“How did Jonah die?”
Silas’s eyes hardened.
“That is why I came.”
Clara stared.
“You think Thomas killed him.”
“I did.”
“Did?”
Silas pointed toward the ledger.
“Now I think something else.”
He opened to another page.
Thomas had recorded a payment to Jonah the week before his death.
Not five hundred.
Twenty dollars.
Beside it:
South fence labor. Inspect damaged post personally.
Silas looked toward Clara.
“Thomas sent him to repair that fence alone.”
“So?”
“I checked it yesterday.”
Clara remembered him riding south without explanation.
Silas continued.
“That post did not collapse naturally.”
Her blood turned cold.
“What?”
“Someone cut through the base almost completely and covered it with mud.”
“The weight of the upper rails finished it when Jonah worked underneath.”
Clara covered her mouth.
Silas’s voice remained controlled.
“Could have been Thomas.”
“Could have been somebody else.”
“We don’t know.”
Clara sank into a chair.
Silas remained standing.
She looked at him.
“You knew all of this when you came.”
“I knew some.”
“And you said nothing.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I expected you to be part of it.”
The words hurt.
Clara stared.
“You thought I helped Thomas steal from Jonah?”
“I didn’t know you.”
“You accepted my barn.”
“Yes.”
“You ate my food.”
“Yes.”
“You let me care for you.”
“Yes.”
“And all that time you were investigating me?”
Silas did not soften it.
“Yes.”
Clara stood.
“Leave.”
His face changed.
“Clara.”
“Leave.”
“Please listen.”
“I listened.”
She pointed toward the door.
“You came because of money.”
“And Jake.”
“You kissed me.”
Silas’s expression twisted.
“That had nothing to do with the money.”
“How convenient.”
“It didn’t.”
“You knew who I was.”
“Yes.”
“I didn’t know who you were.”
“I know.”
“You let me believe we met by accident.”
“I did.”
Clara’s eyes burned.
Silas stepped closer.
She raised one hand.
He stopped instantly.
“Don’t.”
He stayed where he was.
Clara’s voice shook.
“Thomas made every choice for me while pretending it was for my good.”
“My aunt sold my life while calling it protection.”
“You stood in that barn telling me you wanted me to have a choice.”
She laughed bitterly.
“And you were hiding the one thing that would have changed every choice I made about you.”
Silas looked down.
She was right.
No defense existed.
“I’m sorry.”
Clara opened the door.
“Go.”
Silas walked past her.
At the threshold he stopped.
He did not turn.
“The money belongs to Jake.”
“I know.”
“The doctor bill can come out of my pocket, not his.”
Clara said nothing.
Silas continued.
“And one more thing.”
She waited.
“I chose to stay before I knew whether you had found the money.”
Clara’s eyes closed.
“I don’t care right now.”
Silas nodded.
Then left.
He did not return that night.
Jake asked where he went.
Clara said:
“Town.”