben.”
Tobias and Shane mumbled hellos.
Reuben remained perfectly still.
“Getting here a little late, aren’t you?” Shane’s voice held a bit of a scolding, like Reuben’s father’s when he was working on training a pup.
“Actually I wasn’t on duty tonight, but Captain Taylor called me in. I was fishing out on the lake when I received the message.”
Closer to Tobias’ age, Andrew Gavin was different from most Amish and
Englisch
men that Reuben had encountered. His short haircut, jeans, and T-shirt left no doubt that he was an
Englischer
, but he was extremely quiet most of the time, which made him seem more like the Amish to Reuben. He also kept himself somewhat apart, and Reuben wondered about that. Perhaps it was because of the things he had seen while he’d fought in their war — serving overseas in Afghanistan, or maybe because once he’d lived overseas he saw things in Shipshewana
“I will have my answers, whether they come from you or Reuben or the evidence. I want to know why that girl had the key to that house. I want to know if she was living there, and if so, why.” Shane’s voice never rose in volume, but it became colder with each word, like a winter storm blowing across the fields.
Reuben felt it and steeled himself against the fight to come. From the worry lines creasing his cousin’s face, he knew Tobias felt it too.
Tobias turned and walked to the wall of the barn. He stood facing it, his hands in his pants’ pockets, his head bowed.
“Reuben, I don’t want to arrest you for murder, but you have to give me a reason not to. You have to give me something. At least start by answering my questions.” Shane leaned forward, both hands on the table. “Why was this girl here? What happened to her? And how did she come to have the key to your grandfather’s house?”
“Maybe she stole it.” The words tore out of Tobias like lightning ripping across a clear blue sky. He stalked back across the room, stopped inches shy of the table, and stood staring down at the key. “Maybe she stole it. We didn’t even know she was staying there. I give you my word that I’ve never seen that girl before today, before I saw her on the stretcher. She could have been a runaway. Reuben’s in the field all day, and I’ve been busy at my job in town and over at Esther’s.”
“All right. I suppose that’s possible.” Shane looked at Reuben, locked gazes with him. “Is that your take on it? We have a forensics team in the house now. We won’t find any of your DNA in there? Any of your fingerprints on anything of hers that might be in there? No evidence that you’ve been in there?”
“It’s our
grossdaddi
’s house. Of course you’ll find evidence, but it will be very old.” Tobias shook his head. “We haven’t been in that house in several years. Our
schweschdern
come over and give it a good cleaning every spring, but it’s too big for two bachelors to live in. That’s why we chose to live in the barn instead.”
“All right. DNA does degrade over time — heat, sunlight, and moisture will all affect any traces that have been left in the house since it’s been closed up.” Shane paused, scrubbed his hand over his face. “But if what you say is true, I shouldn’t find any signs that either of you have been there recently.”
“No. We haven’t.” Tobias slapped his hand on the table, satisfied they’d reached some compromise. “And then you’ll go?”
“I didn’t say that, and you have to stop answering for Reuben. He’s not mute. I know that. He has to answer for himself. I have to receive a statement from him or—”
Two knocks sounded on the door to the barn, and Andrew Gavin stepped through. Reuben felt his pulse kick up a notch, felt sweat begin to trickle down the small of his back, but he forced his expression to remain neutral.
“Black.” Gavin pulled off a ball cap he was wearing as he stepped into the room. “Evening, Tobias, Reuben.”
Tobias and Shane mumbled hellos.
Reuben remained perfectly still.
“Getting here a little late, aren’t you?” Shane’s voice held a bit of a scolding, like Reuben’s father’s when he was working on training a pup.
“Actually I wasn’t on duty tonight, but Captain Taylor called me in. I was fishing out on the lake when I received the message.”
Closer to Tobias’ age, Andrew Gavin was different from most Amish and
Englisch
men that Reuben had encountered. His short haircut, jeans, and T-shirt left no doubt that he was an
Englischer
, but he was extremely quiet most of the time, which made him seem more like the Amish to Reuben. He also kept himself somewhat apart, and Reuben wondered about that. Perhaps it was because of the things he had seen while he’d fought in their war — serving overseas in Afghanistan, or maybe because once he’d lived overseas he saw things in Shipshewana
Similar Books
