Joe stiffened. 'But you do?'
'I didn’t want to talk about it, but, yes, I remember.' She smiled bitterly. 'There’s no way I could forget. And not talking about it isn’t going to make it go away, is it? I’ve done that for years.'
'The Baldridges lived here in town?' She shook her head. 'It was up north of Dillard.”
“Near Jamison?'
'No, the tent was up farther in the mountains.”
“Tent?'
'Old man Baldridge was an evangelist. A real fire-and-brimstone preacher. He had a big tent on this plateau in the middle of the mountains, where he gave his sermons.' She made a face.
'When I was in my teens, I slept around a little. Well, maybe a lot. My daddy thought I needed my soul saved. When he heard about Reverend Baldridge’s tent show, he drove me up there one night. And believe me, it was quite a show. The reverend scared the daylights out of me.'
'Why?'
'He looked like death warmed over. White face, dirty gray hair, and his eyes…”
“How old was he?'
'Sixty, maybe. He looked real old to me. I was only fifteen.' Then the evangelist couldn’t have been Dom, Joe thought.
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'He shouted at me,' Nancy Tolvey continued. 'He stood up there, waving that red candle, telling me what a whore I was.'
'Red candle?'
'The whole tent was full of candles. No electricity. Just big iron candelabras filled with candles.
We all got a candle when we came in. Children got white ones. The rest of us got red or pink.'
She shook her head. 'I never forgave my daddy for taking me there and letting Baldridge drag me up to the altar and tell everyone what a sinner I was.'
'I can see why it’s impossible to forget.'
'I remember crying and jerking away from him. I ran out of the tent and down the hill to our car. My father came after me and tried to make me go back, but I wouldn’t go. He finally took me home. I got married and moved out six weeks later.'
'Who else was in the tent that night?'
'There were so many people there. Why are you looking for him? Is he any relation?'
'No. Actually, we’re looking for his family.'
She shook her head. 'I don’t know about that. You’ll have to ask someone else.”
“Can you point me to anyone who might remember anything about the reverend?'
'Daddy heard about him through the Bloom Street Baptist Church. A lot of the members were driving up to the revival on weekends. Someone there might know something.' She smiled crookedly. 'That was the church where I was baptized, but I never went back. I was too afraid someone had been there when that old devil screamed out what a sinner I was.'
'You never heard about the reverend again?'
'You think I’d want to hear or think about him again? I wasn’t a bad kid. What’s sex anyway? He shouldn’t have done that to me.' She drew a deep breath. 'I’m getting all upset over nothing. It was so long ago. I’ve lived a happy life since then. Funny how the things that happen to you as a kid leave the deepest scars, isn’t it?'
'Maybe not so funny.'
She stood up. 'I was going to bring up more towels. You’re in the room at the top of the stairs, next to Miss Duncan and the kid.'
Joe watched her walk down the hall. He had struck pay dirt.
'An evangelist,' Eve repeated. 'Dom’s father?'
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Joe shrugged. 'Or grandfather. She said he was nearly sixty.”
“Everyone over thirty looks decrepit to a fifteen-year-old.”
“True.'
'Candles had some sort of significance for the preacher. His flock’s state of grace?'
'More likely degree of sin.'
'And Dom carries on the judgment?' She shook her head. 'He’s very smart. He knows why he’s killing. He likes it.'
