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“What do you mean?” said Dawson.
Decker continued. “Cramer had gotten a note that had disturbed her. That’s what Alex was referring to: a threat from Liz. She was planning to leave town. But before she could get away Cramer was abducted. And she was held out in the barn here. But she must’ve gotten free and found something incriminating and swallowed it.” He turned to Southern. “But you saw her do that because you knew you had to get it back.” He stopped and eyed both her and Dawson’s hands where sat the pinky rings he had seen on each of them before. However, he was seeing them for the first timetogether.
“Your rings are identical. You two exchanged them, right?”
Dawson rubbed at the ring. “Liz got them both. There are inscriptions inside each.”
“An inscription inside them that would identify you as being a couple?”
“Something like that,” said a perplexed Dawson, while Southern remained quiet.
“If so, Lizhadto get that back. And performing an autopsy on Cramer would have been easy for you, Liz, since your hubby did it for a living, and you no doubt picked up a lot of the techniques and knowledge. You also told us you were a licensed mortician. You can embalm bodies.”
Dawson had taken a step away from Southern. “Liz, this is crazy. You couldn’t do anything like that.”
“You really cut her open?” said a disgusted Kelly.
Southern still said nothing. Her cool gaze remained on Decker.
“And you’re responsible for Walt’s death, too,” said Decker.
“He shot himself,” said Southern quietly. “We all know that.”
“I believe you were telling the truth about his stealing. But you found out a lot sooner than you told us you had. And you used that against him.”
“Then why didn’t he point the finger at me?” retorted Southern.
“Because he didn’t know it was you. All he got were anonymous letters. The threat of losing his business and going to prison was enough to get him to go along with the scheme. I doubt he ever suspected you of being involved in killing Cramer. And his note was entirely sincere. He did feel guilt and he did hate himself for what he’d done.”
“This is all speculation.”
“No, it’s not. Now, next up are Hal Parker and Pamela Ames.”
“Why would Liz do anything to them?” said Dawson.
“Irene Cramer was a tall woman, about a hundred and thirty pounds or so. She was found in the middle of nowhere. You couldn’t carry her all the way there, Liz. So youdrovethe body there. After you killed her you kept her in the barn to screw up the time of death, and then you dumped her in a place where you knew a wolf was prowling around. The animal would be attracted to a dead body by the scent. You might have been hoping that the wolf would get to the body and tear it apart, further hiding what you did to get back the object Cramer swallowed. But the body hadn’t been there all that long before Parker showed up. The condition of the body told us that. I guess you didn’t know he was even in the area. You didn’t figure on that complication. And in addition to finding the body, he found something else, didn’t he?”
“Tire tracks,” answered Jamison.
Decker nodded. “Ones he knew very well because, as you told us, he gave those tires to you in exchange for your doing his wife’s funeral service. The rain would have washed the tracks away, but not before Parker saw them. Did he threaten to expose you?”
Southern put her hands in her pockets and said nothing.
“And Pamela Ames?” asked Kelly.
“She knew Cramer from the Colony. It would make sense that she would ask Cramer for help when she left there. Hell, for all I know, Cramer might have encouraged her to leave. So if Cramer mentioned to Ames that she had seen Liz and Caroline in an intimate embrace? And then she turns up dead?” Decker turned to Caroline. “Ames needed money to get out of town. Did she try to get some from you?”
“No, she never contacted me.”
He turned to Southern. “How about you? Or was she going to go to the police with her suspicions? Either way, you had to get rid of her and Parker. I think the clothes you dressed her in came from your own closet. Your clothes size is the same as the ones found on Ames. And your shoe size, too. I checked.”
“Liz?” said Dawson nervously.
Decker said, “That only left Hugh Dawson.”
“What did my father have to do with anything? And why would Liz hurt him?”
“For the money, of course,” answered Jamison.
