“When Randy left the clubhouse to feed the horses and muck their stalls, she wasn’t in the kitchen.”

We could add Misty. Her crying over a man she barely knew had seemed odd.

“For now, Perry and Liz. Perry has a motive. A good one. But I adore them both and don’t want him to be guilty.”

“That’s not how this works. Sometimes nice people are guilty.”

“I know,” I huffed. “There’s motive and opportunity. And the murder weapon probably belonged to him.” I stared through the darkness at the man who held my hand. “When will we know for sure if his gun was used?”

“Monday. Motive, opportunity and the presumptive murder weapon. That should move them to the top of the list.”

I tilted my head toward the ceiling fan. “I’ve known them forever. They’re not killers. I’m sure of it. Does my gut count for anything?”

“This is your suspect list.”

“Then it counts. They’re not on my list. Next, there's Willa and Thatch. They also have motive and opportunity. Also, Thatch insisted that Sumner and Graham be invited this weekend. I don’t understand that. Willa and Liz can talk about Graham and Thatch and Perry being colleagues, but something seems off about inviting the Landinghams.”

“Keep your enemies close?”

“Or set up a murder. Also, Thatch is a horse's ass. He said things at dinner...”

“What things?” Anarchy’s voice was suddenly hard-edged. Had he heard Thatch’s insinuations?

“He was cruel to Buffy.” Somehow, I didn’t want to repeat the things Thatch had suggested about me and Anarchy. “She left the table.”

“What did Bill say?”

Bill had stared at his plate. The only hint of his feelings was the way he clutched his knife—as if he ached to plunge the blade into Thatch’s chest. “Not much.”

“What did he say, Ellison?”

“To Buffy?”

“To you. I saw you go pale.”

“It doesn’t matter.” I meant that. Anarchy would think Thatch had besmirched my honor, and he’d have words with Thatch. Have words. Nope. I could fight my own battles. And this wasn’t even a battle. Thatch’s arrow had been so far off the mark, I could easily ignore the barb.

“To you. It doesn’t matter to you. It matters to me.”

“Please, let it go.”

He huffed.

“I get the feeling Thatch is the spider at the center of an intricate web. Liz says there's a decent chance Graham would have replaced Thatch as managing partner. What if he's been embezzling from the firm? If Graham were elected, he’d have found the discrepancies.”

“You really don’t like him.”

“I really don’t.”

“Your instincts are excellent. Next?”

“Mel and Fred. Graham may well have destroyed Fred’s bank.”

“Graham didn’t make the loan. That was Fred’s decision.”