Walk the Wire (Amos Decker #6)(123)

Decker said, “I thought you’d like to be in on the end of this case.”

Kelly looked even more confused. “What do they have to do with any of it?”

“You mean what does she have to do with it. Well, for starters, Liz killed Maddie Dawson and Alice Pritchard.”

Kelly exclaimed, “What? No, that can’t be right. It was an accident.”

Southern snapped, “I had no cause to kill Maddie or Alice.”

“You love Caroline, and you didn’t want her to move to France. I don’t know how you managed it, but you did.”

Dawson cried out, “What the hell are you talking about?” She shot Southern a glance. “Liz, what is he talking about?”

“I wish I knew, Caroline. These allegations are ludicrous.”

“And, Caroline, with your mother gone, and your brother already dead, Liz only had your father to worry about. But then Liz had another problem.”

“What?” snapped Southern.

“Someone found out about your relationship with Caroline.”

“Your relationship?” said a shocked-looking Kelly.

Dawson shot Kelly a glance. “Yes, Joe. Liz and I have been together.”

Kelly gaped but said nothing.

“But your father didn’t know?” said Decker.

“It was none of his business. I did want to be open about my sexuality, but Liz thought we should keep it secret.”

“But you said someone found out. Who?” asked Kelly.

“Irene Cramer,” replied Decker.

“What are you talking about? How?” said Kelly, his gaze holding on Dawson.

“Liz told me that she and Caroline would sometimes hook up in the apartment above the bar. She and Caroline would leave very late at night, after the bar had closed, and go out the rear entrance. I’m betting that Cramer—who kept late hours, as we know—saw them together. And Cramer lived for a while at Dawson Towers, where Caroline has a condo. Cramer probably saw them there, too.”

Jamison said, “And that might be the reason Cramer moved. Liz might have threatened her.”

Dawson glanced sharply at Southern. “That woman at the condo building who saw us together? That was Irene Cramer? She never told us her name.”

“Maybe it was, so what?” said Southern.

Dawson looked at Decker. “We were sharing a kiss in the doorway of my condo when, I guess, this Cramer person came by. She apologized for intruding. It was no big deal.” She looked at Southern again. “I mean, it was no big deal, Liz.”

“I don’t think Cramer had a problem with it. I think the problem was all Liz’s.”

“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 time together.

“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, Liz had to 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 you drove the 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?”