Lucy narrowed her eyes at him and took another swallow of the sweet tea Marge had brewed for her. After making her gruesome discovery at the rectory, Lucy had driven right back to Marge’s house and called the state police. Horowitz and a team of investigators had arrived in a matter of minutes. Now the team was already at work gathering evidence at Carol’s studio, and Horowitz was questioning Lucy.

“Now, Mrs. Stone, why did you stop at the rectory?” Horowitz had his notebook out and was ready to record her answer.

“Because of the hose. The hose on the sculpture. No. Wait. Because Marge told me that Dave was trying to get her to pull the plug on Barney. That didn’t seem right to me, and then she said Barney got a piece of hose from Carol and I wondered if it was the same hose used to kill Sam Miller. And it was.” Lucy leaned her head on her hand. She’d never felt so tired.

“Davidson wanted Mrs. Culpepper to pull the plug on Barney?” asked Horowitz.

“That’s right,” said Marge. “He’s been after me for weeks. Keeps telling me it’s cruel to keep him alive when there’s no hope. I believed him, too, until Lucy told me Barney’s getting better. The nurse told her. Dave had talked to the doctors for me. . . .” Marge’s voice trailed off. “I thought he was helping me,” she whispered.

“What about the hose, Mrs. Stone?”

Lucy snapped to attention. “The hose. I stopped to look at the sculpture, and there was some black hose on it. I wondered if it was the same hose that was used to kill Sam Miller. It was.”

“So Dave Davidson killed Sam Miller?”

“I think so,” Lucy said.

“And tried to kill Barney,” added Marge.

“Why?” said Horowitz.

“It’s all in the sculpture.” Lucy sighed. “Dave was having an affair with Marcia Miller.”

Horowitz and Marge exchanged a glance.

“Run that by me again,” said Horowitz.

“Just look at the sculpture. It’s called Bondage of Love, ” explained Lucy. “It’s two figures, Dave and Marcia, in an embrace. They’re bound together by the hose, by the fact that Dave killed Sam. Jealousy, hate, it’s all there,” Lucy said matter-of-factly. “It’s a public proclamation by Carol that Dave was having an affair with Marcia Miller and killed her husband. He’ll never be free of her. That’s why Carol hanged herself.”

“You got that out of the sculpture?” Horowitz was skeptical.

“Why else would she use all those auto parts?” asked Lucy. “Cars were Davidson’s weapon of choice.”