“Settle down. He’s behind bars and that’s where he’s going to stay. We picked him up as he was leaving town.”

Leaving town? “That son-of-a-bitch.”

“I knew you’d want to know about Dulcie. Russell? It looks as if she might have found Laura Beaumont’s killer.”

“The rainmaker? After I check on Dulcie, I want to see him.”

“Not happening,” his brother said.

“Where’s the sheriff? I’ll ask him.”

“The sheriff’s out of town. But he wouldn’t let you see Finnegan Amherst either.”

“I’m not going to kill him. I just want to talk to him.”

“If you’re thinking of beating a confession out of him, forget it. Anyway, he swears he didn’t kill Laura.”

“He swore he could make it rain, too.”

Dulcie looked up to see Russell coming through the door of her hospital room and felt her heart do a little jitterbug. Just the sight of him made her eyes fill with tears. She quickly brushed them away.

“Are you all right?” He looked both scared and relieved and angry. She didn’t have to guess why.

“I’m fine. It’s only a slight concussion.” She smiled even though it hurt her jaw to do so.

Russell swore as he stepped to her, gently turning her head with his fingers to look at the dark bruise that ran from her cheekbone to her chin.

“It looks worse than it is,” she said and saw him clamp down on his teeth, the muscles in his jaws bunching with fury.

“How in the hell...” His words ran out.

“It’s a funny story,” she said, making his eyes narrow. “I couldn’t sleep so I decided to stake out the house. I knew someone was coming in at night and I had this idea that since whoever it was had a key, Laura must have given it to him. Which meant he had to be the man she’d fallen in love with and why she’d broken it off with the others.”

“Get on to the part that’s funny,” he snapped.

“The rainmaker was the man. He used his key to get into the house. I followed him upstairs. I found him kneeling beside her bed...” She felt odd telling this part. “He was crying and I saw that he had something clutched in his hand. It was her locket.”

Russell flinched. “Your mother’s missing locket with the photo inside?”

“When he realized I was behind him, he spun around and...”

“He hit you.”

“I blacked out for a few minutes. When I woke I heard his pickup leaving. I drove down to Arlene Evans’s and got her to call the sheriff’s office. Then Arlene drove me in to see Shane and he insisted I come over here. End of story.”