“The money is in small denominations—bulky, you know? And Brock was after me. I know this banker will transfer funds out of the country—slowly. Five thousand at a time. He’ll do it for a flat fee.”

“How do you know he won’t steal it?”

“Because he wants to go to London with me. You know—leave the wife and kids and start over. I have that effect on some men.”

“So you thought Alonzo was that kinda man and let him put your money with his—for safekeeping. Your bank connection was here, and carrying the money around with you was dangerous.”

“Yeah. But when I asked Al for twenty-five thousand of my own money he told me I had to wait. So I waited. After three weeks of being put off I decided I had to do something. That’s why I brought Craig in on it.”

“But didn’t you just say that Craig was supposed to find you and get mad because some man was attacking you? That doesn’t sound like he was in on anything.”

“I told him that a boyfriend that I broke up with had stolen my money. Then I went up to the cabin and got Al mad. Craig knew enough to help me get what I needed to.”

“But Alonzo went out looking for kindling and then Ketch showed up, so the plans changed.”

Donata sat up straight and shrugged.

“And did Alonzo ever tell you where the money was?” I asked.

“I went back with Al to his photo studio after we left Ketch and Craig. I told him I lied about being pregnant. Then I got him naked and took out a gun. I told him that either I was gonna get my money or I was gonna shoot him.”

“And?” I asked. “Did he tell you?”

“Yeah.” The nod and twist of her lips told me that this knowledge just presented another barrier. “He told me, but I realized that I couldn’t get at it—not directly.”

“So you needed him alive to get to the money?”

She nodded again.

“But you killed him anyway.”

“Yes.”

“Why would anybody kill someone when they needed him?” It’s a bad sign when you start discussing murder as if it were a chore done out of sequence.

“I could see in his eyes that he thought he still had me tied to that tree.” Her face was not quite so beautiful when she talked murder. “At the very least he planned to take my money and run. At most he’d leave me burned alive. He thought that I needed him too much to kill him. But as my mother used to say, there’s more than one way to skin a cat.”

“Ah,” I crooned. “That’s where I come in.”

Donata smiled.

“But you’re not gonna tell me where the money’s at until you know that I can’t do what Alonzo planned,” I concluded.

“I need somebody who’s smart enough to negotiate,” she said. “Somebody who doesn’t think in absolute terms.”