Pendelton carried those ledger books out of the church office himself,” she whispered.

“He keeps them locked away.”

She took three quick steps past me toward the heavy glass doors at the end of the hall.

“You should ask Pastor Higgins about the church books,” she said over her shoulder.

“All I do is lock the doors.”
She pushed out through the glass doors and left me alone in the silent hallway.

At eight o’clock, when I switched on the little overhead light in my bedroom, the house was perfectly still.

The heavy cedar chest stood at the foot of my bed, its dark reddish wood soaking up the warm yellow light.