Chapter 27

• Mrs. Tierney collapsed, dropping her head into her hands. She burst out crying just as the kettle began shrieking. I ran over to turn off the gas and came back, tentatively touching her back.
• “She was such a good girl,” she said after a while. “I prayed for her every day. And I used to say to Danny all the time, ‘Danny, she’s a good girl. A good girl for you. Pretty, and she likes you. Why do you do this to her?’ and he’d say, ‘She just makes me so angry, Mom, and I can’t stop.’”
• I backed away from her and sat back in my seat. She wasn’t crying anymore; now she stared at the manilla folder I’d threatened her with minutes before.