Chapter 6

"She set it?"

Opal's hand stayed flat on the table.

"That's what Mercer has admitted helping conceal."

The investigator spoke slowly.

"He's being advised of his rights."

"We're comparing his statement with the original fire report."

Etta stood.

Her chair scraped the floor.

"She knew my mother was in there."

Opal caught the edge of the table.

The investigator waited until Etta sat again.

"Corinne is still being interviewed."

"Would you be willing to speak where we can record it?"

Opal looked at Etta.

"You don't have to."

"I want to hear her say it."

They moved to a larger interview room.

An investigator stayed beside the door.

Corinne sat with her purse in her lap.

A camera faced the table.

She had agreed to keep talking after receiving her warnings.

When Etta came in, Corinne leaned forward.

"Honey."

Etta did not sit beside her.

"Was I in that house?"

Corinne looked at the investigator.

"We already discussed that."

"Tell me."

Corinne's fingers worked the purse clasp.

"No."

Opal closed her eyes.

The investigator asked,

"Where was she when you started the fire?"

Corinne swallowed.

"At my house."

"Harold was with her."

Etta's chair creaked beneath her.

"And Opal?"

"I thought she'd get out."

Opal looked down at the scar on her hand.

For a moment, nobody moved.

Then Etta asked,

"Why?"

Corinne's voice grew small.

"She was going to move away with Roy's baby."

Etta stared at her.

"So you took me."

"I kept you in the family."

"You gave me a funeral instead of a mother."

Corinne reached across the table.

Etta pulled her hand back.

Opal spoke without raising her voice.

"You don't get to call that keeping her safe."

The investigator ended the meeting soon afterward.

Corinne was arrested.

Mercer was detained separately as the investigation continued.

The sheriff did not promise a sentence.

He promised to preserve the records.

The false death certificate.

The forged surrender.

The medical file under another name.

Outside the room, Etta stood against the wall.

She pressed both hands over her mouth.

Opal stopped several feet away.

"I won't ask you to call me anything."

Etta shook her head.

"I read that paper after Wes was born."

Her words broke.

"I was holding him."

"I kept trying to understand how you could."

Opal took one step closer.

"I didn't."

"I know."

Etta tried to breathe.

Then she reached for Opal's burned hand.

Her thumb stopped beside the white scar.

"You tried to get into my room."

"Yes."

"And I wasn't there."

"No."

Etta bent over their joined hands.

Opal put her other arm around her.

Neither woman spoke for a long time.

Walt appeared at the end of the hallway.

Wes held his hand.

The boy stopped when he saw them.

"Is Mama okay?"

Etta lifted her face.

"She's going to be."

Wes walked into the space between them.

Opal lowered herself until he could reach her.

His medal tapped her keys.

Not joined this time.

Just close.

That evening, they returned to the Bluebird.

Etta chose to keep the room another night.

Opal paid for the room next door.

No one asked Etta to pack.

No one took her keys.

Wes fell asleep in Opal's arms.

She hummed a few quiet notes.

Etta looked up from the bed.

"I know that."

"Your dad and I made it up."

"Corinne used to sing it."

"She said he wrote it."

Opal's voice caught.

"He wrote the first line."

"I could never get the second one right."

Etta finished it for her.

Then she covered her face.

Opal stayed beside her until she lowered her hands.

Three weeks later, in January, the DNA results arrived.

They confirmed the relationship the bronze had revealed.

Lawyers began correcting Etta's identity records.

The criminal cases moved forward with documents and recorded statements.

No one promised that part would be quick.

At Roscoe's, the general manager preserved the witness statements.

Grant's termination stayed in place.

Opal paid for a hot breakfast for every witness.

Etta came with Wes.

She found Walt beside his steel thermos.

In front of the morning crowd, she hugged him.

"Thank you for bringing my boy inside."

Walt patted her shoulder once.

"Glad I was there."

Later, sleet began tapping the glass again.

A woman came through the door without gloves.

She stood by the counter, rubbing her hands.

Opal lifted her heavy coat from its hook.

This time, nobody reached to stop her.

Opal handed her own coat to the next cold stranger at the counter.