“Could be Mudd’s lying, but remember also that Mudd wasn’t too focused to begin with. He admitted being stoned. He was always on one kind of drug or another.”

“That seems convenient, too.”

“Agreed.”

“Go on.”

“Mudd said he went crazy after the shooting. Rudy managed to calm him down and get him into his car, but before they left, he remembered Rudy with his hand on Leroy’s shoulder, talking to him. Goldberg couldn’t hear what he was saying. Ryan also seemed to remember that Rudy gave Leroy money. That would fit with Wenderhole’s version of Leroy carrying around a lot of cash. What I think happened was that Ryan and Rudy went home while Leroy drove Little’s car to Clearwater Park. Then he called up Wenderhole to pick him up.”

“I see. And Goldberg just let the incident go without a protest?”

“Apparently he did. Mudd must have read about it in the papers. He must have been scared. But he swore that after that night, he never talked about it again…except to tell Melinda that he didn’t kill her husband.”

“But you’re not so sure about that.”

“No, I’m not. What I am certain about is that for fifteen years, Mudd lived with the guilt.”

Genoa said, “But if Mudd lived with the guilt for fifteen years, why did he suddenly snap?”

“Again, no one knows for sure,” Decker answered. “This is my theory for what it’s worth. When I visited Mudd that one time, he said he called up his old bandmate, Liam O’Dell, to ask questions about why I was there. Liam made the mistake of telling him that I was looking for Rudy, probably in regards to Ekerling’s murder. I think my investigation unleashed something inside of him. He told his doctors that he suddenly wanted to find Rudy himself and take care of something that should have been taken care of a long time ago.”

“How’d he find Rudy?”

“Not by any brilliant deductive powers. The standoff made the news. Somehow Mudd managed to find a secret spot with a good view of the Sand Dune’s front lawn. He waited for Rudy to come out, and from there, we all know what happened. I thank God every day that Goldberg was an accurate shot.”

“How’d he do that? Wasn’t it pitch-black outside?”

“It was actually light gray. The sun hadn’t come up, but it wasn’t nighttime.”

Genoa said, “I can’t understand this. If Rudy was involved in Primo Ekerling’s death, and you think he was…”

“Definitely.”

“Then why did he dispose of Ekerling’s body in the same way that he disposed of Little’s body? Didn’t he think that someone would put two and two together?”