Alone with Maud and Sam, Emma broached the subject of "Tragedy Town." She'd been worried about bringing it up after all these years, but had finally decided it was long past time to get that straightened out between her and Sam.
"Sam, I want to talk to you about the troubles you and I had when I was twelve. I know it was a long time ago, and a lot of water has gone under the bridge. And maybe you're okay with everything. I'm not, quite. If you'll just let me say my piece, then we can talk about it - or not talk about it - whichever you want."
Sam wasn't certain that dredging up old memories was a good idea, but he said okay.
"All right. I know you sometimes felt I was interfering with your police work. I guess I was, if you meant I wasn't telling you everything I knew, or thought I knew. I can't explain all of it. I think a lot was just a 12-year old kid not knowing what to do with information. The other part of it was that I was always thinking I had to protect Ben Queen, because nobody else was. Ben wouldn't have been a likely suspect in any of the later business if he hadn't confessed to killing Rose. Everybody in Cold Flat Junction knew that Ben hadn't killed Rose, and most of them knew that he had a water-tight alibi. It was easy to check. All those years later, I proved it - a 12 year old kid! - with an hour of my time, and the cost of a taxi to Hebrides. Any good policeman would have checked out an alibi. Nobody did. You weren't around here, yet. If you had been, you would have closed the case right then.
"Second, I know you thought I was often getting in over my head. I did one time - with Isabel Devereau, and that was nearly fatal. I was lucky Ben Queen was looking out for me. But the rest of the time, I wasn't out of control or over my head. I never came close to having any other trouble, and I always had Dwayne, or Dr. McComb - or even Mr. Butternut - with me, helping me, and watching out for me. Still, I'm sorry I worried you.
"Since I got home, I've been going over all the details of 'Tragedy Town,' remembering what I know, and seeing if I could figure out any more of it. I think I now have as good an understanding as can be had, after all this time. There's nothing to do about any of it, nobody to arrest or convict - it's just an interesting story that you, as a policeman, might want to know. I'd love to tell it to you. May I?"
Sam nodded. "Okay, then I want to ask two questions before I start. One, after Fey was killed, Donny wanted to tell me something about Rose - something I think he though was bad news for Rose's memory. Maureen stopped him before he could say anything. Is what he had to say that Rose was Morris Slade's mother?"
"Yes, it was, but Donny didn't have the full story - which isn't unusual for him. He didn't know that Rose was 13 at the time, and that she had been raped by her step-father."
"Okay, if you know that, it makes my story telling easier. Two, was Fern Queen's killer ever identified?"
Sam looked at her rather sharply. "No. Do you know who?"
"Yes, positively, and knowing it helps make the rest of the story more understandable." Emma told the "Tragedy Town" story to Sam and Maud, with all the proof and all the speculations, except for Dwayne's thought about the identity of The Girl. It would be nice to have an answer for that, but she knew it didn't really work. The Girl was still in the wind.
When Emma had finished, she felt that she had wiped clean the slate for her 12th year.
Later, alone, Sam went over Emma's story. It all hung together. He had known most of it. He had the same suspicions Emma had about certain things, but couldn't find any way to prove or clarify them. There were a few things that he hadn't even guessed at - most notably, that Fey had killed Fern Queen. In context, it made perfect sense. In fact, there really wasn't any other explanation possible. As a package, the whole "Tragedy Town" explanation was an example of really competent policework.
And there was one thing that was clearly beyond dispute:
Emma Graham - his and Maud's daughter - was a damn fine detective.
The End
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