Page 138 of Trust No One

“I don’t know. She bought me a bear at the zoo.”

“You have a few bears,” I said.

“The red one,” Molly said. “I didn’t like it very much. It smelled funny.”

The red bear was in her animal zoo. I remembered it because the color was unnatural.

“Did you see Amy again?”

“A couple of times,” Molly said.

“Where did you see her?”

Molly sighed. “Daddy left me with her when he had a job.”

“Where did you two go?”

She drew in a breath. “Here.”

Judson kept his expression neutral and his voice smooth. “What did you do here?”

“She showed me around the house. We played hide-and-seek.”

I thought about the scorch marks in the attic. “Did you go to the attic?”

Molly dropped her gaze. “Yes.”

“It’s okay if you did,” I said.

“You’ll think I was bad,” she said.

I laid my hands on her shoulders. “I won’t think you were bad. Never. You can tell me anything.” When she didn’t speak, I asked, “Was there a fire in the attic?”

Judson frowned at the question.

“I saw the black marks,” I explained. “I was with a worker man who’s going to fix it.”

She didn’t speak.

“I bet it was an accident,” Judson said. “Fires can happen so easily in old houses.”

Molly met his gaze. “The lights went out. It was dark. Amy lit a candle.”

“Where did she get the candle?” he asked.

“She had some in the attic. And matches.”

“And then what?” Judson asked. “Did it tip over?”

She nodded. “We were dancing. ‘Ring Around the Rosie.’ And then I hit the candle. It fell. Burned very fast.”

“Who put out the fire?” Judson asked.

“Amy grabbed a blanket. It was scary. I never told Mommy or Daddy.”

“Did Mommy know Amy?”

“They were friends.”