Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine. Vol. 105, Nos. 3 & 4. Whole Nos. 640 & 641, March 1995

She was depressed for the rest of spring break. Every time she went anywhere people asked her about finding Betsy until finally she stayed in the little apartment and rarely got out of bed. She dreaded teaching school on Monday and facing her English class. It took all of her professionalism and courage not to call in sick.

When fourth-period Honors English started, she walked to the front of her desk and leaned against it. She’d decided to hit the problem head-on, deal with it, and then put it behind her.

“You’ve all heard about Betsy’s death,” she stated. “If there are any questions, I’d rather we addressed them. Well?”

“When do you get to go back to your house?” Ralph asked. “My dad said they should be finished with it by now.”

“Today,” she told them. That was another thing she wasn’t looking forward to, but the sooner she did it, the better. The longer she stayed away, the larger her fear of returning grew.

“Was it really horrible?” Troy Habegger asked. “Or was it sort of neat, like scary movies?”

She raised an eyebrow and her voice went flat. “It was really horrible. Any death is sad, but a violent death is terrible. Only a sick person could find anything entertaining in it.”

“How are you doing?” Kenny Nesco asked. “My mom says this has to be especially awful for you because you came here to get away, and now this...”

Tears misted her eyes and she blinked them away. At least somebody understood. “It’s been pretty hard,” she confessed, “but I’ll be all right.”

“Aren’t you afraid to go back there?” Troy asked. “I mean, maybe the killer isn’t very picky. Maybe next time, it could be you.”

“I’m sure a lot of people feel that way,” she said, “not just me.”

“But you’re a lady,” he persisted. “Way out in the country. All alone.”

“And Hiram Becker was a man in a barn, and Josie Turner was a girl at a swimming hole,” she told him. “No one’s really safe.”

His eyes went wide. “What are you getting at? Josie drowned. It was an accident.”

“Was it?” she demanded. “For such a small town, a lot of people have been dying.”

The class went silent, and Caryn said, “All right, we’ve gotten that out of the way now. From now on, we can concentrate on English.”

It had been difficult, she told herself on the drive home, but she thought it had been worth it. The issue had been dealt with out in the open and now it was closed.

Turning onto her drive, she touched her foot to the brake in a reflex reaction. Silas Greeley’s truck was parked on the turn-off, and he was waiting for her. She didn’t want to see him. Worse, when her car came into view, the door on the passenger’s side opened, too, and Silas and his son stepped from the truck to greet her.

Her heart thudded against her ribs. Why were they here? Biting her lip, she forced herself to remain calm as she parked and went to meet them.

“Miss Lockhart,” Silas said, “me and Jake here wanted to think of some way to thank you for bein’ so fair when you talked to Sheriff Taylor about what happened. So we decided to surprise you.”

“Oh, but that’s not necessary,” she protested. “I only told him what I could.”

“But that’s the whole point, ma’am,” Silas insisted. “Around here, rumor’s usually like a game of telephone. The truth gets lost in the tellin’. You told it like it was, no extras, no gossip.”

Jake stared at her as his father spoke, making her uneasy. Finally, he said, “Most people don’t care much about me ’cause they say I’m slow. You treated me like a real person.”

She frowned. “I’m glad I could help you.”

“So we wanted to return the favor,” Silas said. “Let us show you what we done.” He motioned for her to follow them inside the house.

Her flesh went cold. How had they gotten inside? What did they want?

“I have an extra set of keys,” Silas explained, “in case there’s ever an emergency here. I don’t believe in stickin’ my nose in other people’s business, but I couldn’t think of nothin’ else.” He nodded his head toward the living room.

She looked inside and let out a sigh. “You shouldn’t have.”

Smiling, he said, “It was Jake’s idea. He said you’d bought lots of furniture at that auction. If it’s not in the right spot, we’ll move it wherever you want.”

“No, it’s lovely,” she said, looking at the furniture carefully arranged in each room. “This was so kind.”

“No trouble at all,” Silas said. “We took the U-Haul back for you, too.”

She’d forgotten all about it. Shaking her head, she said, “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this.”

“Glad to oblige,” Silas said. “Put new locks on your doors and windows, too. The keys are on the kitchen table. Take care now, you hear? No use taking chances.”

Thanking him, she walked them to the door. As she hooked the latch on the screen and watched them drive away, she thought how nice so many people had been to her. She had to concentrate on the good, as well as the bad.

Troy Habegger was edgy all the rest of the week. He was too distracted to disrupt class more than a couple of times.