‘Still, that’s a true friend.’ She looked up at Cab. ‘I wasn’t paying off Macy to commit murder. That’s not what the money was for.’

‘It was two days before Labor Day, Diane.’

‘I know. I can understand your suspicion.’

‘Then explain it to me. Why did you pay Frank Macy?’

He wasn’t prepared for her answer.

‘I wanted him to get me a gun,’ Diane replied.

‘A gun? Why?’

Diane sat down on the settee. She looked small with the windows framed behind her. ‘That’s a good question. I’m not entirely sure I know the answer. At the time, I planned to kill myself. I can’t tell you the kind of despair I felt. I couldn’t admit publicly what Birch had done to me, but I wasn’t sure I could go on living with him. Knowing what he’d taken from me. I had visions of putting that gun in my mouth, but …’

‘But what?’ Cab asked.

‘I have to be honest. I thought about killing Birch, too. Maybe I would have killed him and then killed myself. I don’t know. However, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t thinking about murdering my husband.’ She shook her head. ‘Despite that, I didn’t kill him. Maybe with a few more days, I would have screwed up the courage and done it, but someone beat me to it.’

Cab could read her face. He knew she was telling him the truth. ‘Did Macy get you the gun?’

‘He did.’

‘Do you still have it?’

A tear slipped down her cheek. ‘No. Drew found it. It was the gun that he …’

Cab nodded. ‘I’m sorry.’

‘I blame Frank Macy for his death, but in the end, I have to blame myself, too.’

‘Who else knows that Macy sold you a gun?’ Cab asked.

‘Only Macy and me, I assume. And now you and Tarla. Macy could have told someone, but it wouldn’t have been in his interest to admit it. I’m sure the gun wasn’t legally obtained.’

‘What about Ramona Cortes?’ he asked. ‘Did she contact you? Did she try to use your transaction with Macy as leverage? Defense attorneys will use any ammunition available to them to get their client a better deal.’

‘Indeed they will.’

‘Did she?’ he repeated.

Diane trembled, like a sapling caught in the storm. ‘I don’t know why you’re asking about this. There’s no reason to think Macy had anything to do with Birch’s death. You should just drop it.’

Cab got up and walked over to her. The black windows felt dangerous. He knelt in front of the settee.