isnât.â Charlotte usually expects the worst of people, but sheâs more than willing to make an exception in Ethanâs case. There has to be someone worth trusting, hasnât there? One man among them to whom even a disbeliever like Charlotte can pledge her faith. âThe whole idea is insanity. Jay called me from the Safehouse. and everyone down there is outraged. Donât worry about what people are thinking. Everyone knows theyâve got the wrong man.â
â Really? Well, our friends were the ones who came to get him,â Jorie says with real bitterness. âHal Roderick. Adam Sorrell. Dave Meyers.â
These men have worked with Ethan on dozens of occasions, pooling the resources of the volunteer fire department with the police whenever thereâs an accident on the highway, or a heart attack phoned in, or a stretch of woods left in flames after a fierce lightning storm.
âDave himself stood out on our front porch and read Ethan his rights. As if he had any!â
Charlotte and Jorie have known Dave Meyers, now the sheriff of Monroe Township, since grade school, and although that hadnât stopped him from arresting Ethan, Dave certainly wasnât able to look Jorie in the eye. Iâm sorry, heâd muttered, as if his apology was worth anything.
As Jorie speaks of the morningâs events, her voice rises dangerously; and Charlotte nods at Collie, who starts in his sleep. The women retreat to the window seat Ethan built last year, making use of some old oak paneling heâd removed from the tumbled-down Monroe house, abandoned long ago on the outskirts of town. Jorie moves the curtains aside, and from where they sit she can spy a man on the sidewalk, peering up at them. Itâs still hot outside and the man keeping watch wipes his face with a handkerchief âDonât worry. Itâs only Barney Stark.â Charlotte leans her elbows on the casement. Just as she suspected, Barney has stationed himself on the walkway. Heâs taken off his loosened tie and stuffed it in his pocket, but he still looks awkward and overdressed and worried. Charlotte waves, and Barney cautiously waves back. âHeâs come to see if you need help,â Charlotte tells Jorie. âThe big oaf.â
âHow do we get rid of him?â
The women look at each other and laugh.
âEasy enough. I could always get rid of him.â Charlotte motions to Barney that he can go. âCome back tomorrow.â she calls. âJorie will be fine till then.â
âTell her Iâll meet her down at the holding station.â Barney certainly doesnât wish to use the word jail . Heâs a polite, well-bred man whose mother was extremely proud of him up until the day she died. âAt nine.â
Charlotte turns to Jorie. âThe jail at nine A.M. And remember,â she adds when she sees the wash of anxiety cross Jorieâs face; again Charlotte is thankful for Barney âInnocent people need lawyers, too.â
âRight.â Jorie pulls at her tangled hair. She is frighteningly pale, as though her flesh has turned to fish scales, her blood to ice water. âThey say he was in the same town where some girl was killed, but what does that prove? How many people pass through Monroe every day? Does that mean theyâve all murdered someone?â
âIt means nothing.â Charlotte is quick to agree.
Collie is deeply asleep now ; he turns and flings one arm over the side of the bed. Awake he is close to being a teenager, and the man heâll become is evident in his rangy appearance. Odd how children look so much younger when they sleep; perhaps their slumbering forms are what prompt adults close by to try their best to protect them from every evil under the sun.
âI had him sleep in here tonight because I didnât want him to be scared. Now I think I was the one who didnât want to be alone.â
Jorie had cried in the car