“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?”

“Maybe Rudy found out about Little’s insurance policy,” Marge said. “Ben might have been worth more to Melinda alive, but Ben wasn’t worth anything to Rudy Banks. Rudy hated the guy. With him gone, Rudy gets rid of a guy he detests, plus it frees up Little’s insurance policy.”

Oliver said, “But why would Melinda give Rudy any of the insurance money?”

“To keep her past a secret,” Marge said.

“We could postulate or we could actually try to do something,” Decker said. “What’s your schedule like tomorrow, guys?”

“I’m not sure,” Marge said.

“I think I’m pretty light,” Oliver said.