“But they don’t know.” Judith wasn’t so easily taken in. “And they won’t know.”

“Of course they won’t. Nobody will ever figure it out. But why did you kill Ron?”

“He saw me with Max.” Judith sounded sad. “I didn’t want to do it, Hannah. It was nothing personal and I do feel a great deal of remorse about ending his life. It’s important that you believe that.”

“Then Ron’s only fault was being in the wrong place at the wrong time?”

Judith sighed. “That’s right. I do wish that he hadn’t come into the dairy, but once he saw me, I had to act. When Max’s body was discovered, he would have mentioned seeing me there. It wasn’t pleasant, Hannah. I liked Ron. He didn’t deserve to die.”

“Do I deserve to die?” Hannah held her breath, waiting for Judith’s answer. Perhaps, if Judith felt guilty enough, she might reconsider.

“No. I like you, Hannah. Your candor is refreshing. And that’s precisely why this whole situation is so difficult. At least it’ll be over quickly. I wouldn’t want you to suffer. I have everything all planned out.”

“Really?” Hannah attempted to sound interested, but talking about her impending death was frightening. “What have you planned? You won’t want to slip up now, when you’re so close to getting away with the perfect murders.”

“I won’t slip up,” Judith sounded very confident. “It’s simple, Hannah. I’m going to walk you outside, shoot you in the back of your truck, and drive it down to the lake on the back of our property. Once I release the brake and push your truck down the hill, it’ll sink without a trace.”

Hannah shivered and picked up her teacup to take another sip. Hearing about the disposal of her very alive body in such a cold-blooded way made her mouth go dry. “That’s very clever. But how about your housekeeper? She knows I’m here and she’ll hear the shot.”

“She’s gone. I dismissed her for the remainder of the day. We’re quite alone, Hannah, and Benton and Del won’t be home for hours. They have a late meeting at the plant.” Judith motioned with the gun barrel. “That’s enough talking. Put down your teacup, Hannah. This tea set is a priceless family heirloom. It’s been in my family for almost two hundred years. It was a gift from King George the Third, and my paternal grandmother brought it here from England. I’m really quite fond of it.”

Hannah thought fast, still holding the teacup. “My mother’s a collector. This is Wedgwood, isn’t it?”

“Of course.” Judith gave an amused laugh. “Even an amateur collector would recognize its value immediately. Do you know that I’ve been offered over a hundred thousand dollars for the set?”

“You should have taken it,” Hannah blurted out, an idea beginning to form in her head. “It’s a fake.”

“What?” Judith gasped, staring at her in disbelief.

“Here, I’ll show you.” Hannah put down her teacup and lifted the lid of the pot to examine the mark that was stamped on the underside. “A lot of people don’t know it, but I made a study of Wedgwood for my mother. This tea set is very rare and Wedgwood put a double maker’s mark right here. Yours has only one maker’s mark and that proves it’s not authentic Wedgwood. See what I mean?”