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“About what?”
“Plenty of things. Their niece for one thing.”
“That poor girl—”
“That poor girl understands plenty.”
The sheriff frowned, caught her arm. “Did you talk to her? That why you grabbed her for the ladies’ room?”
“She can’t speak. That part seems true. But that doesn’t mean she can’t communicate. And she hears just fine. When you were running the Counsels through the round of questioning, I asked her to participate as well. One finger for yes, two fingers for no.”
The sheriff stared at her. “She could do that?”
“Yep. And get this, when you showed the picture of Jacob Ness—”
“Hang on. Ness died seven years ago. Even if he’d been around right before then, that girl would’ve been only a little kid herself.”
“Little girls have eyes and ears. Especially ones who get to spend their lives standing at the edge of a room, waiting to serve more tea.”
The sheriff still appeared uncertain. “She answered? When I showed the picture of Jacob, she answered?”
“She held up three fingers.”
“Three fingers? I thought you said it was one or two?”
“I know. Which proves just how smart she is. Her answer wasn’t yes or no. I think she made up a new code on the spot: three fingers for maybe.”
“That doesn’t tell us anything.”
“It tells us she knows more than the Counsels believe she knows. And it tells me I’m going to find a way to speak to her again. Alone. That girl needs us, Sheriff. I don’t know exactly what’s going on around here, but the discovery of these remains, it’s a beginning, not an end. And we’d better catch up fast, because you know what happens when old skeletons suddenly come to light? People get scared. Then new bodies have a tendency to drop. Something happened here. Something very bad. Real question is, is it over yet?”
