“Who said anything about buried? They’re not together. I can tell you that much.”

Henry forced himself to think back to the interview. “You wanted to tell me something about that plane crash this morning. The midair collision. Do you think Snake risked his own life to kill Dr. Robb by flying his plane into Robb’s? Crazy or not, no pilot can control the physics of a midair collision.”

Morehouse laughed. “Man, I once saw Snake jump off a two-story building because somebody offered him fifty bucks. You hear me? But think about that so-called collision, Henry. Nobody saw it but Snake and his nephew. There was heavy fog. Weren’t no tower at all. How do you know there even was a collision?”

“I’ve thought of that. Snake could simply have sabotaged Robb’s plane, then banged up his own wing with a hammer after the other plane crashed. Snake’s plane was hardly damaged. As long as his nephew confirmed the midair collision, nobody was going to question their story.”

“Yessir. That’s about the size of it.”

“Four people died in that crash, Glenn. One girl was only twenty-one years old. Would Snake really have murdered three innocent people just to kill Dr. Robb?”

“If Snake thought Lee Robb was gonna put him in jail, he’d have machine-gunned the man in a crowd of nuns on Sunday morning. Look at who was on that plane when it went down. Then look at who was supposed to be on it. Hell … I done give you enough to work it out, Henry. I need to go.”

“Wait!” Henry felt an almost hysterical reluctance to let Morehouse off the phone. His panic was irrational; surely they could talk again tomorrow. But his years of experience were telling him one thing: Your source is talking. The faucet is flowing, and it might never flow this way again. “Just a couple more questions—please.”

“Wilma’s program goes off in five minutes. Make it fast.”

Henry checked his watch: six minutes to the bottom of the hour. “The Natchez DA seems to think Tom Cage killed Viola Turner.”

“Dr. Cage? Bullshit.”

“What about a mercy killing?”

“Well … I can see that, I guess. If Dr. Cage would pay me that kind of visit, I might be obliged. A painless end ain’t the worst thing in the world. Just like a loyal old dog. Only I ain’t been so loyal.”

“Do you know of any reason Dr. Cage would kill Viola to keep her quiet?”

“What? Hell, no. Dr. Cage couldn’t do that, even if he had a reason. It was Snake, I tell you. Prob’ly Sonny, too. They still run together, you know. They’re in business together.”