I thought of how Tally’s eyes had sparkled when she was stringing Reese along, keeping him in the game. “But it sounds like Braz Hartley took it a step further.”

Dwight nodded. “He did try a little blackmail this spring on the woman who runs the plate game.”

“The same woman who saw this Lamarr Wrenn bloody his nose? Polly somebody?”

“Polly Viscardi. She says this is the first time she’s hooked up with the Ameses, so Braz didn’t have a clue about her. She looks sweet and proper, doesn’t she?”

“I suppose.” I had a memory of bright red hair, a money apron tied around a thick waist, a smile for all who passed, and calculating eyes. And yes, she’d been one of those who offered support to Tally Friday night, but with her androgynous oil-stained leather work shoes, tight black slacks, and belligerent glares at all the gawkers, sweet and proper wouldn’t have been my description. Unless it was the pretty-in-pink ruffled blouse she wore? Or the little bells on the tips of her pink shoelaces? I’ve noticed that ruffles and pink can cloud men’s judgment at times.

“Sweet like a buzz saw,” Dwight said. “He found her getting it on with one of the roughies in their haunted house back in May and threatened to tell her husband if she didn’t pay him. Only he wasn’t her husband. She had the roughie bust Braz’s balls, then kicked the not-husband out and moved the roughie in.”

Dwight’s plate was empty and the waiter removed it. “Another drink?” he asked us.

We both shook our heads, and I gestured that he could take my plate, too.

“Coffee?” asked Dwight.

I still had some of my margarita left. “But you get a cup if you want it.”

“No, we’ll just have our check,” Dwight told the waiter, who nodded and went away to fetch it.

“So if Polly Viscardi actually saw who came along and finished the job Eric’s friend started, she doesn’t have a real strong motive to tell, does she?” I said. “For her, it could be good riddance to bad rubbish.”

“Your guess is good as mine, shug.”

“A woman could have stomped Braz hard enough to kill him,” I mused.

“Well, it’s downward force,” he conceded. “Enough momentum and determination, why not?”

“Might be why the Viscardi woman says she didn’t see anything.”

He wasn’t convinced. “And her motive would be?”

“Oh, I’m not doing motive tonight,” I said with an airy wave of my hand. “I’m just doing opportunity.”

“Yeah? Well, let me know when you get around to motive,” he said dryly.

“Did Tally hear about that blackmail attempt?”

“Not from Viscardi. She says she handled it herself. Didn’t feel a need to involve the Ameses.”

“What about the Ameses? Did you run background checks on them?” I wished I could confide in Dwight, but I couldn’t see that Tally’s identity had any bearing on the murder, and my first loyalty had to be to Andrew, even if he was acting like a horse’s ass at the moment.