“If we’re assuming that they had Pauline’s car, let’s say she was driving. The argument gets heated. She pulls over—maybe she tries to kick him out, maybe she leaves the car in a huff, maybe she even leaves out of fear. He follows her, stabs her, and puts her back in the car. Then he takes her to Elsie’s.”

“Why?” McAdams said. “Why not leave her there to die? And why choose to bury Pauline three hours away?”

“Somebody doesn’t want the body anywhere near Baniff.”

“Then what?” McAdams asked. “Pauline dies and Baer convinces Elsie to help him bury her three hours away? I think if I were Baer, I would have just killed Elsie too.”

Decker said, “What if eventually Baer did kill Elsie?”

“Then why was Elsie’s car found near Pauline’s grave site?” McAdams said. “And what does that have to do with Bertram Lanz?”

“We obviously don’t have all the pieces yet,” Decker said.

“I don’t think we have enough of the puzzle to know that there are pieces missing.”

Decker said, “We do know that after Pauline was murdered, Elsie picked up Kathrine Taylor in her car. Why would Elsie do that unless Bertram was involved?”

“Okay, let’s run with that,” McAdams said. “Baer brings Pauline to Elsie’s house. Elsie panics and escapes. She comes back a few days later, gets her car, and then she calls Bertram and asks for help. They decide to meet up at the diner. And as a reward for helping her escape, Elsie picks up Kathrine Taylor for him and they all three take off for Germany.”

“It would explain why Elsie waited a few days to retrieve Bertram from the diner.”

“But, Deck, why would Elsie ditch her car in the woods? And how would she get from the diner to wherever she was going? She’d need another vehicle, since Bertram didn’t drive. And why is Pauline’s body buried in Greenbury if she was murdered in Baniff? And if it was Baer who murdered Pauline, why wouldn’t Elsie just call 911 … tell the police what happened?”

“Very good questions, Harvard. I have no answers. Let’s just hang around. I’m sure it will amount to nothing, but we’re here, so why not.” Decker wrapped the second bagel in a paper napkin. “I’ll save this for later. Sooner we get to it, the sooner we can leave. Ready?”

“Sure.” McAdams left a twenty on the table as a tip, and the two of them took off.

THE FIRST THING they looked for were closed-circuit cameras. There were two of them at the Mule: front and back entrances. The rear door’s CCTV was broken. The front camera was operable and did record, but the disc had been erased a month ago. Washout there.