“Measure twice, cut once.” Connolly sat at the table, putting a cup in front of Jeffrey and keeping one for himself. There was a Bible between them, holding down a stack of napkins. “What brings you here?”

“I have some more questions,” Jeffrey said. “Hope you don’t mind.”

Connolly shook his head, as if he had nothing to hide. “Of course not. Anything that I can do to help. Fire away.”

Jeffrey got a whiff of the instant coffee in front of him, and had to move the cup out of the way before he could speak. He decided to begin with Chip Donner. O’Ryan had given them a concrete connection. The tie to Abby was more tenuous, and Connolly wasn’t the type to hang himself with his own rope. “Have you ever heard of a bar called the Pink Kitty?”

Connolly kept his gaze steady, watching Jeffrey. “It’s a strip club out on the highway.”

“That’s right.”

Connolly moved his mug a quarter of an inch to the left, centering it in front of the Bible.

“You ever been there, Cole?”

“That’s a funny question to be asking a Christian.”

“There’s a stripper says you were there.”

He rubbed the top of his bald head, wiping away sweat. “Warm in here,” he said, walking over to the window. They were on the second level and the window was small, but Jeffrey tensed in case Connolly tried to make a break for it.

Connolly turned back to him. “I wouldn’t much trust the word of a whore.”

“No,” Jeffrey allowed. “They tend to tell you what they think you want to hear.”

“True enough,” he agreed, putting up the jar of Folgers. He went to the sink and washed the spoon, using a well-worn towel to dry it before returning it to the drawer. The kettle started to whistle, and he used the towel to take it off the eye of the stove.

“Hand those over,” he asked Jeffrey, and Jeffrey slid the cups across the table.

“When I was in the army,” Cole said, pouring boiling water into the cups, “there wasn’t a titty bar around we didn’t hit one time or another. Dens of iniquity, one and all.” He put the kettle back on the stove and took out the spoon he had just washed to stir the coffee. “I was a weak man then. A weak man.”

“What was Abby doing at the Pink Kitty, Cole?”

Connolly kept stirring, turning the clear liquid into an unnatural black. “Abby wanted to help people,” he said, going back to the sink. “She didn’t know she was walking into the lion’s den. She was an honest soul.”

Jeffrey watched Cole wash the spoon again. He put it in the drawer, then sat down across from Jeffrey.

Jeffrey asked, “Was she trying to help Chip Donner?”

“He wasn’t worth helping,” Cole replied, putting the cup to his lips. Steam rose, and he blew on the liquid before setting it back down. “Too hot.”

Jeffrey sat back in his chair to get away from the smell. “Why wasn’t he worth helping?”

“Lev and them don’t see it, but some of these people just want to work the system.” He pointed a finger at Jeffrey. “You and I know how these people are. It’s my job to get them off the farm. They’re just taking up space where somebody else might be- somebody who wants to do better. Somebody who’s strong in the Lord.”

Jeffrey took the opening. “These bad people just want to work it to their advantage. Take what they can and get out.”

“That’s exactly right,” Cole agreed. “It’s my job to get them out fast.”

“Before they ruin it for everybody.”

“Exactly,” he said.

“What did Chip do with Abby?”

“He took her out to the woods. She was just an innocent. An innocent.”

“You saw him take her out into the woods?” Jeffrey asked, thinking it was pretty odd for a seventy-two-year-old man to be following around a young girl.

“I wanted to make sure she was okay,” Connolly explained. “I don’t mind telling you that I was worried for her soul.”

“You feel a responsibility for the family?”

“With Thomas like he is, I had to look after her.”

“I see it all the time,” Jeffrey encouraged. “All it takes is one bad apple.”

“That is the truth, sir.” Connolly blew on the coffee again, chancing a sip. He grimaced as his tongue was singed. “I tried to reason with her. She was going to leave town with that boy. She was packing her bag, heading right down the road to wickedness. I could not let that happen. For Thomas’s sake, for the sake of the family, I could not let them lose another soul.”

Jeffrey nodded, the pieces falling into place. He could see Abigail Bennett packing her bags, thinking she was going to start a new life, until Cole Connolly came in and changed everything. What must have been going through Abby’s mind as he led her into the forest? The girl had to have been terrified.

Jeffrey said, “I don’t see that you wanted her to die.”

Connolly’s head snapped up. He stared at Jeffrey for a beat.

“You built that box, Cole.” He indicated the apartment. “You do things right. Your workmanship gives you away.” Jeffrey tried to ease him into it. “I don’t think you meant for her to die.”

Connolly didn’t answer.

“It’s her mama I worry about,” Jeffrey said. “Esther’s a good woman.”

“That’s the truth.”

“She needs to know what happened to her daughter, Cole. When I was in her house, looking at Abby’s things, trying to find out what happened to her, Esther begged me. She grabbed my arm, Cole. She had tears in her eyes.” He paused. “Esther needs to know what happened to her baby, Cole. She needs it for her peace of mind.”

Connolly just nodded.

“I’m getting to this point, Cole,” Jeffrey said, “where I’m going to have to start bringing people in. I’m gonna have to start throwing things against the wall, seeing if they stick.”

Connolly sat back in his chair, his lips pressed tightly together.

“I’ll bring in Mary first, then Rachel.”

“I doubt Paul will let that happen.”

“I can keep them for twenty-four hours without making a charge.” He added, still trying to find the right pressure point, “It’s my opinion Mary and Rachel might be material witnesses.”

“Do what you want.” He shrugged.

“It’s Thomas who’s going to be the hard one,” Jeffrey persisted, keeping his eyes trained on Connolly, trying to judge how far to push the old man. At the mention of his mentor’s name, Connolly’s body tensed, and Jeffrey continued, “We’ll do everything we can to keep him comfortable. Those cell doors are pretty narrow, but I’m sure we can carry him in if his wheelchair won’t fit.”

The sink faucet had a small leak, and in the silence that followed, Jeffrey could hear the dripping water echo in the small room. He kept his eyes on Connolly, watched the man’s expression change as he struggled with the image of Jeffrey’s threat.

Jeffrey saw his leverage and pressed even harder. “I’ll keep him in jail, Cole. I’ll do whatever it takes to find out what happened. Don’t think I won’t.”

Connolly’s grip on the coffee cup was tight, but it slackened as he seemed to make up his mind. He said, “You’ll leave Thomas alone?”

“You have my word.”

Connolly nodded. Still, he took his time continuing. Jeffrey was about to prompt him when the old man said, “None of ’em ever passed before.”

Jeffrey felt a surge of adrenaline, but did his best not to break the rhythm of the conversation. No one came out and admitted they’d done something horrible. They always came around it the back way, easing into the admission, convincing themselves that they were actually good people who had momentarily slipped and done a bad thing.

Connolly repeated, “None of ’em ever passed.”

Jeffrey tried to keep the accusation out of his tone. “Who else did you do this to, Cole?”

He slowly shook his head.

“What about Rebecca?”

“She’ll turn up.”

“Turn up like Abby?”

“Like a bad penny,” he said. “Nothing I did to that girl ever got through. She never listened to anything I said.” Connolly stared into his coffee, but there wasn’t a trace of remorse about him. “Abby was in the family way.”