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"Yep, it was your daddy anted your mama murdered He offered me a whole lot of money to off her But you know, Austin, I orried about keeping thein since it was yourback then, particularly thirty years ago? But your daddy promised me it wouldn’t be a probleain once she was out of the way Your daddy liked to gaas at least once a rief about all his losses Maybe he thought about divorcing her, I don’t know But what happened was that youron her She had hi around with a couple of local wo black-and-white photos Yourto divorce him, and he couldn’t have that She’d take all his ured he didn’t have any choice but to have et me elected sheriff of Blessed Creek for life, if that’s what I wanted, and that’s what I did want I’d just been elected by a real narrowbucks to keep this job co hoell people treat you if you’ve got some money to spend, and your oldfor both of us that he married a rich woman in Boston, since he has no talent withelse, Austin? Your grandparents drowned in the lake, so drunk they couldn’t even swi boat I’ve wondered if , orextra You know, I think they were about ready to acknowledge to the world that he wasn’t quite right, that he was a real loser with money But who cares when all’s said and done?"

"So you two planned to murder her the day of my sixth birthday party"

"Everybody was there It was a really big deal There were soAfter I made sure your daddy was surrounded by a dozen people so he’d have an alibi, I followed your mama to the bathroom and stabbed her in the heart It was real easy

"Only thing is, I looked up, and there you were, standing there, eyes wide as an owl’s"

Martin said slowly, "And then you took ht, and you tookthat Your daddy was really pissed that you’d witnessed the ed to slip away fro with That’s when I put you in the attic, told you to stay there or so really bad would happen to you We decided to leave you up there in the attic, in a nice dark corner, let you think about things We left you there for a good hour, until Old Eet you down, before people started looking for you You were so freaked out I nearly had to drag you out of the attic You didn’t say a word, just gave ot you out of there fast, right after the funeral I think he was afraid I was planning how to kill you, and he was right about that I hate loose ends Another accident, I would have co You didn’t speak for a month, and when you did, it was obvious you didn’t re, you had amnesia and your daddy didn’t think you’d ever reht, Who’d believe a little kid anyithout any proof? Why take the chance of another killing? So there’s your truth, but don’t ever think you can do anything with it There wasn’t ever a lick of proof, I made sure of that since I was the sheriff, responsible for investigating Samantha’s murder No murder weapon, no witnesses, no suspects Well, the husband, there’s always the husband, but he was pouring drinks for a dozen party guests, a great alibi Who killed her? Hey, I tried my best, but I couldn’t find the killer"

Martin’s hands were tight fists at his sides "I hope you got an ulcer worrying about me over the years"

"Nah, you became ancient history So you’ve found out what you wanted to know Why not do us both a favor, get lost, and get over it You’ve been someone else for nearly twenty years anyway If I were you, I’d stay that person, and I’d stay away fro what he’d do if you confronted hihters He’d want to protect theht even kill you himself if you went to him and told him that you knehat he’d done"