Mark offered, “Let me,” obviously wanting to protect his equipment.

Lev said, “I’m sorry. I just… This is just too much.”

Jeffrey indicated that Mark should let Lev unhook himself from the machine.

“I was trying to be honest,” Lev said. “Good Lord, what a mess.”

Mark closed his notebook. Jeffrey told Lev, “We’ll be back in a second.”

Lena moved out of their way, taking Jeffrey’s chair as the two men walked out to talk.

“I would never hurt Abby,” Lev told her. “What a mess. What a mess.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Lena said, leaning back in the chair. She hoped she didn’t look as smug as she felt. Something in her gut had told her Lev was involved. It would only be a matter of time before Jeffrey cracked him.

Lev clasped his hands between his knees and bent over. He stayed that way until Jeffrey came back into the room. He started talking before Jeffrey could take Mark’s seat. “I was trying to be honest. I didn’t want some foolish lie to make you… Oh, good Lord. I’m sorry. I’ve made such a mess here.”

Jeffrey shrugged like it was a simple misunderstanding. “Explain it to me.”

“She was…” He covered his face with his hands. “She was an attractive girl.”

“Looked a lot like your sister,” Lena remembered.

“Oh, no,” Lev said, his voice shaking. “I have never been inappropriate with either my sister or my niece. Any of my nieces.” His tone almost begged them to believe him. “There was one time-one time- Abby was walking through the office. I didn’t know it was her. I just saw her from behind and my reaction was…” He directed his words toward Jeffrey. “You know how it is.”

“I don’t have any pretty little nieces,” he answered.

“Oh, Lord.” Lev sighed. “Paul told me I would regret this.” He sat back up, clearly troubled. “Listen, I’ve read my share of true crime stories. I know how this works. You always look at family members first. I wanted to rule that out. I wanted to be as honest as I could.” He rolled his eyes up at the ceiling, as if hoping for an intervention from on high. “It was one time. She was walking down the aisle by the photocopier, and I didn’t recognize her from behind, and when she turned around, I almost fell on the floor. It’s not that-” He stopped, then continued, treading carefully. “It’s not that I was thinking it through, let alone considering it. I was just staring into space, and I thought, ‘Well, there’s a nice-looking woman,’ and then I saw it was Abby and, I promise you, I couldn’t even talk to her for a month afterward. I have never felt so ashamed about anything in my life.”

Lev held out his hands. “When the officer asked that question, that’s the first thing that popped into my mind- that day. I knew he’d be able to tell if I was lying.”

Jeffrey took his sweet time revealing, “The test was inconclusive.”

All the air seemed to go out of Lev. “I’ve messed things up by trying to make them right.”

“Why didn’t you want to report the fact that your other niece is missing?”

“It seemed-” He stopped, as if he couldn’t find the answer. “I didn’t want to waste your time. Becca runs off a lot. She’s very melodramatic.”

Jeffrey asked, “Did you ever touch Abigail?”

“Never.”

“Did she ever spend time alone with you?”

“Yes, of course. I’m her uncle. I’m her minister.”

Lena asked, “Did she ever confess anything to you?”

“That’s not how it works,” Lev said. “We would just talk. Abby loved reading the Bible. She and I would parse the scriptures. We played Scrabble. I do this with all my nieces and nephews.”

Jeffrey told him, “You can see why this sounds strange to us.”

“I am so sorry,” Lev said. “I’ve not helped this along one bit.”

“No,” Jeffrey agreed. “What were you doing on the Stanley place?”

He took a moment to shift his train of thought. “Dale called about some of our people using his property as a cut-through. I spoke to him, walked the property line and agreed to put up a fence.”

“Odd that you did this personally,” Jeffrey suggested. “You’re pretty much in charge of the farm, aren’t you?”

“Not really,” he answered. “We all run our various areas.”

“That wasn’t my impression,” Jeffrey said. “You seem like the man in charge to me.”

Lev seemed reluctant to admit, “I’m responsible for the day-to-day operations.”

“It’s a pretty large place.”

“Yes, it is.”

“Walking Dale’s property line, talking about building a fence, that wasn’t something you’d delegate?”

“My father is constantly on me to do just that. I’m afraid I’m a bit of a control freak. It’s something I should work on.”

“Dale’s a big guy,” Jeffrey said. “It didn’t bother you to go out there alone?”

“Cole was with me. He’s the foreman on our farm. I don’t know if you had time to get into that yesterday. He’s one of the original success stories at Holy Grown. My father ministered to him in prison. Over two decades later, Cole’s still with us.”

Jeffrey said, “He was convicted of armed robbery.”

Lev nodded, saying, “That’s right. He was going to rob a convenience store. Someone turned him in. The judge didn’t take kindly to him. I’m sure Cole made his bed, just as I’m sure he lay in it for twentysome years. He’s a very different man from the one who helped plan that robbery.”

Jeffrey moved him along. “Did you go into Dale’s shop?”

“I’m sorry?”

“Dale Stanley. Did you go into his shop when you went out there to talk about the fence?”

“Yes. I’m not normally into cars-that’s not my thing-but it seemed polite to oblige.”

Lena asked, “Where was Cole during all of this?”

“He stayed in the car,” Lev told her. “I didn’t bring him for intimidation. I just wanted to make sure Dale knew I wasn’t alone.”

“Cole stayed in the car the whole time?” Jeffrey asked.

“Yes.”

“Even when you walked back across the fence line between your property and Dale’s?”

“It’s the church’s property, but yes.”

Jeffrey asked, “Have you ever used Cole for intimidation?”

Lev looked uncomfortable. He took his time answering. “Yes.”

“In what way?”

“Sometimes we have people who want to take advantage of the system. Cole talks to them. He takes it personally when people try to exploit the church. The family, really. He has an extraordinary loyalty to my father.”

“Does he ever get physical with them, these people who try to take advantage?”

“No,” Lev insisted. “Absolutely not.”

“Why are you so certain?”

“Because he’s aware of his problem.”

“What does that mean?”

“He has- had- a very bad temper.” Lev seemed to be remembering something. “I’m sure your wife told you about his outburst last night. Believe me, it’s simply a matter of him being passionate about his beliefs. I’ll be the first to admit that he went a little overboard, but I would have handled the situation if the need arose.”

Lena wondered what the hell he was talking about, but she knew better than to interrupt.

For his part, Jeffrey skipped it completely, asking, “How bad was Cole’s temper? You said he had a bad temper. How bad was it?”

“He used to get physical. Not when Papa knew him, but before.” Lev added, “He’s a very strong man. Very powerful.”

Jeffrey fished out some line. “I’m not trying to contradict you, Lev, but I had him in here yesterday. He looks like a pretty harmless guy to me.”

“He is harmless,” Lev said. “Now.”

“Now?”

“He was special ops in the army. He did a lot of bad things. You don’t start using a thousand dollars’ worth of heroin a week because you’re happy with your life.” He seemed to sense Jeffrey’s impatience. “The armed robbery,” Lev added. “He probably would have gotten a lighter sentence- he didn’t even make it into the store- but he resisted arrest. An officer was badly beaten, almost lost an eye.” Lev seemed troubled by the image. “Cole used his hands on him.”