Esther demurred to her husband’s wishes, but Rachel reached out for the photograph. Lena watched the older woman’s lips press into a rigid line. “Dear Jesus,” she whispered. “Why?”

Whether she meant to or not, Esther looked over her sister’s shoulder, seeing the picture of her dead child. Her shoulders started shaking, a small tremble that erupted into spasms of grief as she buried her head in her hands, sobbing, “No!”

Mary had been sitting quietly in the chair, but she stood abruptly, her hand to her chest, then ran from the room. Seconds later, they heard the kitchen door slam.

Lev had remained silent as he watched his sister go, and though Lena couldn’t read his expression, she got the feeling he was angered by Mary’s melodramatic exit.

He cleared his throat before asking, “Chief Tolliver, could you tell us what happened?”

Jeffrey hesitated, and Lena wondered how much he would tell them. “We found her in the woods,” he said. “She was buried in the ground.”

“Oh, Lord,” Esther breathed, doubling over as if in pain. Rachel rubbed her sister’s back, her lips trembling, tears streaming down her face.

Jeffrey didn’t offer specifics as he continued, “She ran out of air.”

“My baby,” Esther moaned. “My poor Abigail.”

The kids from the pigpen came in, the screen door slamming closed behind them. The adults all jumped as if a gun had been fired.

Ephraim spoke first, obviously struggling to regain his composure. “Zeke, what have you been told about the door?”

Zeke leaned against Lev’s leg. He was a spindly kid, not yet showing signs of his father’s height. His arms were as thin as toothpicks. “Sorry, Uncle Eph.”

“Sorry, Papa,” Becca said, though she hadn’t been the one to slam the door. She too was stick-thin, and though Lena wasn’t good with ages, she wouldn’t have put the girl at fourteen. She obviously hadn’t hit puberty yet.

Zeke was staring at his aunt, his lips trembling. He obviously sensed something was wrong. Tears sprang into his eyes.

“Come here, child,” Rachel said, dragging Zeke into her lap. She put her hand on his leg, petting him, soothing him. She was trying to control her grief, but losing the battle.

Rebecca kept to the door, asking, “What’s wrong?”

Lev put his hand on Rebecca’s shoulder. “Your sister has passed on to be with the Lord.”

The teenager’s eyes widened. Her mouth opened and she put her hand to her stomach. She tried to ask a question, but no words came out.

Lev said, “Let’s pray together.”

Rebecca breathed, “What?” as if the air had been knocked out of her.

No one answered her question. All of them but Rebecca bowed their heads, yet instead of the booming sermon from Lev that Lena expected, they were silent.

Rebecca stood there, hand to her stomach, eyes wide open, while the rest of her family prayed.

Lena shot Jeffrey a questioning look, wondering what they should do now. She felt nervous, out of place. Hank had stopped dragging Lena and Sibyl to church after Lena had torn up another girl’s Bible. She wasn’t used to being around religious people unless they were down at the police station.

Jeffrey just shrugged, taking a sip of lemonade. His shoulders went up, and she watched him work his jaw to get the sour out.

“I’m sorry,” Lev told them. “What can we do?”

Jeffrey spoke as if he was reading from a list. “I want employment records on everyone at the farm. I’d like to talk to anyone who had contact with Abigail at any time over the last year. I want to search her room to see if we can come up with something. I’d like to take the computer you mentioned and see if she’s been contacted by anyone through the Internet.”

Ephraim said, “She was never alone with the computer.”

“Still, Mr. Bennett, we need to check everything.”

Lev said, “They’re being thorough, Ephraim. Ultimately, it’s your decision, but I think we should do everything we can to help, if only to eliminate possibilities.”

Jeffrey seized on this. “Would you mind taking a lie detector test?”

Paul almost laughed. “I don’t think so.”

“Don’t speak for me, please,” Lev challenged his brother. He told Jeffrey, “We will do everything we can to help you.”

Paul countered, “I don’t think-”

Esther straightened her shoulders, her face was swollen with grief, her eyes rimmed red. “Please don’t argue,” she asked her brothers.

“We’re not arguing,” Paul said, but he sounded like he was spoiling for a fight. Over the years, Lena had seen how grief exposed people’s real personalities. She felt the tension between Paul and his older brother and wondered if it was general sibling rivalry or something deeper. Esther’s tone implied the pair had argued before.

Lev raised his voice, but he was talking to the children. “Rebecca, why don’t you take Zeke into the backyard? Your aunt Mary’s there and I’m sure she needs you.”

“Hold on,” Jeffrey said. “I’ve got a couple of questions for her.”

Paul put his hand on his niece’s shoulder and kept it there. “Go ahead,” he answered, his tone and posture indicating Jeffrey was on a short leash.

Jeffrey asked, “Rebecca, did you know if your sister was seeing anyone?”

The girl looked up at her uncle, as if asking permission. Her eyes finally settled back on Jeffrey. “You mean a boy?”

“Yes,” he answered, and Lena could tell that he saw this as a fruitless exercise. There was no way the girl would be forthcoming in front of her family, especially considering she was a bit rebellious herself. The only way to get the truth out of her was to get her alone, and Lena doubted very seriously that Paul- or any of the men- would allow that.

Again, Rebecca looked at her uncle before answering. “Abby wasn’t allowed to date boys.”

If Jeffrey noticed that she didn’t answer the question, he didn’t let on. “Did you think it was strange when she didn’t join you at the farm when your parents were away?”

Lena was watching Paul’s hand on the girl’s shoulder, trying to see if he was exerting pressure. She couldn’t tell.

“Rebecca?” Jeffrey prompted.

The girl’s chin lifted a little, and she said, “I thought she’d changed her mind.” She added, “Is she really…?”

Jeffrey nodded. “I’m afraid she is,” he told her. “That’s why we need all your help to find out who did this to her.”

Tears flooded into her eyes, and Lev’s composure seemed to drop a little at his niece’s distress. He told Jeffrey, “If you don’t mind…”

Jeffrey nodded, and Lev told the girl, “Go on and take Zeke out to your aunt Mary, honey. Everything’s going to be okay.”

Paul waited until they were gone before getting back to business, telling Jeffrey, “I have to remind you that the employment records are spotty. We offer food and shelter in return for an honest day’s work.”

Lena blurted out, “You don’t pay anyone?”

“Of course we do,” Paul snapped. He must’ve been asked this before. “Some take the money, some donate it back to the church. There are several workers who have been here for ten, twenty years and never seen any money in their pocket. What they get in return is a safe place to live, a family and the knowledge that their lives are not wasted.” To put a finer point on it, he indicated the room he was standing in, much as his sister had done before in the kitchen. “We all live very modest lives, Detective. Our aim is to help others, not ourselves.”

Jeffrey cleared his throat. “Still, we’d like to talk to all of them.”

Paul offered, “You can take the computer now. I can arrange for the people who’ve been in contact with Abby to be brought to the station first thing tomorrow morning.”

“The harvest,” Lev reminded him, then explained, “We specialize in edamame, younger soybeans. The peak time for picking is from sunrise to nine A.M., then the beans have to be processed and iced. It’s a very labor-intensive process, and I’m afraid we don’t use much machinery.”