Not very much. Her throat tightened. I was only five when she left. I have little bits of memoryof her making cookies, sewing a rag doll for me. Singing a little song in a language I didnt know. Pennsylvania Dutch, I guess.
The woman nodded, eyes filled with sympathy. Of course you want to know more.
Rhoda. There was warning in Elis voice. This is not our concern.
His wife answered him in the dialect, her voice filled with urgency. He seemed to argue with her. Finally he shook his head, mouth set.
Rhoda looked back at her. Eli feels we should not interfere. That you should talk to your mothers kin. It is for them to tell Barbaras story, not us.
She saw her chance of learning anything fading away, if they were anything like the people shed encountered in Indiana. But I dont even know how to find them. Or if theyll talk to me.
Another quick exchange of glances. Eli pushed his chair back.
You should talk to Bishop Amos. He can help you, if he thinks it the right thing to do. Rhoda will tell you how to find him. He rose, dropped his napkin on the table and walked out.
She glanced at Rhoda. Im sorry. I didnt mean to upset him.
Ach, he is not upset. He chust isnt sure what is right, and that makes him annoyed with himself.
Isnt it right for me to know about my mother?
Rhoda looked down at her plate. Youll talk to the bishop. Hell know whats best. Ill write down for you how to find him.
Door closed, it seemed. She didnt pin much hope on this bishop, whoever he was, wanting to help someone like her.
She tried to marshal an argument that might sway the woman. You understand what I feel. I know you do. If you know something about my mother, please tell me.
She shook her head. I cant.
Because her husband had told her not to, Marisa supposed. She wanted to argue, but obviously that wouldnt do any good. Maybe, if she approached Rhoda when they were alone, shed have better luck.
Her cell phone rang, and she dived into her bag to find it. Maybe her father
But it wasnt Dad. It was the police chief, Adam Byler.
Wonder if you might stop by my office some time this morning, Ms. Angelo? No hurry.
Why? Have you found out something? It was all she could do to stay in her seat, and she realized that Rhoda and her daughter were both looking at her with slightly scandalized expressions. Surely they were used to guests with ever-present cell phones, werent they?
No, not really. Byler sounded evasive. Theres just something Id like to talk over with you, thats all. Come by anytime.
He rang off before she could ask him anything else, and she stared at the phone for a moment, her mind teeming with questions.
Despite his denial, she couldnt stop a feeling of optimism. Maybe, just maybe, she was about to learn something.
CHAPTER FOUR
LINK PARKED IN FRONT of Strauss Hardware in Springville, got out and hesitated, glancing down the street in the direction of the tiny office that housed Spring Townships police station. The village and the surrounding countryside that made up the township were served by the same small police force.
Forget it, he ordered himself. Pick up the hinges you need, go back to the house, get on with the work.
But forgetting wasnt as easy as all that. Lying in the military hospital, day after day, hed had no choice but to accept the fact that hed survived when the others had died. Hed made his plans. He just hadnt anticipated how hard it would be to carry them out.
First his family, so sure they could turn him back into the person hed been before. Then there was the old house that had sheltered generations of Morgans, and even Springville itself, little changed since hed trotted down Main Street at eight or nine with a dollar in his pocket, intent on spending it as soon as possible. All demanded he be the person he was before he left.
He could resist them. He wasnt so sure he could go on resisting the appeal of that little girls pictured face. Or that same little girl hiding in grown-up Marisa Angelos eyes.
He wheeled, striding down the street toward the police station. He needed to understand what was going on. Adam would level with him.
He swung open the door, and a woman seated at the counter swung around to look at him, eyes widening.
Well, if this isnt a blast from the past. Link Morgan. I heard you were back in town. How are you?
Fine, thanks, Ginger. I didnt know you were working here. Ginger Morrison had been class comedian, cheerleader and the girl most likely to cut class if anything more interesting beckoned.
Yeah, my youngest went off to school this year, so we figured Id better start bringing home a paycheck.
You? A kid? He perched on the corner of her desk. Ginger didnt look much older than she had the day theyd ditched school together and headed for a rock concert in Baltimore on his motorcycle, which had conked out thirty miles short of their destination. You have a kid?
Three. She grinned. Ive been busy. You know I always
But he wasnt destined to hear the rest, as the door opened behind him and Ginger assumed a professional expression.
May I help you, maam?
He swung round, instinct telling him who it was even before he saw her face. Marisa. Ginger, this is Marisa Angelo. I imagine shes here to see Adam.
Good morning. Dismay at the sight of him was quickly masked, and Marisa focused on Ginger in stead. Chief Byler asked me to drop by.
Sure thing, Ms. Angelo. Hes on the phone right now, but it shouldnt be more than a couple minutes. Ginger raised her eyebrows at him. You here to see Adam, too, I suppose. Itd be too much to think you stopped by to chat about old times with me.
He managed a grin, glancing at Marisa. Ginger and I used to cut class together, back in the day.
Not just me, Ginger said. The wonder is that this boy ever managed to graduate, let alone get into college. She winked at Marisa. Any girl he could talk onto the back of that junker of a motorcycle would do. I figured hed go off the road at Horse shoe Bend one night, and thatd be the end of him. A buzzer went off on her phone. You folks can see the chief now.
Link fell into step with Marisa. You look as if you didnt sleep well. Purple shadows were like bruises under her eyes.
Im fine. The words were snapped off so quickly they denied their meaning. She gave a quick nod back toward the desk. Nice for you to see old friends.
He grimaced. Especially when they go on saying the same thing they did ten or twelve years ago. He opened the door to Adams office and let her precede him.
Adam rose when Marisa entered, then looked over her shoulder at Link with an expression that suggested hed be better off elsewhere. Link gave him a bland smile. Adam should know better than to think hed be discouraged by a look.
Ms. Angelo, thanks for stopping by. Adam pulled out his only visitors chair for her. Link, I wasnt expecting you, as well.
Why not? He perched on the corner of Adams desk. If Adam thought hed come with Marisa, so much the better. Im an interested party.
Adam didnt respond. Marisa leaned forward in her chair, hands gripping the strap of her shoulder bag. Whats happened, Chief Byler? Have you found something?
Adam didnt respond. Marisa leaned forward in her chair, hands gripping the strap of her shoulder bag. Whats happened, Chief Byler? Have you found something?
No, nothing like that. Adam wore that stolid mask he did so wellthe look that had sometimes fooled people into calling him a dumb Dutchman, that being the sort of sophisticated epithet folks around here came up with. Adam was not that.
And Link had known him too long not to see beyond the mask. Adam wanted something, presumably from Marisa, and it was something he felt reluctant to ask.
You asked me to come by, Marisa said. There must be a reason.
Out with it, Link said. Whats going on?
Adam shot him a glance that told him to shut up. Ms. Angelo, would you be willing to take a DNA test? Just as a matter of routine. It
Marisa had gone dead white. Link couldnt help himself. He was beside her before he realized hed moved, putting his hand on her shoulder.
Youve found a body? Marisas voice rose.
No, nothing like that. It would simply be a help Adam let that die off, probably because both of them stared at him with disbelief.
Come on, Adam. Level with us. Why do you want a DNA sample from Marisa? He tightened his grasp on her shoulder, feeling the bones beneath the skin, and he felt a surge of protectiveness.
She didnt pull away, maybe because she was too shaken.
Adam lifted his hands in a gesture of resignation. You know those dark splotches on the suitcase? They were blood.
Marisas hand closed over Links, gripping almost painfully. My mother died. Is that what you think?
Links mind raced. Blood on the suitcase, so naturally Adam assumed it was Barbaras. The suitcase hidden in the wall of Uncle Allens house. It was impossible to escape a link.
Lets not jump to conclusions, Adam said. If you remember what the stains looked like, they were relatively small patches. Certainly not enough to warrant an assumption that there was a fatal wound.
Are you treating it as a murder case? Links voice sounded harsh to his ears. How would his mother cope with this, murder coming close to her family after all that had happened this year?
Not at this time. Adams face was his official one. The lab says this amount could have come from a cut finger or a nosebleed. For all we know, the stains might even have been there for months or years before the suitcase was hidden. Thats why it would be helpful to have Ms. Angelos DNA for comparison.
Will that be enough to be sure?
Adam shrugged. According to the lab, theyll be able to tell with a reasonable degree of certainty if the blood wasnt her mothers, and a fair degree if it was. So, if Marisa agrees?
Yes. Of course. She seemed to be gathering her composure around her. Where and when?
Lancaster Generals lab will do it. Theyve al ready been notified, so just walk in and give them your name.
Marisa had regained some of her color, but strain still seemed to draw the skin tight against the bones. Ill go now if you can give me directions.
No need for that. Link heard his own voice speak without conscious volition. Ill take you there.
BY THE TIME THEYD reached the edge of Springville, Marisa felt herself beginning to thaw. It was as if the word blood, coming from Chief Bylers lips, had flash-frozen her.
So much so that she hadnt objected when Link Morgan steered her toward his car, but maybe that had been the best thing that she could have done.
There were far too many questions that, as yet, the Morgan family hadnt answered. Each time the conversation had swerved in the direction of that house and its owner with Geneva Morgan, one of her sons had managed to divert it. And as for Link Morgan
She stole a sideways glance at him. Lean, strong hands gripped the steering wheel too tightly, and he frowned at the road ahead. Link had avoided telling her anything more than what she might have learned from the police chief.
But surely he knew more. The man who owned the house had been his uncle. And Link had apparently been the favored nephew, since hed inherited. There had to be things he could tell her, even if he wasnt old enough to remember her mother.
And after only twenty-four hours here, shed begun to realize that the Morgan family loomed large in the power structure of this area. How hard would Adam Byler, obviously an old friend of the family, press them?
Well, no matter how big a deal the Morgans were, they werent above suspicion as far as she was concerned.
She felt, rather than saw, Link focus on her face.
Are you all right? He asked the question almost grudgingly, as if he already regretted the impulse that had led him to offer to drive her.
Hed regret it even more if he knew how she expected to make use of this time.
Im all right. The idea of blood She let that trail off, not bothering to suppress the quaver in her voice. If Link thought her bowled over by this, so much the better. It might make him more talkative.
Adam did say the amount was small. He ran one palm restlessly along the steering wheel. It could have nothing to do withwell, with your mothers disappearance. It might not even be hers.
I suppose theyll know that much from the DNA test. It seems to me I remember reading that the testing is more definitive when its the female side of the family.
He shrugged. Couldnt prove it by me, Im afraid. That subject didnt come up in the course of illustrating childrens books, did it?
Ive looked into some odd things, but not that. That article on DNA was just random reading. I was the kind of kid whod read the backs of cereal boxes if there was nothing else around.
Not me. Always outside, running wild, my mother used to say. He gestured, the movement seeming to take in the patchwork quilt of cultivated farms and woodlots on either side of the road. This was a good place to grow up for that.
I guess it would have been. I dont remember much about Springville, or about the people we knew here. If my mother worked for your uncle, I suppose I might have met him.
That was a tactful way to bring Allen Morgan into the conversation, wasnt it?
Could be. Link glanced in the side mirror as he merged onto a four-lane road. Your mother might have taken you along with her to work, I guess. He spoke off-handedly, concentrating more on the traffic than the question.
What was he like?
Allen? Now he glanced at her, his attention sharpening. Why do you want to know?
She tensed at the direct attack. So much for being subtle. Its natural enough, isnt it? Your uncle was my mothers employer. Her suitcase was hidden in the wall of his house.
He stared at the road again, lips tight, a muscle twitching at the corner of his mouth. The suit case being there might have nothing to do with my uncle.
Really? She let disbelief show in her voice. How do you explain it, then?
He yanked the wheel a bit harder than was war ranted to exit at the sign for the hospital. If your mother was working for him at the time the room was being built, she could have put suitcase there herself.
Why would she do that?
Say the stories were right, and she planned to leave. She could have brought the suitcase with her to work, slid it into the unfinished wall so no one would see it and ask questions.