Remembering: Mr Bowen 1

Bowen was different. He'd been asking questions. Putting ideas into Joshua's head. Poor old Joshua, didn't know what to believe. Were our boys truly innocent - or not?
"I bin talkin' to Samuel and Zeke," Bowen said.
He was chopping wood for the school's wood store.
"I don't believe the people 'round here, Mrs McGinley," he said. "Zeke aint a killer, no more'n Samuel is."
The way he said it. The way his eyes appraised her, up and down. The way he didn't say what he was thinking.
"I saw you rushing home that night. You didn't see me, I guess?"