“Basically, it threatened exposure unless Walt did what they asked him to do.”
“Fudge the post results?” said Jamison.
“Yes. Particularly about the slicing of the stomach and intestines. To tell the truth, I was surprised that he had even mentioned it in his report. But he really did care about doing a good job, I’ll give him that.”
“How did you know they weren’t bluffing about knowing about his thefts?”
“Those ‘business’ trips he took? They had photos of him pawning the items he’d stolen. Business records, payment receipts.”
“Any idea who it was?”
Southern shook her head.
“Why did he tell you about the blackmail?”
“I guess he needed my support on this to make sure it all went okay. I mean, I was part of the business, too. Our whole life is tied up in this place. If it went under we’d have nothing. And Walt said if he was caught he’d say I knew all about it. That I would go to jail, too. I was so scared. So I just went along with everything.”
“Have the blackmailers been in touch with you since Walt killed himself?” asked Decker.
“No. Why would they contact me?”
“I don’t know, but they might. And let us know if they do.” He paused. “So what do you plan to do now?”
“I don’t know. My head is filled with so much stuff now it’s hard to think straight. I have to keep the business going, for one thing.”
“Can you manage that?”
“Walt was certified in doing postmortems, which I’m not. But I am a trained and certified mortician. I can do embalming, cosmetics, cremation, everything you need to take care of people properly at the end.”
“Will you eventually leave here?” asked Jamison. “I mean, you could build a business somewhere else.”
“Caroline would have to agree. I don’t want to go without her. I really do care for her. And, yes, we are a couple.”
“But she was seeing my brother-in-law. You saw them together at the OK Corral.”
Southern smiled grimly. “She was merely keeping up heterosexual appearances.”
“That must’ve been hard to keep secret in a town this small.”
“We worked at it. We were very careful.”
“Not so careful if you met up in the bedroom above the bar,” Decker pointed out.
“We did that very infrequently. Besides, all the people at the bar were drunk and the staff was too busy to notice. And we were friends. Everyone knew that. They just didn’t realize what close ‘friends’ we were. And we’d leave out the back only very late at night. Most of the time we would go out to my parents’ old farmhouse to be together. I thought about selling the place. Walt wanted me to. My father fought in Vietnam. He brought back a lot of curiosities from there that might be quite valuable. Plus a lot of weapons. He was quite the gun guy. But it made for a private place for Caroline and me. So I’m glad I kept it.”
“Is that your car in the parking lot?” asked Decker. “ ‘Heaven’?”
“Yes.” She smiled.
“What?” asked Decker.
“Remember I talked about barter? Well, the tires on the Mustang came from Hal Parker in payment for us burying his wife.”
“I guess people do what they have to do.”
“Will this have to come out, I mean, Caroline and me?”
“Lots of gay people live their lives openly and freely now,” said Jamison.
“Yes, but not here, I think.”
“Look,” said Decker, “we can’t guarantee anything. We’re trying to solve a series of crimes. We have to go where the evidence takes us.”
“I guess I can understand that. Will you be talking to Caroline, too?”
“Probably.”
“Can you tell her that I didn’t tell you about us? That you figured it out?”
“If it’s important to you,” said Jamison.
“It is. Very important.”
“I can see that,” said Decker quietly.
DECKER MADE A BRIEF STOP at the police station to look at an old report. Then he and Jamison drove to the offices of Dawson Enterprises, located in a building in downtown London.
“Why are we here?” Jamison asked.
“To learn stuff we don’t know,” replied Decker cryptically.
They were taken to the office of the firm’s CFO. His name was Abner Crutchfield, a small, dapper man in his late fifties with resolute features and a deep voice. He was dressed in an open-collared shirt, slacks, and polished tasseled loafers.
“Terrible business with Mr. Dawson and Mr. McClellan,” he began. “I guess you’re working on their cases.”
“We are,” said Decker. “We’re looking for motives, and we’d like to know about the business deal that they concluded right before their deaths.”
“All right. I’ll certainly tell you what I can,” said Crutchfield cautiously.
Decker glanced at Jamison before saying, “I was surprised that Dawson would sell out. He was in the midst of a buying spree, or so I’ve been told. Even sold his daughter’s restaurant out from under her.”
“Yes, yes, that surprised many of us here.”
“Was it a large amount that McClellan paid?”
“I can’t get into specific numbers, but it was into the nine figures.”
“Wow,” said Jamison.
“Yes, indeed,” commented Crutchfield. “Quite a fortune.”
“When did you first learn that McClellan was going to buy him out?” asked Jamison.
“About two months ago. We worked on the deal ever since then in absolute secrecy. And finally closed it. All the docs were signed, sealed, and delivered. Money already wired out and ownership transferred. So McClellan really owns the whole town now.” He paused and looked embarrassed. “I mean he did.”
“So now his son will own the town?” said Jamison.
“I’m not privy to that information. I know Mr. McClellan’s CFO quite well, though, and he never mentioned that the father had cut the son out, so I assume that Shane will inherit.”
“He doesn’t seem to care that much about business,” noted Decker.
“I know that’s the general rule of thought around here. But can I give you my opinion?”
“Please do.”
“I’ve known Shane since he was a little boy. He adored his mother and she loved him, but Stuart was totally wrapped up in business. He showed very little affection to either of them.”
“Go on,” prompted Decker.
“Shane was very popular in high school. Very athletic.”
“He said he and Joe Kelly made a potent QB-receiver combo.” Crutchfield smiled warmly. “That’s right. They were always together, those three, including Caroline, I mean. In fact, Joe was the Homecoming King and Caroline was the Homecoming Queen at junior prom. And then senior year it was Caroline and Shane as Queen and King.”
“We didn’t know that,” said Decker.
“But then they graduated. Caroline went to college and Shane went off to war. Joe joined the police force. Then Shane came home. His mother had died. He joined the business, reluctantly, I think. His father never gave him any praise, never an ounce of encouragement. Just the opposite, in fact. But—and this is based on what my CFO friend at McClellan’s told me—Shane is actually very smart and detail oriented. I think you would have to be to survive a war. He actually did good work. And now with his father off his back, I think he will run the company very well. That’s my two cents, anyway.”