‘Later. Much later. After Drew ate that gun. It wasn’t just the drugs that did him in. Drew told me that he and Macy had a falling-out. Macy said he was done with him. I’m thinking he was pretty cruel about it. That was the final straw for Drew, who was fragile to start with. It wasn’t long after that he killed himself.’

Cab shook his head. This was worse than he thought. And more deadly. ‘Did Macy and Drew hang out together that summer before the Labor Day murders?’

Garth nodded. ‘Sure. I mean, it was a pretty sweet deal for Macy, huh? Rich kid always in need of a fix, plus an estate with a swimming pool and free booze. What’s not to love?’

‘Birch couldn’t have been too happy about that during the campaign.’

‘No shit. Lyle went ballistic about it, too. They were afraid the press was going to get wind of Macy. Birch and Diane argued about it, and Birch told Drew he never wanted Macy in his house again. Drew didn’t care.’

‘One more question, Garth. Birch and Diane. Two weeks before Labor Day. What really happened?’

The man’s tanned face lost a couple shades of color. ‘Hey, I really shouldn’t talk about that.’

‘If you think you’re protecting Diane, you’re not.’

‘Yeah, but still. I’ve said too much.’

Cab leaned across the seat. ‘There was an argument. Screaming. You came and told the maid to get out. Why? What did Birch do?’

‘Look, I wasn’t in the room,’ Garth said. ‘I assume the son of a bitch got rough with her.’

‘How rough?’

‘Rough enough that he told me to call a doctor and get him there fast. Then he told me to get the maid out of the house and get myself out, too.’

‘What did you do?’

‘Exactly what he said.’

‘You didn’t check on Diane?’

‘I wanted to, but I didn’t know what Birch would do. It was the worst I’d ever seen him. The guy had murder in his eyes.’

‘Who else was in the house?’ Cab asked.

‘Nobody.’

‘Who else knows about this?’

‘Hardly anyone,’ Garth said. ‘I figure Lyle and Caprice found out, but they weren’t going to tell anybody. Guess that’s about all. Oh, and the doc. Reuben Smeltz. He was Diane’s doctor.’

Cab made a note of the name.

‘And Drew,’ Cab said.

‘Yeah, I don’t know if Diane told him everything, but Drew could see she was hurt bad. She didn’t appear in public again until Labor Day. People were starting to talk about it.’

‘The stress drove Drew into rehab?’

Garth nodded. ‘Yeah, he nearly killed himself with an overdose. Smeltz saved his life and got him back into treatment.’

‘Do you think Drew was serious?’ Cab asked.

‘About what?’

‘Killing Birch,’ Cab said.