“I picked it up from his boat. The brother delivered it to Tim. I came to get it . . . in a briefcase . . . as Crystal.”

“The same day,” I said, recalling Cap’s account.

Ganz nodded. “I apologized to Tim. I really was sorry. Surprisingly, he accepted it. He was dying, he said. He didn’t have time to hold on to grudges or hate me. He said he should have given me the money outright, since he’d promised it. It was just one of those things.” Ganz turned to face me, bewildered. “That’s what he said, ‘one of those things.’ In hindsight, I don’t think him reneging was about meanness or spite. I think he was just . . . cavalier . . . obtuse, wrapped up in himself. I had no reason to kill him. I’d gotten what I needed, though I’m not at all proud about how I got it.”

I leaned back on the bench, tracking the dog as she raced around the borders of the fence like she was running laps at the Olympics and had her eye on the gold medal. “Blackmail,” I muttered.

Ganz hung his head, turned away from me. “I tried convincing myself it wasn’t, but, yeah, blackmail. It was dirty and it was low. He was dying and I shook him down for cash. God, I hate myself.”

“Who told you Tim’s case was closed?”

Ganz slid me a look. “Robert Felton, the only guy I hate more than myself right now. He called after I’d gotten the money, after Tim . . . died. He said, and I believed him, that if the family heard from me again, he’d make sure I lost everything. He gave me gooseflesh.”

I stared at him. “I’ve only your word that the transaction went smoothly. Tim’s not here to corroborate.”

“And my word is no good, for obvious reasons.”

“I don’t fly on faith.”

Ganz fiddled with the bag of doggy treats. “I have proof. I was in St. Michael’s Hospital having a cyst removed from a most undignified place the night Tim died. I have my discharge papers, if you need to see them.”

“I do.”

“I told you about the argument at Tim’s party, with Darby. That’s the truth. But there was someone else. I saw him hanging around the marina after Tim died. I don’t really know why I felt I needed to be there, but I was, post-op pain and all. Unfinished business, I guess. One night, I saw him there, watching, so I watched him for a while, trying to figure out what he was up to. He climbed aboard Tim’s boat and stayed a while. When he came out, he had something with him, something big. I couldn’t tell what. He could be the one you’re looking for.”

“You didn’t call the police?”