The sheriff glanced toward the door. "Lily has never made a formal complaint that resulted in a finding against Brandon. Not one. You might consider that before turning this into a campaign."
Cole heard the precise wording. Not one complaint that resulted in a finding. It was a sentence that avoided the more important question of whether complaints had been made. He filed it away.
"Did she try to report him?" Cole asked.
"I am not discussing private records with you."
"You brought them into the conversation."
Keller leaned forward. "I'm advising you, man to man, to think about whether Cedar Hollow is a place where you want to keep enjoying a quiet life. You've got a nice little house. You've made a few friends. It would be a shame to turn all that into trouble over something you don't understand."
Cole met his eyes. "You drove all the way here to advise me that your nephew is innocent, while also telling me you haven't interviewed the person he hurt. That's a strange use of a sheriff's afternoon."
For the first time, Keller looked openly annoyed. He stood. "Think about what I've said."
"I have," Cole replied. "I hope you'll do the same."
The sheriff left without speaking to Lily. His SUV remained outside another minute before pulling away, and only then did the diner begin breathing normally again. Cole did not regard the meeting as a victory. He regarded it as confirmation that the problem was larger than Brandon. The sheriff's visit had been arranged to change Cole's behavior, not to establish facts.
Marlene came to his table after the lunch rush. She carried a notebook and looked as though she had rehearsed what she wanted to say, only to forget it at the last moment.
"He threatened me about inspections once," she said.
Cole looked up. "Who?"
"The sheriff. Not directly. That's the thing. It's never direct." She swallowed. "After Brandon got into an argument with one of my cooks last year, I asked him to stop coming here for a while. A week later, I had three separate visits about building occupancy and permits. Everything was fine, but it cost me two days and a lawyer's fee to prove it."
"You kept records?"
She nodded. "Some."
"Keep them. Don't let anybody tell you they're too small to matter."
Marlene looked toward the kitchen. "I should've stopped him before he got to Lily today."
"You can decide what to do next," Cole said. "That's worth more than telling yourself what you should have done yesterday."
She regarded him for a moment, then returned to the office. A few minutes later she hung a handwritten notice beside the register stating that anyone who threatened an employee would be asked to leave. It was a modest piece of paper, not a policy manual, but Cole knew it had probably cost her more courage than the people reading it would ever understand.