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Izzy nodded, though she kept her eyes on her lap.

Eden read the notes she’d taken at Jesse’s bedside. “Peter had the red king. A spade was on the corner of the table. Jesse remembered a silver tooth, clean boots, and someone saying, ‘Trees can burn.’ He heard talk of selling land, the south crossing, and Rusk not waiting for Pike.”

June recorded each item as Eden spoke.

“And the piano?” Marmee asked.

“Jesse said he struck the wrong notes to warn Izzy.”

Izzy raised her head. “He did.”

Eden closed the notebook. “You remember?”

“I was playing ‘Camptown Races.’ Jesse and Peter were at the table by the wall.” Her voice steadied a fraction. “Three men came through the back hall. Miss Marcy didn’t allow anyone through the back hall unless she knew someone was coming.”

“Did you recognize them?” Marmee asked.

“One had a silver tooth. He laughed when he spoke. I didn’t like it.” Izzy rubbed her thumb across her palm. “I heard him tell another man Rusk wouldn’t pay for dead girls.”

Libby’s hand closed over hers.

Eden’s stomach tightened. “Were they threatening someone?”

“I thought they meant us. Or Adaya.” Izzy swallowed. “I don’t know.”

Marmee waited until Izzy was ready to continue.

“Jesse got up from the card table. Peter had spilled his drink, so nobody thought anything of Jesse going for a cloth. He went down the hall. When he came back, he stopped beside the piano and struck the high keys three times.”

“Three times?” June asked.

“Yes. That was our signal.”

Rose shifted forward. “You had a signal?”

“Jesse gave it to me months ago. If trouble started near the back rooms and I couldn’t leave the piano, he’d strike the high keys. I was to keep playing and act like everything was ordinary.” Izzy swallowed. “He leaned close and told me not to stop until he said so.”

Eden wrote the explanation beneath Jesse’s own words. Until now, the wrong notes had been a strange scrap of memory. Jesse had used them to protect Izzy while he went back toward the men.

“Did he return to his cards?” she asked.

“No. He went down the hall again. Peter followed him, though Jesse told him to stay.” Izzy’s voice shook. “Then I heard shouting.”

Libby pulled her closer. Marmee did not press her to continue.

Hannah laid her mending aside. “Hiram remembers the silver tooth.”

Every head lifted.

“Three men came to the livery about two weeks before Jesse was attacked,” Hannah said. “One asked to hire fast saddle horses. He called himself Frank Crowley. Hiram refused him. Said the fellow handled his horse well enough but had the manners of someone looking for trouble.”

“Crowley,” June repeated, setting the name on a fresh line.

Rose’s face changed. “A man with a silver tooth came into my store that same week.”

“Did he give you his name?” Eden asked.

“No. He bought peppermint sticks and tobacco. Asked for a road map, too.” Rose pressed her lips together. “He wanted to know whether the old Chapman road was passable after rain.”