“Drug labs in Colombia in particular have been producing oxycodone knockoffs by the ton and smuggling them in here,” Alex explained. “The stuff isn’t pure, of course. It’s not like a filthy drug lab has the same quality control as a legit pharmaceutical manufacturer. And that’s why it’s so dangerous.”

Tyree nodded. “So maybe our friend the judge had connections down there. Maybe the place was too hot to hold him. And when he stumbled across old Divine he thought he’d found a good place to lie low for a while.”

“So the judge has the pipeline connections. Would your brother have big-city connections for distribution purposes?”

“Eighty percent of the prisoners up there are from big cities and most of ’em were in the drug business and killed somebody. That’s what got them to Dead Rock. So, yeah, he might have distribution contacts.”

“But if your brother is involved in this, how did they get together? Were they friends?”

“Mosley went up to the prison once a month to mediate. I thought that was right funny when I first heard about it.”

“Why?”

“My brother’s not much into compromise. It was always his way or the highway.”

Annabelle said, “You don’t seem all that surprised to learn your brother might be a criminal.”

Tyree gave a weak smile. “I was the son who won all the sports awards and Howard was the one who got all the academic scholarships. The dumb jock and the smart older brother. But he had another side to him. Cruel, I guess you’d call it. Before I got bigger than him, he would put the hurt on me if I did something he didn’t like. That’s why him and me have never been that close. And he always liked to live well. And while he’s the top dog up there, it’s not like wardens make a ton of money, even at a supermax.”

“Peterson was an accountant. Maybe he was doing the books for the ring. Maybe he was skimming and they found out,” Alex suggested.

Tyree rubbed his hand along his chin. “There might actually be more to it than that.”

“What do you mean?”

“We have a town fund here. An investment fund that Peterson was doing the books on too.”

“A town fund?” said Annabelle.

“Yeah, people and businesses pooled some money. Abby kicked in quite a bit; she had more than anybody else. It’s done real well over the last few years. Paid quite a dividend.”

“Which is why Divine is a lot more prosperous than other towns like it,” added Reuben.

“But it might not be because of great investments,” ventured Harry.

“No,” said Alex. “It might be for another reason: they’re using the town fund to launder the drug proceeds.”