Oliver said, “I also don’t think that she set up Ryan Goldberg to murder Ben. She wouldn’t be involved with a loser unless she was planning to whack him afterward. Otherwise he’d be an albatross around her neck.”

Marge said, “I agree with that as well.”

Decker said, “May I remind you two that Goldberg is missing? Maybe she did have him whacked.”

“If she was going to whack him,” Marge said, “she would have done it long ago.”

“Then how about Ryan murdering Ben on his own?” Decker asked.

Marge was noncommittal. “Melinda told us that Goldberg swore he didn’t do it.”

“That’s meaningless.”

“You met Goldberg, Pete. What do you think?”

“At first glance, he seems too compromised mentally to pull off a murder. But like you said, I didn’t know him then, and I don’t know him now. He could be a gentle giant ninety-nine point nine percent of the time. It may be that point one percent that we should be concerned about.”

Oliver made a face. “He stalked Melinda. That’s not a passive guy.”

Marge said, “But he stopped after Ben Little died.”

“That fits with what Liam said about Ryan moving on to someone else,” Decker commented on. “Goldberg was a serial romantic, falling in love with the women he screwed. On the other hand, Mudd had a major breakdown. Maybe his crack-up was precipitated by his murdering Ben Little.”

Oliver said, “And from talking to Melinda, you could tell that she really was frightened by him. So scared that she didn’t even report him to the police.”

Marge said, “Was Ryan so out of it that he could have thought that murdering Ben Little was the only solution to getting Melinda?”

“Maybe,” Decker said. “But if he murdered Ben with the hope of snagging Melinda, why did he suddenly disappear from her life after Little died?”

“How about this?” Oliver said. “Ryan murdered Ben with or without Melinda’s okay. But now she’s stuck. She tells Mudd to lay low. He did, and while he was hiding out, he felt so guilty that he had a breakdown and forgot about Melinda.”

Decker nodded. “Sure, although I’m not certain I see him as a premeditated killer. If he did kill Ben, it was probably heat of the moment or an accident. A hulking guy who’s not aware of his strength in an argument that got out of hand.”

“Like Lenny from Of Mice and Men,” Marge said.

Oliver said, “Let me remind everyone that Little was shot execution style in the trunk of his own car.”

“He had help, Scott,” Marge said. “We know Leroy Josephson was involved. Maybe Rudy Banks wanted Little dead and didn’t want to do it himself. He hired out Leroy Josephson but knew that Leroy needed help. That’s where Ryan Goldberg comes in. Rudy puts the two of them together: two men he could manipulate.”

“All that’s fine,” Decker said, “but what’s Rudy’s motive for wanting Little dead?”