“Are you okay, Darby?” Roy asked. “You have a strange look on your face.”

“I just figured out the answer to question three. What was the escape strategy? How could someone possibly get away with all these murders and still end up with the mine and Mule Shoe? You simply blame everything on Sam, then kill him. If you’re the closest relative, you inherit everything. Resort, emerald mine, the whole enchilada. Who was he, Cookie? Your dear brother?”

Chapter 32

Cookie’s face blanched and she shook her head. “No, no, no! Why are you asking me about Sam? I only order supplies from him. I would never otherwise associate with someone like him.”

“Multiple denials, answering a question with a question, and claiming to be morally unable to do something.” My stomach felt rock hard. “Three signs of deception.”

“I’m not going to stand here and be accused of something I had no knowledge of. He attacked me!” Her hands formed fists. “Did you forget he hit me on the head and stabbed me?”

“No, I didn’t forget. Earlier tonight the setting sun glinted on the tip of the knife extending from a crack in a log. You jammed the knife tightly into that crack, then backed into it. That’s why you received more of a cut than a stab. The rock you used to hit yourself on the head was right where you dropped it.”

“Nonsense. Sam did it. You heard him.” Cookie’s face had gone from pale to flushed. “You all heard him.”

“We did hear Sam confess,” Grace said to me.

“He confessed to what he called ‘cleanup.’ And he said he was off on his timing, which was an accident.” I wiped my sleeve across my face, trying to get the smoky stench out of my nose. “What needed to be timed? The slide at Devil’s Keyhole. I’d bet Sam’s military experience had to do with explosives.”

No one spoke.

“But Sam also said ‘we’—plural. He had help. It had to be from someone who worked here, and so they had to die. The plan must have been to seal the exit route by blowing it up, but the timing was off and the route was closed before we could get out.

“Cookie called Sam on the radio just before she destroyed it. He knew he had to catch the helicopter and that things were coming to a head. She outlined the plan and kept in touch with him with a walkie-talkie.”

“Ridiculous!” Cookie almost yelled. “He killed the three men here on the ranch to hide his presence, then went after you and tried to kill you—”