“It’s now clear,” Finley said, “that Carla told at least one of her brothers about the Confederate gold before she died. When she was suddenly shot in the presence of her two accomplices, there’s no way her brothers would have believed it to be an accident.”

“I’m afraid not.”

“Which is why Ken tried to hurt me. As retribution for what Dad did to Carla.”

“Yes.”

“Then you and Dad . . . what? Hid the gold? Destroyed the cassette tape? And later split the treasure fifty-fifty?”

“We did.”

“And eventually you found a way to sell your share?”

“Yes.”

“Which lifted you from financially stable to financially affluent. You added on to your house, bought cars, started taking trips.”

He didn’t answer, but he didn’t need to. She could see the affirmative answer on his features.

“Do you still have any of the gold?” she asked.

“No.”

“How come the Vance brothers didn’t go after you and your gold?”

“They tried. Early on, after Ed’s conviction, they attempted to hack into my computer. They followed me. They threatened me. They never could find any evidence that I was in possession of gold. Eventually, I was able to get a restraining order against them. That stopped them.”

“I wish you’d warned me.”

“I assumed Ed had gotten rid of his gold long ago.”

“You never asked what happened to his share?”

“I asked, but he’d only say it was safe. Nothing else.”

“I can’t imagine why he gave it to me.”

A pause. “Can’t you?”

Her curiosity was piqued. “Can you?”

He leaned toward her. “I believe he was giving you an opportunity to do what he felt he couldn’t do, for fear it might incriminate me.”

“Which is?”

“Make it right. As soon as you found that gold, did you plan to give it up?”

“Yes.”

“Your dad knew you well enough to know how you’d react. He trusted you to do the honorable thing.”

Emotion knotted in her throat, because yes. That made perfect sense to her. Her father trusted her to do the honorable thing.

“Are you going to tell the police everything?” he asked. “June doesn’t know about this. My kids and grandkids . . . They don’t know.”

“I’m not going to volunteer information about your involvement. But if and when they ask me how Dad came into possession of the gold, I’ll answer their questions truthfully. Lies have done more than enough damage.” She pulled in a painful breath. “When the police catch up with the Vance brothers like Luke thinks they will, the Vance brothers will have to answer for their actions. You may have to answer for your actions, too.” Her words rang with compassion and determination both. “My dad’s no longer here to protect you, Robbie.”