Maggie Mae was waiting when Luke returned home.She stood on the porch with her arms crossed, watching him approach. "You've been to the sheriff."
Luke stopped. "How'd you know?"
"Because you have that look."
"What look?"
"The look your father used to get when he'd found something he wished he hadn't."
Luke glanced at the box beneath his arm.
Maggie's eyes fell to it. Her expression changed. "Where did you get that?"
"The river."
She stepped backward.
Luke noticed. "You know what it is."
"No."
"You recognized it."
Maggie Mae looked toward the road. "Come inside."
Luke followed. She closed the door behind them.
"Where's Miss Clara?" he asked.
"She was tired and went home earlier."
"She knows something."
Maggie Mae looked at him. "Everybody in Belle Rive knows something."
"That's not an answer."
"No."
She walked to the kitchen and poured two cups of coffee. Then she sat down. "My mother used to tell me never to ask questions about the Night Landing."
Luke felt his pulse quicken. "The Night Landing?"
Maggie Mae nodded. "My grandfather worked there."
"What happened?"
"He disappeared."
Luke stared. "When?"
"1931."
Luke looked at the box.
"Did he have anything to do with Elias McCrory?"
Maggie Mae's face went pale. "You've been asking the wrong questions."
"What should I be asking?"
She leaned forward. "Who was with him the night he disappeared?"
Luke waited.
Maggie Mae looked toward the hallway.
Then she lowered her voice. "William Garrison."
Luke's blood ran cold.
"My father's killer?" “Was he the other man with Simmons that night?”
"I didn't say that."
"But you know something."
"I know what my grandfather told my mother."
"What?"
Maggie Mae looked at the box. "He said there were three men at the landing that night."
Luke swallowed. "Who?"
She shook her head. "He never gave my mother the names."
"Why?"
"Because he said one of them was already dead."
Luke frowned. "And the other?"
Maggie Mae's eyes met his. "He said the other man was still alive."
The room seemed to grow colder.
Luke looked toward the window. Outside, the river was barely visible through the trees.
"What happened to your grandfather?"
Maggie Mae whispered: "He came home before dawn."
"And?"
"He wouldn't speak."
"Never?"
"Not about that night."
Luke stared at her. "Then how did your family know?"
Maggie Mae looked down at her hands. "Because the next morning..."
She stopped.
Luke waited. "What?"
"He brought something home."
Luke looked at the iron box.
Maggie Mae nodded. "Not that box."
"Then what?"asked Luke.
"A key."
Luke's heart began pounding.
"Where is it?"
Maggie Mae looked toward the hallway again. Then she whispered: "Miss Clara has it."
Luke stood so quickly his chair scraped across the floor.
Maggie Mae grabbed his arm. "Luke."
He turned.
"Don't ask her tonight."
"Why?"
"Because she already knows you're looking."
Luke stared at her. "How?"
Maggie Mae's eyes filled with fear. "Because someone came to see her yesterday."
"Who?"
She shook her head. "I don't know."
Luke waited.
Maggie Mae finally whispered: "But he asked about you."
And somewhere beyond the house, in the darkness beside the river...a floorboard creaked.