Dance looked at him with steady eyes. “The boardwalk…Rebecca would’ve heard about you there, wouldn’t she, Daniel? That’s where the Family went to sell things at flea markets and to steal and shoplift. Caused kind of a stir, this cult of criminals. Gypsies, they called you. It made the news. She needed a fall guy, a killer. Linda told me you two met on the boardwalk. You thought you seduced her? No, it was the other way around.”

Rebecca’s voice remained calm. “Shut up! She’s lying, Dan—”

“Quiet!” Pell snapped.

“She joined your clan when? Not long before the Croyton murders. A few months?” Dance pressed forward relentlessly. “Rebecca talked her way into the Family. Didn’t it seem a little sudden? Didn’t you wonder why? She wasn’t like the others. Linda and Samantha and Jimmy, they were children. They’d do what you wanted. But Rebecca was different. Independent, aggressive.”

Dance recalled Winston Kellogg’s comment about cult leaders.

…women can be just as effective and as ruthless as men. And often they’re more devious….

“Once she was in the Family she saw right away that she could use Jimmy Newberg too. She told him that Croyton had something valuable in his house and he suggested that the two of you break in and steal it. Right?”

Dance saw that she was. “But Rebecca had made other plans with Jimmy. Once you were in the Croytons’ house, he was supposed to kill Croyton’s wife, then kill you. With you gone, he and Rebecca could be in charge. Of course, her idea was to turn Jimmy in after the killings—or maybe even kill him herself. William Croyton would go through a suitable period of mourning and he’d marry her.”

“Honey, no. This is—”

Pell lunged forward and grabbed Rebecca’s short hair, pulled her close. “Don’t say another word. Let her talk!”

Moaning in pain, cringing, she slipped to the floor.

With Pell’s attention elsewhere, Dance caught TJ’s eye. He nodded slowly.

She continued, “Rebecca thought only Croyton’s wife would be home. But the whole family was there because Theresa said she was sick. Whatever happened that night—only you know that, Daniel—whatever happened, everybody ended up dead.

“And when you called the Family to tell them what happened, Rebecca did the only thing she could to save herself: She turned you in. She’s the one who made the call that got you arrested.”

“That’s bullshit,” Rebecca said. “I’m the one who got him out of jail now!”