“I didn’t know about the engagement, but I knew Willie was convinced she hadn’t killed herself. He was all over me about that. But all the evidence pointed to suicide.”

“Who performed the autopsy?”

“Doc Warner. He’s not a full-time pathologist, but he’s a qualified medical examiner. And it seemed straightforward. She put a shotgun in her mouth and pulled the trigger.”

Tyree didn’t look at Stone when he said this last part. Stone noticed this and said, “I’m not telling you how to do your job, but it’s rare for a woman to kill herself with a gun. And with so many drugs around here, you’d think she would’ve just popped some pills and gone quietly.”

“I know. That’s been bugging me too.”

Stone began cautiously, “I saw Danny lying on top of Debby’s grave that night.”

Tyree looked surprised. “Where were you?”

“Behind the stone wall. I heard something and came to see what. I was going to go to Danny when I saw you walk up.”

Tyree looked uncomfortable. “Craziest thing I ever saw. I didn’t understand what he was even doing there. I just put it down to Danny being Danny.”

“Meaning what exactly?”

“Meaning unpredictable.”

“Abby made him leave town.”

Tyree sat back in his chair and scowled at Stone. “She never bothered telling me that,” he said in a hurt tone. “And she told you?”

“She was afraid for him, I guess. And from what happened to him once he got back, it seems she was right. And maybe she was afraid to tell you.”

“Why?”

“You’re the law. Maybe Danny was mixed up in something not quite legal.”

Tyree’s anger faded away. “I guess I can understand that. By the way, that description you gave me of the men, I’m sending it around to the state police and to sheriff’s offices in other towns. But they didn’t ring a bell with me and I know just about everybody around here.”

“Well, it was dark and things were happening pretty fast. I didn’t get that good of a look at them so my description wasn’t all that great. But I caught Shirley Coombs snooping around Willie’s trailer right before Danny was attacked. I think she was looking for something.”

“Like what?”

Stone told him about the Tylenol bottle. “And Josh Coombs was shot by his friend, Rory Peterson. Quite a coincidence.”

Tyree nodded dumbly.

“Those are a lot of pieces dangling out there,” noted Stone.

“But how do you tie it all together? That’s the thing.”

Stone stood up. “I’m heading over to the hospital to see Danny and Willie.”