I did not mistake that for a finding that she had done nothing.

I also did not announce a conviction the court had not entered.

Afterward, Clara told me Maeve blamed her for ruining the family by speaking to the deputies.

“She says the lawyers could have made it a dispute if I had kept quiet.”

“A dispute doesn’t explain putting someone in a casket.”

“I know.”

Clara had moved out.

She described a small room over a dry cleaner on Maple Street, an informal arrangement costing eighty-five dollars a month, with a shared bathroom and limited cooking facilities.