“Anything the two of you want to tell me?” I asked.
They glanced at each other, neither knowing what to say, then Judith looked at me for a long time, and finally, her shoulders slumped.
“She knows,” Judith said.
“That the two of you pulled the Headless Horseman stunt?” I asked. “Yeah. I knew but seeing this horse work clinched it. There was a zombie at the festival that night who had what I thought was a perfected limp, but turns out it was the real deal.”
River shot a dirty look at Judith. “I told you it was a horrible idea.”
Judith looked completely contrite. “I know. I should have never gotten you involved. Is Carter on his way to arrest us?”
I shook my head. “I haven’t told him. I haven’t told anyone.”
They looked at each other, then back at me, clearly confused.
“Why not?” Judith asked.
“Because I think I have a good idea why you did it, but I wanted to know for sure,” I said.
“Might as well tell her,” River said.
“I cooked it up after Gil’s murder,” Judith said. “I never thought it was a carjacking. All his acting weird and asking me about a gun…I was afraid he’d stepped in it again and this time it was serious business.”
“You thought he was afraid of Tiffany,” I said. “Which means you had an idea he was running around on her.”
“Maybe,” Judith said. “I mean, I didn’t know for sure but he’d said some things that made me think in that direction—the girlfriend thing, I mean. I just assumed that Tiffany was who he was worried about getting crossways with because if he divorced her, she wouldn’t get a dime.”
“So you assumed Tiffany found out about his affair and killed him,” I said.
She nodded. “But the NOLA police weren’t treating it that way. They were convinced it was a carjacking and I was afraid it was going to be shoved into a file and pushed into a back cabinet and forgotten. Then I remembered that incident at the Halloween festival last year—where the guy was already dead but creating a scene had everyone taking a closer look at his death. Especially you. I know everyone tries to play down the things you do but people talk, and I have an idea you’re right at the center of everything. I figured if anyone wouldn’t be able to resist looking into Gil’s death, it would be you.”
“So you staged the entire thing to get me to investigate,” I said. “You know, I actually do that for a living. You could have given me a call and hired me. Made all the things I did legitimate. Well, most of them.”
She stared at the ground, shuffling her foot around in the dirt. “I would have, but I don’t have the money for that sort of thing. Farms barely pay the bills most of the time, especially small ones like mine. Any time I get a little extra, it goes right back into repairs or new equipment.”
“Like the new tractor?” I asked.
“Yeah, that’s where this year’s crops went,” she said. “But there wouldn’t have been a next year without it. Look, I’m sorry for what I did. Even sorrier for dragging River into it. She didn’t want to. Thought I was crazy.”
“Were you really that certain that Tiffany killed Gil?” I asked.
Her eyes widened. “Why wouldn’t I be? I mean, all that other stuff about the art and all—who could have imagined that? I just figured it was your old standard husband, wife, other woman, and money thing.”
“You made a serious miscalculation when suspicion fell on Liam,” I said. “You had to know that change of will would have the cops looking right at him if they thought Gil’s death was suspicious.”
“Liam wasn’t supposed to be in town that week,” she said. “He was scheduled for a workshop for butchers in Nebraska or something. He told me about it the week before when I picked up steaks. If I’d known he was still in town when Gil was murdered, I wouldn’t have done it, even if it meant Tiffany got away with it. I screwed up. I should have checked. I almost ruined that boy’s life and that is something I’ll carry around guilt for the rest of my own.”
“At least it ended well,” River said and squeezed Judith’s shoulder. “For Liam anyway. He’s off the hook for the murder and he’ll get inheritance. He’ll be able to move forward with owning the shop sooner rather than later, and he doesn’t know what you did.”
“Yet,” Judith said.
“He doesn’t have to know,” I said.
“But when Carter arrests us, he’ll find out,” Judith said.
“I’m not going to say anything to Carter,” I said. “I don’t agree with what you did but I understand your reasons. And I’m guessing you’ve paid in stress and guilt these past few days.”
“Probably not enough,” Judith said.
“You think that because you’re a good person,” I said. “And your instincts were right about Gil’s death. But your focus has just always been so narrow when it comes to him that you couldn’t see the possibility of anything else.”
She nodded. “I feel bad about that too—the things I said and thought about Tiffany. I mean, I get that she’s not exactly an angel but she was a kid in a horrible situation. And if I’m being honest, Gil took advantage of that.”
“I believe he did,” I said. “I know you cared about him—a lot—but he wasn’t a good person to waste your heart on. I hope in the future, you can find someone worthy of the kind of loyalty you have to give.”
Judith sniffed and then clutched me in a bear hug. “Thank you for figuring it all out. I’m so happy you weren’t hurt. And I’m sorry about the way I did things. In the future, I’ll talk to you and see what can be worked out before I go on with some crazy ideas.”
She released me and I smiled. “And no more trying to scare widows with dead chickens either. That was childish and beneath you.”
“I know,” she said. “I just wanted her to leave town so I never had to see her again. If I had things to do over…well, none of this would have happened.”
“And Brigette would have gotten away with murder,” I said. “I’m not saying you shouldn’t feel bad about the way you went about things, but remember that the end result was best for everyone.”
She nodded and gave River’s shoulder a quick squeeze before she headed off. River watched her walk away and sighed.
I looked at her. “I hope in the future, you find someone worthy of the loyalty you have to give as well.”
River looked at me, surprised, then let out a single laugh. “How did you know?”
“You would have never risked Shadow for anyone unless you cared about them just as much as you do that horse.”
She gave me a sad smile. “I guess we can’t control where the heart wants to go.”
“Does she know?”
River nodded. “It’s never affected our friendship, but I’ve always known that’s where things end.”
“You’re a good friend, River,” I said. “I have a couple of friends just like you and they’re worth their weight in gold. But there are plenty of good people out there. You just have to get out sometimes and find them. Trust me, my existence was similar to yours as far as people went until I came here. And my life is a thousand times better for it.”