“So you don’t know what’s going on any more than I do,” Decker said. “And you have no idea what is or isn’t important. Look, Sue Beth, you’re not in charge here. Furthermore, you can’t bail out your brother anymore, because as Mr. Nixon explained, Earl’s already confessed to a murder. So either you listen to your lawyer, or you let Earl answer my questions.”

Sue Beth’s lips began to tremble. “Nothing’s ever simple, is it?”

Decker said to Earl, “What were they arguing about?”

Earl looked to his sister for permission to answer the question. Sue Beth nodded.

“Things,” Earl said.

“What things, Earl?”

“Money.”

“They were arguing about money?”

“Yes.”

“Can you tell me more?” Decker asked.

“That Luke and Pappy was cheap.”

“Who said Luke was cheap?”

“Linda.”

“Linda called Luke and Pappy cheap?”

“Yes.”

“Then what happened?”

“Luke got mad.”

“How’d he get mad?”

“Started calling Linda names.”

“What kind of names?”

Earl paused a moment, began to pick his nose. Sue Beth jerked his hand away.

“What kind of names?” Decker questioned again.

Earl said, “Sue Beth’ll hit me if I say them.”

“No, she won’t,” Decker said. He held the boy’s hand. “You’re just repeating the words that Luke said. What kind of names did Luke call Linda?”

“Whore, son of a bitch, pimp and the ef word.”

Decker hesitated for several seconds, then said, “Luke called Linda a whore?”

“And a pimp and the ef word,” Earl said.

“Luke called Linda a pimp?”

“Yes.”

“Do you know what a pimp is, Earl?”

“No.”

“Do you know what a whore is?”

“A bad girl,” Earl said.

“And Luke called Linda a whore?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know.”

“And what did Linda say to Luke after he called her a whore?”

“Yelled.”

“Yelled what?”

“She said the ef word.”

“Sounds like Luke calling Linda a whore made her mad,” Decker said.

Earl’s eyes began to tear. “Yes. She started to cry.”

“Linda started to cry?”

“Yes.” Earl was crying now.

“Did that make you feel bad, Earl?”

“Yes.”

“How did you feel about Linda?”

“This is stupid!” Sue Beth said.

Decker silenced her with a menacing look, and repeated the question.

“I liked Linda.”

“You liked her.”

“Yes.”

“So you didn’t like to see her arguing with Luke, did you?”

“No.”

“And what did you do when you saw them arguing?”

“I shot him.”

Decker paused a second. “Shot who?”

“Luke.”

“You shot your brother, Luke?”

“Yes. He was making Linda cry.”

“You shot Luke,” Decker repeated.

“Yes.”

“And you shot Linda, too, Earl?”

Sue Beth was about to speak, Decker held up his hand to quiet her. Earl scrunched his eyebrows in concentration, then said, “I shot her. I shot them all.”

“You’re sure you shot Linda?”

“I shot them all.”

“Who is all?” Decker asked.

“Linda, Luke, Carla, and Mr. Mason.”

“You shot all of them?”