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more than the pain she was experiencing herself. She walked around the table and put her hand on his shoulder, but he would not turn toward her.
    He asked, "Did you think she was going to shoot him?"
    Sara felt a lump in her throat, because she had not let herself consider this question up until now. Jenny's back had been to Sara. Only Jeffrey, Lena, and Brad had a clear view of the scene.
    "Sara?"
    The way Jeffrey was looking at her, Sara knew that now was not the time for equivocation.
    "Yes," she answered, making her voice firm. "It was a clean shot, Jeffrey. You had to take it."
    Jeffrey walked away from her. He turned and leaned his back against the wall, asking, "Mark is probably the father, right?" He rested his head against the wall. "The boy she was going to shoot?"
    Sara put her hands in her pockets, made her feet stay flat on the ground so that she would not walk over to him. She said, "It would make sense."
    "His parents won't let us interview him until tomorrow. Did you know that?"
    She shook her head slowly side to side. Mark wasn't under suspicion for anything. It wasn't as if Jeffrey could arrest the kid for having a gun pointed at his chest.
    "They say he's been through enough." Jeffrey let his head drop down. "What would make her do something like that? What has she been through that would make her think…?" His voice trailed off as he looked back up at Sara. "She was one of yours, right?"
    "They moved here about three years ago." Sara paused, trying to shift gears. She knew that it would help Jeffrey more to talk this through like any other case rather than to dwell on the horror of his involvement. At this moment in time, it was irrelevant that this wasn't what she needed.
    He asked, "Where from?"
    "I think they were from up North somewhere. Her mother moved down here after what sounded like a nasty divorce."
    "How do you know this?"
    "Parents tell me things." She paused. "I didn't know Jenny was pregnant. I don't think she's been in for at least six months, maybe more." Sara put her hand to her chest. "She was such a sweet kid. I never would have imagined that she'd do something like this."
    He nodded, rubbing his eyes. "Tessa's not sure she can I.D. anybody from the restroom. Brad's gonna take over one of the yearbooks from the school, see if anybody looks familiar. I want you to look, too."
    "Of course."
    "It was so packed," he said, obviously meaning the skating rink. "People left before giving statements. I don't know if we'll be able to track everyone down."
    "Did you get anything?"
    He shook his head no. "You're sure only two people went into the bathroom? Jenny and one other?"
    "That's all I saw," Sara answered, though after tonight she did not know how she could ever be sure of anything again. "I didn't see her. I suppose if she was in my practice I would have recognized her. I guess." Sara stopped, trying to remember, but nothing new popped into her head. "She was tall, maybe wearing a baseball cap."
    He looked up at this. "You remember the color?"
    "It was dark, Jeffrey," Sara answered, knowing she was letting him down. She understood now why so many witnesses willingly gave false testimony. She felt stupid and useless for not knowing who the other girl was. Her mind tried to compensate for this by throwing out random bits of information that could or could not be real memories.
    Sara said, "I'm not even sure if it was a baseball cap, now that I'm thinking about it. I wasn't paying attention." She tried to smile. "I was looking for you."
    He did not smile back. Instead, he said, "I talked to her mother."
    "What did you say?"
    His flippant tone was back. " 'I shot your daughter, Mrs. Weaver. Sorry about that.'"
    Sara chewed her bottom lip. In a larger county, Jeffrey would not have been in charge of notification; he would be off the job pending an investigation. Of course, Grant County was far from large. All the responsibility rested squarely on his shoulders.
    "She didn't want the autopsy," he