“He’s the one who did it, isn’t he?” she said. “Don’t let him get away.”

I heard an engine rev, and then the blast of the shotgun, followed by screeching brakes. The sedan shook as Freddy clipped the rear end before landing in the left-hand ditch with one of his tires in shreds.

“I’ve got another barrel,” Mr. Early said. “Next one goes right into your thieving head!”

“I think Mr. Early’s stopped him,” I said. “Are you all right?”

I reached over to check her pulse, as Dad would have ordered. A little rapid, but not bad.

“Where’s Timmy?” she asked.

“Safe at home,” I said. “You don’t think I’d bring him along when I was chasing murderers and driving like a maniac?”

“No,” she said, closing her eyes. “I knew you’d take care of him. And when I saw you come to Uncle Hiram’s house, I knew you’d find the killer.”

“You saw me? Where were you?”

“I hid in the old Airstream trailer in the woods near Uncle Hiram’s,” she said. “When I found Jasper’s body, I was afraid whoever killed him would think I knew something and come after me. Jasper’s been involved with some very dangerous people. So I packed up all Timmy’s stuff and left him with you, for safekeeping, and then I realized I didn’t have anyplace safe to go. I just went back to Uncle Hiram’s place and hid my car with all the other old wrecks, and holed up in the trailer. I figured it was the last place anyone would look for me.”

“Yeah,” I said. “The poison ivy alone was better than a ten-foot wall topped with razor wire.” Though I suspected Chief Burke would have a few sharp words to say to his officers when he learned that they’d let poison ivy keep them from doing a thorough search. “You fed the dog, too, didn’t you?”

“Scout? Yes, poor old thing,” she said. “It’s not his fault I’m allergic to him. Anyway, I thought maybe the killer might come back. They do that sometimes, don’t they? To make sure they haven’t left any clues? But the only person who kept showing up was you. They’ll know Freddy’s guilty, though, now that he’s made a run for it, won’t they? And they’ll lock him up.”

“You bet,” I said. I didn’t feel as confident as I tried to sound—after all, Freddy hadn’t yet admitted his guilt, and for all I knew, whoever he’d been calling on his cell phone might be the actual killer. And there was still the whole college embezzlement issue—how did that fit into the picture? But Freddy wasn’t going anywhere, and I had every confidence that Chief Burke and the DEA would get the truth out of him. And Karen was alive, if a little battered.

“What was with those files on the thumb drive, anyway?” I asked, as I checked her pulse again.

“They were embezzling from the college,” Karen said. “I saved the files in case Jasper could get in to cover it up, but then after I found his body—can you take them to the police?”