“They said he slipped and fell off the boat yesterday afternoon while he was feeding the pelicans. He wasn’t wearing a life vest. The wake from a passing ship evidently threw him off balance. The boys say they never saw him resurface.”
Fannie kept her gaze on the floor, but her hands were shaking. “I see.”
Kennedy added, “The Coast Guard has been scouring the river all night looking for your husband. At this point, Fannie dear, I’m not keeping my hopes up.”
The look on his face confirmed her worst fears.
“I didn’t mean to be so blunt, ma’am,” the Coast Guard officer went on. “It’s just that I suspect if we ever do find your husband . . .”
“I know what you’re trying to say,” she said, wringing the handkerchief.
“I’m sorry.” The man got up to leave.
Kennedy came over to her. “I’ll let you know if I hear anything.”
“Thank you, Kennedy.” She tried to smile. “I can always count on you.”
Queenie showed them to the door.
Several weeks later, when news reached them that the Coast Guard had called off the search, Queenie moved all the furniture from Fannie’s bedroom down to the library.
Fannie never set foot in that room again.
“So you see, Miss Ibby, I think Fannie must have seen me and Crow bury Muddy that night,” Queenie said. “Why you think she never wanted that tree cut down? She was afraid somebody gone find Muddy down in that hole. Some secrets should stay buried.”
Ibby thought back to that day in the cemetery with Fannie. “Fannie told me Granddaddy Norwood went out with the pelicans. I had no idea what she meant, but now I think I understand.”
“Never did find Mr. Norwood. Only a plaque out there at the cemetery.”
“Queenie?”
“Yes, baby?”
“The other night I found Fannie upstairs trying to get into the room at the top of the stairs. She kept saying ‘Little Mama.’ What did she mean by that?”
Queenie looked over her shoulder at Ibby. “I’m sorry, baby. I said all I can say for one night. Now help me up. They must have found what they looking for by now.”
The sun was just coming up as the Trouts pulled away from the house. Mr. Roosevelt arrived a few hours later to finish up the rest of the tree.
Oddly, Fannie didn’t once come out to the porch to watch.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
All was quiet at the house the next afternoon until Crow appeared at the back door clutching his hat.
Ibby had never seen Crow look so distraught, not even the day he came to tell them that Purnell had been shot.
“What’s wrong, Daddy?” Doll held the door open for him.
“Sit down, Queenie,” he said as he came in. “It’s bad.”
“What could be so bad, Daddy?” Doll asked.
He dropped his head. “It’s T-Bone. They come by the house just now and arrest him, take him away to jail.”
Queenie scrambled to her feet. “What? What for?”
Crow glanced up. His hands were shaking. “For the rape of Miss Annabelle Friedrichs.”
Queenie let out a wail so loud that Ibby thought the back windows might shatter. Fannie poked her head into the kitchen to see what was going on.
Queenie padded over to Fannie and draped her hands on her shoulders. “T-Bone, he just been arrested. You got to call your friend in the police department and get him out. Please, Miss Fannie. He didn’t do nothing. They made a mistake.”
“Calm down and tell me what happened.” Fannie helped Queenie into a chair.
Queenie put her head in her hands. “You got to help him!”
Fannie touched her shoulder. “I can’t help unless you tell me what’s happened.”
“They arrested T-Bone for rape,” Doll said.
“They say he raped Miss Annabelle Friedrichs,” Crow said.
“When?” Fannie asked.
“Last night,” Crow said.
Fannie looked from person to person, waiting for an explanation.
After a while, Doll broke the silence. “T-Bone didn’t do it.”
“How do you know for sure?” Fannie asked.
“Birdelia can speak for him. She was with him last night.”
Fannie shook her head. “Doll, you know that won’t help. We got an underage white girl accusing a black boy of rape. The police won’t care what another colored girl has got to say in the matter.”
“But there were other witnesses,” Doll offered. “Don’t that count?”
Fannie shook her head. “It’s Annabelle Friedrichs’s word against his.”
Doll kept eyeing Ibby, trying to get her to speak up. She knew she should tell Fannie what happened, but she was afraid if she told Fannie the truth, she’d get in trouble. When Queenie slumped down and let out a whimper, Ibby knew she had no choice.
“He didn’t do it,” Ibby piped up.
“How would you know?” Fannie said.
“Because I was with T-Bone last night, too,” she said.
Fannie squinted at her. “What do you mean?”
“Birdelia and I went over to see T-Bone play at Union Hall,” Ibby said. “We left there about one-thirty in the morning, then went to see the chicken drop over at the Ebony Lounge.”
“The police, they say it happened about three in the morning, according to Miss Annabelle’s account,” Crow chimed in.