I left Betty Jean’s house at 11:25 p.m., dressed in the shabby dark clothes I usually wore when I went fishing. The minute I hit the road, my heart started beating twice as fast as it should have. Then my hands started shaking and sweating. Even though I was a nonviolent Christian, I was convinced that I was making the right decision about killing Yvonne and Milton. I figured that if Moses could kill somebody and stay in God’s grace, so could I. I had already laid out a plan for my atonement: I’d do a lot of good deeds for Joyce and the community when the dust settled, and I’d never commit another murder.

During the ride, I prayed out loud that things would go off without a hitch. I’d changed my mind several times about how I was going to do the killings, but the one I had in mind now seemed like the best one. First, I’d knock Milton out because he was the biggest threat. Then I’d force Yvonne to give me my money back. As soon as she did, I’d put her lights out. I wasn’t sure if I should strangle her, or beat her to death. When I got done with her, I’d slap Milton’s face until he regained consciousness and then kill him. If things got real messy, I’d get their blood on me. I had thought about that ahead of time so I’d put a change of clothes in my car that I planned to put on before I returned to Hartville. My bloodstained clothes would get tossed in a creek along the way. I had it all planned out down to the last detail. Nothing could go wrong.

* * *

After I got to Branson, I parked two blocks away from my house and started walking toward my destination. I was pleased to see that all of our neighbors had turned off their lights. That meant I didn’t have to worry about none of them looky-loos peeping out their windows and seeing me.

When I got to my house, I crept along the side to the backyard and got the claw hammer I had hid in the grass at the base of our pecan tree. Then I sprinted to Yvonne and Milton’s house. One of the kitchen windows was open a few inches, just like I knew it would be. I raised it up as far as I needed to, gripped the sill, climbed in.