Ajax shook his head. “Carved up like a Thanksgiving turkey. That does not sound like a fun way to die. This had to be personal, right? Somebody must have really hated this guy to do that to him.”

“Or it was set up to make us think that,” Darrell replied. “Personal or not, this was a premeditated execution. If the murder weapon was something odd, then the killer came prepared. Plus, this was messy. Whoever did this must have been covered in blood, but other than the spatter Rebecca found in the office, they didn’t track any of it outside the bedroom. So they must have brought along a bag to carry away their clothes, and probably a change of clothes, too.”

I was impressed that Darrell had figured that all out so quickly. Then again, for a small-town cop, Darrell kept up to speed on criminal investigations the way they were done in the bigger cities. We didn’t get many murders in Black Wolf County, but I already told you Darrell’s philosophy.

You never know.

“We’ll search the grounds when it’s light for the murder weapon and anything else the killer may have left behind,” Darrell went on, mostly to himself, as if he were making a shopping list in his head. “The snow won’t make it easy. I also want a couple of deputies checking dumpsters behind Main Street.”

“Why?” I asked.

“In case the killer dumped the bloody clothes and the weapon and hoped it would all get hauled away. The ground’s frozen, so they couldn’t bury them. It’s a long shot, but worth a try.”

“Yes, okay.”

“Next thing is time of death,” Darrell said. “When did you say Brink’s wife last talked to him?”

“Sunday afternoon. Erica says she tried to reach her husband later that same night, but he didn’t answer the phone. She called first thing Monday morning before she left Minnesota. Still no answer.”

“All right, we’ll see what the coroner says, but we may be looking at the murder taking place sometime Sunday evening.”

“Half the town was at the 126 that night for Trading Places,” Ajax pointed out. “We’re only about ten minutes from the bar. Somebody could have slipped out without being noticed and snuck back in before the flick was over.”

“We’ll need to talk to everyone who was at the movie,” Darrell said. “Rebecca, I also want you to get contact information for Erica Brink’s family in Minnesota. See if she was where she says she was, okay? I want to make sure that she didn’t come home early. Let’s see if she has receipts from gas stations on the road, too.”

“Absolutely.”

“We need to talk to the son. Jay. According to Brink’s wife, Jay said he was home this whole time?”

“That’s what she told me.”