Rathe had begun to frown, partly because he himself had not thought of the surviving Newsome child or his reaction to the breakdown of his parents’ marriage, and partly because of the sudden display of emotion from this aloof, austere man. He wondered how long Newsome had kept those feelings beneath his proud mask of noble stoicism and, further, how often he had come close to saying those same words to his wife. Perhaps he had thought they would be ineffectual or maybe, like his wife, he had found it easier to say to a stranger, even one whom he had shown no predilection to respect or to trust.
“Does Sean know about you and Michelle?” Rathe asked.
“With Elizabeth raving about it almost daily, how could he not?”
“What about the accusations of murder?”
Newsome did not answer straight awa
