Dwight heard the “But” in her voice and saw the troubled look on her face.

“There was more?”

She nodded. “He was doing better than any of us ever realized. You gave us his wallet back Friday night, remember? Val was looking through it this morning. There was a little bankbook in the secret compartment. He opened a new account just last winter with a seventy-thousand deposit. We had no idea he had more than two or three thousand, okay? He must have found something really great in the books or papers and he never said a word to us, just sold it and hid the money. Like he was becoming a miser or something.”

“You don’t know what he found?”

“Whatever it was, he must’ve got it from Arnie and thought if he told, Arnie would want a cut. Like Arn’s ever gone back on his word once he’s made a deal.”

By now, Fish had finished unloading the back of the truck and had wandered over with a manila envelope. “Here’s more pictures Braz had from the new place,” he said.

“Mind if I take a look?” Dwight asked as they stepped back outside.

“Keep them,” she said. “He’d already looked through them. It’s just pictures of the woman in her night things.”

Dwight glanced inside and saw what were clearly amateur photos. Most were blurry and taken from such odd angles that her face wasn’t clear in any of them. He closed the envelope and tucked it in his jacket pocket to look at later, then went back to his car for latex gloves and an instant camera.

“Why bother?” asked Mrs. Ames as he snapped pictures of the hasp, the hammer, and the condition of the shed. “There was nothing in here worth stealing.”

“This your hammer?” asked Dwight as he lifted it by two fingers, being careful not to touch the handle.

“Naw,” said Fish before she could answer. “Arnie’s got all ours with him in the other truck.”

While Dwight was bagging the hammer, Fish stuck his head in the doorway, looked around, and said, “Hey! What happened to all them pictures for the haunted house?”

“What?” said Tally Ames. She took another look. “Didn’t Arnie put them in the other barn?”

Fish shook his head. “I stacked ‘em right back there. All those skeletons and ghosts and people on fire.”

“Now, who would steal junk like that?” Tally wondered.

“You’re sure it was junk?” asked Dwight.

“Believe me, I’m sure,” she said. “We’re not talking old masters or even old primitives on oil and canvas, okay? This looked like some kids had been given a lot of leftover house paint and some old pieces of plywood to paint Halloween decorations on. That’s it. There were about thirty-five of them, and Arnie and the boys were going to use them to decorate the outside of our haunted house. Braz thought it was all scrap lumber and old half-empty cans of paint when they opened up the locker and he put his flashlight on it. I think he got it for like thirty dollars and Arn gave him thirty-five for the lot since they’d be useful.”