Page 157 of Homecoming

“Nah, I know where they live.” He glanced up at the mirror. “Real glad to see you guys outta that place.”

“You and us both,” Keith said.

“Had the window down, so I heard all the charges are dropped, too.”

“That’s right,” Kirby said.

“Thank goodness.”

“Will it always stick to us, though?” Kirby asked. “That we were charged in the first place?”

“I trust Chief White to release a statement that’ll take care of any doubt,” Dan said.

“That’d be good,” Kirby said. “It’s gonna take a long time to get past this, no matter what he says.”

Dan turned so he could see him. “That’s true, but youwillget past it. I’ve known a lot of people who were tried, convicted and served hard time who were later exonerated and able to put their lives back together. It doesn’t happen overnight, but it does happen eventually in most cases.”

“Only in most cases?” Keith asked.

“Some are so damaged by what they endured that they struggle on the outside and sometimes end up in pretty dire straits. We do what we can for them, but we’re not always successful in helping them turn things around. People like them… They’re the reason I do this work.”

“Thank God you do this work—and thank God you married our sister,” Kirby said. “Who knows what might’ve become of us without you on the case?”

“I’m confident that the police would’ve eventually realized they had the wrong guys, but it might’ve taken a while. I don’t believe there was any malice involved here, despite how it might seem to you.”

“Felt pretty malicious to me,” Keith said. “I haven’t been a Boy Scout, so the minute they heard I was with her, they jumped to all kinds of conclusions.”

“Which is what you’d probably have done in their shoes,” Dan said.

“Are you defending them?” Keith asked, sounding incredulous.

“Hardly. I’m merely stating that human nature is such that when something seems obvious, you tend to follow that path until you have reason not to.”

“Well, I might’ve been a bit of a degenerate at times, but I hate to think it would be obvious to anyone that I was capable of killing that beautiful young woman—or anyone else, for that matter.”

They dropped the brothers at their respective homes, and then Walter drove Dan back to Bertha’s.

“Congratulations, bossman. You must be feeling pretty good right about now.”

“I’m relieved that the family can put this behind them and get back to normal.”

“I suppose this means you and the missus will be heading back to your little island.”

“As soon as we possibly can. It’s been great to be here, to see everyone, to deal with everything that needed to be done, but Gansett is home for us.”

“I get it, man. Once you find that special place, that’s where you want to be most of the time.”

“Yes, exactly. And autumn on the island is my favorite time of year. The tourists are gone, and Gansett becomes oursagain while the weather is still fantastic. You should come visit sometime.”

“I’d love to. When is your little one due?”

“Late November.”

“That’ll be here before you know it.”

“All the more reason to get home.”

Dan sent a text to Slim Jackson.The Ballard boys are out of lockup with all charges dropped, so Kara and I will need a ride home in the next few days.

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