Oh...reminds me of when i was a young farm girl and the police were searching farms and beating through the ditches for who they thought was the killer of an entire farm family (almost entire..there was one left and they were looking for him.) It was quite awhile before they found the fugitive and hanged him. The last one to be ever hung in Canada. Many of the locals believed him to be innocent and would give him food and water. Decades later, someone confessed to the crime on their deathbed.

I think you did an excellent job of composing this..