“When Logan and Danny were sitting in the truck, he told Logan he wanted him to help fake a jewelry heist at his house so he could make an insurance claim of thirty thousand dollars, which he said he would share with him. Vonda told us he declined getting involved with a fraudulent insurance claim, but agreed to go to Danny’s house with him and fake the robbery. He didn’t think that was really a crime. So they agreed to leave Vonda’s truck at the senior center and drive to Danny’s house together.

“According to Logan, they arrived there at approximately 10:15, and Danny told Logan to wait in the garage for him. He also made Logan hand over his phone, saying he wanted to be sure Logan didn’t tell anyone what he was doing. According to phone records, Danny made several phone calls in the next few hours, including one to his brother and several to Logan’s friends, in which he claimed that he had fired Logan, and that Logan had threatened to kill him.”

“But doesn’t this Logan guy also have a record? Why should we believe what he has to say?” Pete asked.

“He does have a minor record, but his statements check out.” Thompson replied. “When you’re dealing with a crime of this nature, it’s not surprising for the witnesses to be people with dicey backgrounds. We know Logan Vonda isn’t a Boy Scout, and we haven’t yet totally cleared him. This is an ongoing investigation. However, the fact that we have been able to verify that Danny made these calls indicates he was attempting to frame Vonda and create an alibi for himself.

“Then, according to Vonda, Danny went inside the house and told him he would come back to the garage to get him once Rachel fell asleep. At around 11:30, he came back and told Logan to break the glass at the back door of the garage, to make it look like a break-in, and then he went back into the house.”

Carolyn, like the rest of the group, was totally confused. They all looked at each other impatiently. Now the detective was coming to the difficult part.

“At around 1 a.m., or some time shortly afterward, Danny returned to the garage again, and told Logan that there was a change in plans. He never really planned to steal jewelry; in fact, there wasn’t any jewelry to steal. Instead, he wanted his help in killing Rachel.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Now Mitch was totally nonplused. “I know it’s reported that Vonda stayed in the garage all night. Who in God’s name would simply hang around when somebody tells him he wants help killing his wife? That sounds like total crap to me. That’s when anyone would just pick up and leave.”