I couldn’t speak for everyone else, but my concern wasn’t so much about justice for the boys—I didn’t really think they cared. Instead, I was worried the boys’ families—who, we had learned, were people of substantial means—might take action against Antonio and Ana’s village. If the murderer couldn’t be identified, I felt sure the blame would fall on the least powerful people who had been nearby—the villagers.
So the next day, after we’d all had a good night’s sleep and Aaran had joined us and delivered all our things—including the Chullachaqui manuscript—from Lima, we gathered in the living room of our rented house in the oldest part of the city to talk. Antonio, Ana, and Luz had come with us at Boone’s invitation because he hoped they might help facilitate things with the police. The off
