“I don’t know. We didn’t look. He was torn up pretty badly. We burned him with the other dead Rabids that were nearby. There must have been a fight. We took whatever weapons we could carry and we left.”
Her piercing gaze felt as if she was seeing right through me. Could she tell that I was lying? Crenshaw turned to my brother and said, “Is he telling the truth?”
Santiago spared her a mulish look and spat on the platform floor. “Hell if I know. I was a lab rat in Atlanta. I just got back here a week ago.”
“Have either of you heard of a place called Promised Land?” she asked.
“Yes, ma’am,” I answered. “We spent the winter there, before coming here.”
“Why did you leave?” she asked.
“Too many rules.”
“What kind of rules?”
“Rules about where you could go, who you could marry, how much you could eat. We didn’t like it.”
“So you left there and came here?”
“Yes, ma’am. I wanted to come home.” That part at least, was true.
“How long ago did you leave Promised Land?”
“Three months or so.”
“And you’ve accomplished all of this in that time?” She waved one arm to signify the compound surrounding us.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Impressive. Well, Joshua, I don’t know if you know this already, but the leader of that community is dead. Murdered, it would seem. He went by the name of Brother Larry. Did you know him?”
“Yes, ma’am, we all knew him.” I said, steadying my voice.
“Do you know anything about his death?”
“No, ma’am. We must have left before it happened.”
She narrowed her eyes and asked, “Do you know of anyone who held a grudge against him?”
I shrugged. “Could have been anyone.”
“Didyouhold a grudge toward Brother Larry, Joshua?”
I cleared my throat and met her questioning gaze directly. “No, ma’am.”
She tilted her head as if trying to get a better read on me. I pressed my lips together to keep myself from saying anything more. Relenting at last she said, “If you have any other information that might help us solve this mystery, I’d appreciate you telling me.”
“Sorry, ma’am, I don’t know anything about it. I hope the people there… are they okay?”
“They’re fine. There was some upheaval, which is why we were called in, but they found a new leader, a midwife.”
“Marion,” I said.
“You know her?”
“Yes, I apprenticed with her. She’s a good woman.”
“Seemed that way to me. Personally, I’m fond of women in leadership.” She smiled and I hoped that meant the hard part had passed.
