"He got over here right after I did, but Ward was already dead. He didn't even examine him—just took one look at him and said he'd been dead all night." Mama picked up the bucket of buttermilk and the eggs. She let me carry the sack of coffee. Papa gathered up some of the other sacks and boxes, and we walked up to Miss Ophelia's house. "How is Ophelia taking it?" "Oh, she's in hysterics. I reckon anybody would be. But, Nannie, old Miss Dink is the one in bad shape." "Worse off than she was yesterday evening?" "Yeah. Lots worse. Lida Belle says the old soul's talking out of her head." "Lida Belle's here?" "Her and Wes both. I figure they don't want anybody suspecting that anything's wrong at their house." "Has anybody notified Ward's folks yet?" "Uncle Hiram's gone back home to get his wife and to get word to the kin over around Millers Crossing." "What about Ophelia's young'uns?" "Most of them are at the schoolhouse. Uncle Hiram came the day before yesterday to take Miss Dink back to his house, but she was too bad off. So, he took the older young'uns home with him. I guess he figured it would help Ophelia. This morning he brought them back, straight to the schoolhouse. Then he came on over here." "How'd he know where to look for Ward?" "He didn't. He said when he first got here Ophelia told him Ward sneaked home Sunday but didn't stay long." "But, Jodie, she vowed she hadn't seen him!" "Well, anyhow, Uncle Hiram went down to the barn to feed the mules and to milk the cow. But the cow got out of the pen and was already way down the lane. He went to drive her back up, and that's when he saw Ward slumped down by the fence." Papa pushed open the back door. There was nobody in the kitchen, and we didn't hear any sounds coming from the other part of the house. "Nannie, some of the men seem to think Ward might've shot himself on purpose. And I wouldn't put it past him. He was a crazy, curious man. But, I oughtn't to criticize the dead." "I'm wondering about Ward's automobile. When do you guess he—" "Ned told me this Hicks fellow and another man brought it a few minutes before I got over here. 'Course they left, right away." As soon as Mama hung her cloak and mine behind the kitchen door, she led me into the fireplace room, where Miss Ophelia and Miss Lida Belle and a big wide lady Mama called Mrs. Lee were sitting. Miss Ophelia was holding her little baby boy on her lap and was rocking him back and forth. We could tell he was about to fall asleep, for every time he tried to open up his eyelids, they drooped back down again. He was two times as fat as he was that night when he was sleeping in the Christmas hay at church. Mama spoke to all the women, and they spoke, but nobody did any more talking. They all kept sitting there, quiet. There wasn't a little chair for me, so Mama crossed her knees and let me squeeze in on the edge of her rocker.