“Matilda.”
Okay, so this was officially weird. “Matilda?”
The girl nodded to the headstone. “She was my great-great-grandmother. I’m named after her.”
Maybe not so weird.
Matilda pointed to the two cross markers. “Those were her friends.”
“Is that your pet?” Sarah jerked her head toward the tree where the crow waited patiently, probably for them to leave. Matilda stared at the crow, then shook her head.
Inept stab at making conversation.
“She was a witch, you know,” the girl said matter-of-factly.
Sarah nodded. “I heard.”
“But she helped people.” Matilda’s attention returned to the headstone. “She wouldn’t have let this happen.”
“You mean what happened to Valerie and Alicia?”
Matilda nodded once.
“I guess you go to school with Alicia?”
“Did.” She glanced up at the crow again. “But I quit this year.”
What kind of parents would let their daughter quit school? Particularly if she’d made it all the way to her senior year.
“You don’t like school?” Another lame question.
She shrugged.
“Did you know Valerie?”
“She tutored me in math year before last.”
The kid needed a coat. She had to be freezing. The sweatshirt couldn’t be that warm even if she had layers on underneath.
“Would you like to sit in my car?”
Matilda shook her head. “I gotta get home.”
Now or never. “Do you know of anyone who would have wanted to hurt Valerie or Alicia?”
“Lots of people are jealous.” She searched Sarah’s face with curious eyes that were the most bizarre shade of gold. Sarah hadn’t noticed that before. “But none of the kids around here would hurt them. Not for real.”
“What about the kids Valerie beat in that spelling bee way back in fourth grade?” Okay, that was a stretch.
Another indifferent shrug.
Who remembered what happened in third or fourth grade? If one of Valerie’s classmates had held a grudge over a spelling bee that long, then he or she needed to get a life.
That theory suddenly seemed about as far-fetched as the curse theory. Unless mental illness was involved. In light of the mutilation, that was a definite possibility.
“I sure hope the police find some answers soon.” The statement wasn’t really directed at the girl. Just thinking out loud. Keeping the silence from dragging on too long.
Thankfully Sarah hadn’t said the rest of what she thought.
