“I provide for the family with my work,” Mother said, standing taller. In the last years, she’d become stooped, looking more like an old woman than she should at fifty-five. “Your three mothers work hard, Clara. Sariah makes beautiful quilt skirts she sells through the gift shop. And Naomi bottles her honey and sells it. We take care of our children.”
“Yes, I understand, but Lily—”
“Is that why you’ve come?” Mother demanded, her voice shrill. “To chastise me about Lily?”
“No, I… I’m here to talk about Mother Naomi and what happened at the Johansson house,” I said. “I’m working on the investigation, and I’ve been hearing some things.”
Mother finished filtering the tincture into the pitcher and glowered as she picked up a funnel and handed it to me. I inserted it into the neck of the first of the small amber bottles, and mother remained silent as she carefully poured in enough to nearly fill it. She put down the pitcher and capped the bottle with one of the droppers, then smoothed on a label that read: Sleeping Tincture. Mix 3 Drops In Water And Drink 45 Minutes Before Bed.
We moved on to the next bottle.
“What have you been hearing? Gossip, I assume?” Mother asked, her voice dripping with annoyance.
“About Mother Naomi’s interest in Jacob Johansson,” I said.
Mother didn’t look surprised. Filling the second vial, she repeated the process, screwed on the cap and pasted on the label. “Clara, Naomi is one of your mothers. You’re not to question her actions or her motives. To you she is above reproach,” she said.
“I am not questioning her as her daughter, but as the Alber police chief,” I said, as matter-of-factly as I could muster. “I take it that you were aware of her interest in Jacob?”
Mother shot me a suspicious glance, her dark eyes flickering over my own. “I know that Naomi saved Jacob by finding him and calling for help before he bled to death. I know that she visits him to pray for his recovery, and she tells me that his family is very grateful.”
“People in town say that Mother Naomi showed interest in Jacob even before all of this,” I said, and then I waited. She didn’t comment, so I went on. “I’ve seen some things that make me wonder if that’s true.”
For a moment, Mother remained quiet, then she looked over at me, narrowed her eyes and asked, “What if it is?”
“I don’t know what it would mean to the case, if it means anything,” I admitted. “But it is important for any investigation to understand the truth about all those involved, about their relationships. So, I need to know about Mother Naomi and Jacob.”
“The truth? You want to understand the truth?” Mother’s voice sounded strained as she placed the pitcher on the table, careful not to spill a drop. “Clara, look around. Do you see how we live?”
I bit my lip. I’d thought about this often, how far the family had fallen. “I do, Mother, but that’s not what this is about.”
“It’s not?” she challenged.
“No, it’s not. This is about my job. I need to understand how Naomi fits into the puzzle. If there was a relationship before the killings between her and Jacob, that could make a difference.”
“Clara, have you forgotten who we are? What we stand for?” Mother looked at me with disappointment. “Naomi isn’t involved in any killings, you know that.”
“But how do we—” I started.
“Clara, this is simple.” Mother cut me off, twisting to look at me through the corners of her eyes. “I am getting older, but Sariah and Naomi are young yet.”
“I realize that they’re younger women,” I said. “I’m thirty-five, which means that Naomi is in her mid-forties?”
“Yes, she is. And I’ve noticed for months that Naomi is interested in Jacob. I assumed that she hoped to become one of his wives, and I didn’t discourage that. We are too crowded in this old trailer and have too many to support,” she said. “If Naomi leaves and takes her children with her to a new household, it improves all our lives.”
“Of course,” I said, aware of the fragile walls of the trailer that protected my mothers and siblings from the world. “But, again, this isn’t about that. It’s just that I’m—”
“You are what?” Mother asked, her voice rising.
This time, I stood straighter and looked down at her. “Mother, it’s important for the investigation that I understand Naomi’s relationship with Jacob.”
“You’ve said that,” Mother reminded me. “And I’ve told you what