“But didn’t the woman with the pink lipstick say that they weren’t followed?”

“She did, but that doesn’t rule anything out. Don’t forget that Ron’s route was posted on the wall right outside Betty’s office. The killer could have checked it and caught up with him later.”

“That makes sense.” Bill took another bite of his cookie and chewed thoughtfully. “Then you’re saying that Ron was killed just because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time?”

“That’s it. If Ron hadn’t gone into the dairy to pick up that extra box of Cozy Cow pens, he’d be alive today.”

Bill winced. “Talk about bad luck! Are you sure that Max was killed because of a loan he made?”

“I’m not sure of anything, but it makes the most sense. The safe in the old dairy was open, but there’s no way we can tell if anything is missing. I doubt that even Betty knows what was inside.”

“She doesn’t.” Bill looked smug. “I called her this morning to ask. She told me that Max was the only one with the combination and she’d never even seen him open it. They kept all the cash from the dairy in the new safe that’s in her office.”

“How’s Betty holding up?”

“She’ll be all right. She’s usually off on the weekends, but she said she’s going in anyway, that someone needs to be there to answer the employees’ questions and handle the phones. You got to hand it to her, Hannah. Betty was really upset when I told her about Max, but she’s going to put her personal grief aside and keep on handling things just the way Max would have wanted her to, even if it means working overtime.”

Hannah couldn’t hide her grin. There was no way that Betty would miss this weekend at the dairy, and it wasn’t for any altruistic reasons. Betty was happiest when she could hear all the gossip firsthand, and the phones would be ringing off the hook. “Did she tell you anything else?”

“She gave me the name of Max’s lawyer and I checked with him to see who’d inherit. That’s another good motive, you know.”

“You’re right, Bill. I didn’t even think of that. What did the lawyer say?”

“Max left everything to his nephew in Idaho. The lawyer is going to contact him today and get his instructions.”

“How about those footprints on the carpet? Were you able to tell anything about the killer from them?”

“Not really. They photographed them as part of the crime scene, but there weren’t any clear impressions.”

“How about the W in Max’s appointment book? Do you have any leads on that?”

Bill shook his head and held out his mug for a refill. “I went through all the files, but there weren’t any W names. And we don’t know if the W is a last name, a first name, or a nickname. Once we get a suspect, we can use it as part of the circumstantial evidence, but it’s pretty hard to narrow down now.”