“You go back in there right now, or I’ll tan your hide.”

The woman shuffled away. Pappy Darcy looked at Decker, then at Hollander. “She blamed herself for what happened.”

“Want to tell me about it?” Decker asked.

“I guess I should.”

“You were there when the murders took place?”

“Sort of.”

Decker Mirandized Pappy before they went any further. But the old man still wanted to talk. Decker urged him to continue.

“The man they’d picked out,” Pappy said. “Rolland Mason. Linda didn’t want no kid by him, didn’t want to sleep with him no more. It was the day we were supposed to leave for the beekeepers’ convention in Fall Springs. Sue Beth had already left the house, matter of fact.”

Decker nodded, told him to go on.

“Granny was out doing some last-minute chores for Earl. Me, I was packing clothes in the house. Well, Linda musta told what was going on to Rolland and Carly. ’Cause I heard Carly crying, cursing Luke, saying he was selling his wife and her out. Rolland was real angry at being used and said he was gonna tell Luke a thing or two. I met Luke when he pulled up in his truck, told him what I thought. Don’t go into the house. Wait till they cooled off.” Pappy shook his head. “He wouldn’t listen. Said he was waiting for this moment. There was something not right in his eyes, misters. Something scary.”

The old man crushed out his cigarette and lit another.

“I got fed up,” Pappy Darcy said. “Damn fool of a kid not gonna listen to me, I ain’t gonna stick around and hear all the dirt. Luke went inside the kitchen, I left the house, went to tend the supers.”

“Then what happened?” Hollander asked.

“I don’t rightly know,” Pappy Darcy said. “Next thing I remembered were the pop of gunshots. I came rushing to the house. But…” Tears were running down the old man’s cheeks. “It was all over by then.”

There was a long stretch of silence. Pappy Darcy dried his eyes and said, “My wife musta come home while I was out. She said she had to do it to protect Earl. As best as I worked it out, it seems that Linda had shot Luke ’cause Luke…this is Earl’s words…was gonna take Katie away ’cause Linda was a whore. Then Rolland Mason started yelling at Linda for shooting Luke. Then Earl got scared and killed him. Granny…she saw all the shootin’, said Linda was plum nuts by then, started screaming at Granny, waving the gun at her.”

“What gun?” Hollander asked.

“Linda was holding a pistol, had her finger round the trigger. Lord knows where she got the gun. I never owned no pistol.”

“Where’s the gun now, Mr. Darcy?” Decker asked.

Pappy answered. “I threw it and my shotgun in the sea near Oceanside down South.”