When she arrived, she looked upset. She gave him no greeting, just said, “Last night I got a visit from Lonny Mann. He came to my front door.”

“Oh, no. I’m sorry,” Ed said. “He asked me about you and I denied it. What did he say to you?”

“That he figured it out and you admitted it. Then you told him all about it. He said that you wanted me to sleep with him too. He said you told him you wouldn’t be jealous. He told me that you were close in prison and shared everything. I told him there was nothing between you and me. He laughed at that and told me that if I didn’t do it, he’d tell my husband. He said I already have two men, why not three.”

“None of that’s true. I’m sorry he said that.”

“I told him that all I had to do was scream ‘rape,’ and there would be a dozen armed men bursting through the door to kill him.”

“It worked?”

“He left. And that’s what I’m going to do now. I thought you had a right to know. I’m going to stop meeting you for a while and see if he gives up.” She stepped onto another branch of the path, and she was gone. In a moment he heard other female voices, and then hers.

He really would hate to lose his nights with her, but now that Lonnie Mann had made an overt move to butt in, the whole perfect relationship was about to end anyway. Mann was dangerous, and he would not give up. It occurred to Ed that usually the man who survived in these disputes was the one who did the most unexpected thing first.

His most unexpected move would be to kill Charlotte and frame Lonnie Mann for it. On work details Mann often carried a distinctive long-bladed hunting knife, and Ed had heard some of the men on the work crews mention it. Ed had killed a few women in the past, and Mann’s knife would be good for that. If he took her by surprise, it would be very quick and quiet. But as he considered the idea, he thought of problems. Using the knife on her wouldn’t be enough to frame Mann. The knife would have to be found in her or beside her, and why would Mann kill her and leave his knife? Ed could kill her and then leave the knife bloody in its sheath, but that meant he’d have to somehow get the local men to look at it for blood. No matter what plan he thought of, he would always be the one who said Mann had done it, and that would make people suspicious of him. His mind moved on to other strategies.