“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.
“The money?”
“Your inheritance,” said Decker. He looked at Southern. “You wanted Caroline and her fortune. But there was no way you were getting that if Hugh found out about you two. That’s why you wanted to keep it secret. You knew what happened to Junior. You needed Hugh gone. So you fed us a bullshit story about Stuart McClellan lusting after Maddie Dawson and your theory that he had killed her. And that her husband suspected and picked now to exact his revenge. The puffer fish toxin was a neat touch. If we check the records, I think it will show that you obtained it somehow. Once he ingested that, it would have been easy for you to drive him out to where he was found and set up the carbon monoxide death trap.”
“But why kill Stuart?” asked Kelly.
“To give a motive for Hugh to kill himself,” replied Decker.
“But what about his suicide note?” said Dawson. “People said it was his handwriting.”
“We had an expert examine it. It was forged. By Liz. She’d known Hugh a long time. She’s probably seen many examples of his handwriting.”
“You have no proof, Decker,” said Southern. “Not a shred of it. But I have proof, of being slandered by you.”
“Well, in addition to Cramer’s car in your outbuilding, here’s some evidence that will knock your socks off.”
He pulled an evidence pack from his jacket pocket. Inside was a blouse. “We got a warrant to search your house in town. We found this and your slacks in your dry cleaning bag. This is the blouse you wore to the hospital when you came to check on Caroline, the same day her father was killed. You really should have gotten it cleaned right away.”
Southern looked nervously at the blouse, while Dawson looked on in confusion.
Decker said, “Caroline, I explained to you already my theory of how your father was murdered using the extra-long twine. Well, I had the FBI medical examiner analyze this blouse today. Do you know what he found?” When she didn’t answer, Decker said, “Your father’s blood. Perfect match.” He paused to let this sink in with the woman before glancing at Southern. “Even if you were a forensics expert, there’s never a way to really perfectly predict how blood and DNA spatters are going to fall with a shotgun in play, even if you were kneeling on the other side of the desk. You probably didn’t even notice the drops hit you. But the bottom line is, there is no way that trace would have been on your blouse unless you had been in the room when the shotgun was fired, Liz. So there’s your proof.”
“My God, Liz,” said Kelly, shaking his head in disbelief.
Caroline looked at the other woman. “My father, Liz. You did that to my father.”
Southern’s expression turned contemptuous. “A man who would have loathed you if he knew you had been with me. And look what he did to your dear brother. So was it really that big a loss?”
“I . . . I can’t believe you’re even saying that. You killed him!”
Southern shook her head, smiled, and said, “But, Decker, you’re not quite as smart as you think you are.”
“How’s that?” he asked.
“My neighbor told me about your visit to my house. And how you came out carrying some of my clothes.”
Decker looked warily at her.
“It’s why I told you we needed to get away to Canada, Caroline,” said Southern. “I thought Decker might be showing up soon.” She looked at Decker. “Remember when I told you my dad fought in Vietnam, and brought back some curiosities?”
“What about it?” said Decker.
“Here’s one of them.” Southern withdrew her hand from her pocket. In it was a grenade.
“No, Liz, don’t!” screamed Dawson.
Southern pulled the pin and threw it at Decker.
DECKER GRABBED JAMISON and yanked her from the room and out onto the front porch.
The blast blew out the front windows, and the front wall partially collapsed on them, but it had also taken the brunt of the explosion, leaving them bruised but not seriously injured.
They staggered up and looked around.
“Where’s Kelly?” shouted Jamison.
They pushed through the debris and went back inside the house to find the front room demolished.
They saw Kelly climbing out a broken window at the rear of the room. He was all bloody and one of his arms was dangling by his side.
“Kelly, wait,” called out Decker.
But the man disappeared from view.
“Where are Liz and Caroline?” cried out Jamison.
Decker ran to the shattered window and looked outside. “I can’t see anything, but their cars are out front. It’s the only way out.”
They clambered over the debris and ran out of the house.
No one was near the vehicles parked in front.
“What the hell!” exclaimed Decker. “Where did they go?”
They heard an engine start up. A few moments later, Cramer’s Honda raced from the outbuilding. They ran toward it even as it bore down on them.
At the last possible second, Decker went one way and Jamison the other.
Then shots were fired. Decker looked up from the ground to see Kelly standing in the middle of the one road leading out, his left arm dangling uselessly next to his torso and the other curled around his service pistol, which he was emptying into the car’s front windshield on the driver’s side.
“Kelly, look out,” screamed Jamison.
The car lurched to the right and appeared ready to miss Kelly, but then it straightened out and continued to bear down on him.
Kelly launched himself sideways, a second too late, as the edge of the right bumper clipped his leg and sent him flying.
He landed hard in a heap twenty feet away and didn’t move.
The Honda, cracked windshield and all, stopped, backed up, and turned. Now it was heading right toward Decker. He stood and aimed his pistol.
Jamison did the same.
Before either of them could fire, a heavy round hit the car dead center of the front grille and it exploded. The Honda was lifted off the ground before slamming back down to the dirt.
Before Decker could move, a man came to stand next to him, his long gun in hand.
Robie said, “You okay?”
Decker nodded.
Jessica Reel appeared and helped Jamison up. “Nothing broken?” she said.
“I’m good,” replied Jamison before seeing Kelly writhing in pain on the ground. She hustled over to him and cried out, “Call 911. Hurry!”
Decker pulled out his phone but Reel barked, “Ambulance is already coming. One minute away. We figured it might be needed when you told us to be here tonight as backup.”
Decker, Robie, and Reel stared at the Honda. It was no longer mobile, so they weren’t worried about it coming at them. But no one had gotten out of the vehicle, either.
Both Robie’s rifle and Reel’s pistol were pointed at the car.
Decker called out, “Liz, come out of the car. Now!”
Seconds passed and then the passenger door opened. Southern climbed out with a gun pressed against Dawson’s head.