Not bad, Liam thought, not bad at all. Well make a trooper out of you yet, little lady. He had to suppress a grin at Princes likely reaction should she ever be made privy to that thought.

Teddy broke first, as Liam had told Prince he would. Normally they would have interrogated the two men separately, but Liam was worried about Rebecca Hanover, and he wanted to break the two men as quickly as possible. “We hit them both at once with everything weve got. John will bluster, Teddy will buckle.

Teddy buckled. “We didnt do it, he said, as tears began to leak down his cheeks. “We didnt shoot that man.

“What man?

“The man in the creek.

“Teddy John said, but his heart wasnt in it.

“We heard shots Teddy said, tears flowing faster.

“One shot, John said, and flushed.

“and John said we should go look. We knew Gregg Saltzd sold his mine to some guy from Anchorage. We even sneaked over to take a look when we first flew in, but they werent doing nothing except wash dirt. Nice-looking wife, though, he said wistfully. Prince handed him a Kleenex and he blew his nose with a comprehensive blast.

There was a short silence. Prince looked at John. “Goddamn it, he said more in sorrow than in anger. “I love you, man, but you just cant keep your mouth shut.

“Im sorry, a miserable Teddy told him. “Im sorry, he said to Prince.

“What are you sorry for, Teddy? Prince said.

He stared at her with wide eyes. John said hotly, “Hes not sorry for killing that guy. Everyone looked at him and he flushed again. “Thats not what I meant. We didnt shoot that guy. We heard a shot and we went to go see, thats all! We found the body, and I knew what the cops would think. We made the call on my phone and got the hell out of there, thats all.

“About what time was this?

“Hell, I dont know. We were done hunting, kind of relaxing until Wy got there.

Translation: Theyd opened the beer.

Patiently, Prince led John and Teddy through their last day at hunting camp in hopes of creating a timeline. It wasnt easy since neither man wore a watch. Theyd risen at sunrise, heard the shot “a little later, done a forced march of a little over nine miles in “maybe an hour, maybe two, found the body, known they were in trouble, yelled for help and been back at camp in time to be picked up by Wy.

“About how long from the time you heard the shots to the time you arrived at the mine? Prince said.

John and Teddy exchanged glances and shrugged. “Maybe two hours. Maybe more.

“And you found the body in the creek?

“Yeah. Teddy paled. “He was dead.

“How could you tell?

He stared at her. “He was facedown in the creek, man. His chest was blown away. His heart wasnt beating.