is full of crazy,” I said. “But there’s crazy and then there’s this.”
“Well, that doesn’t let Tiffany off either,” Gertie said. “I know she couldn’t have done it alone, but she might have had help.”
“That’s a heck of an ask,” Ida Belle said. “And Tiffany doesn’t have any close friends that I’m aware of. You don’t just ask someone to tea, then pitch your idea of stealing a body and a horse, then cutting off a man’s head and strapping it all to the horse to send through the festival. I can’t imagine what kind of person would actually say ‘All right. Sounds like a good time.’”
Gertie frowned. “Someone helplessly in love might do it.”
“You think Liam is still in love with Tiffany?” I asked.
“I don’t know but it’s possible,” Gertie said.
“But again we come back to what was the point of sending Gil through the park?” Ida Belle asked.
“Maybe cutting off the head of the monster who ruined his life was cathartic,” I suggested. “And the ride was a mockery of Gil and his acting, which seemed to be the only thing he cared about.”
“That’s a lot of hate to be carrying around,” Gertie said.
“How badly do you think he hated his father?” I asked.
Gertie blew out a breath. “A lot. Gil was never a good father to begin with, but that thing with Tiffany left the boy devastated. He fled town for a couple months right after.”
“Really? Why?” I asked.
“The rumor mill said he went to stay with a cousin so there would be someone keeping a watch on him,” Ida Belle said.
“Were people afraid he was suicidal?” I asked.
“That’s the indication I got,” Ida Belle said.
I looked at Gertie. “You think Liam was capable of that?”
“I guess most anyone is, given the right circumstances,” Gertie said, “but Liam was an emotional boy. What others considered soft. He took a lot of grief in school because of it. Tiffany was the only person outside of his grandmother who played a prominent role in his life that I’m aware of.”
“And then his father stole Tiffany from him,” I said.
Gertie nodded. “A year after his grandma died. But why wait all this time to get revenge?”
“Because his father didn’t die until now?” I suggested. “If he’s not that emotionally strong then he might not have had the spine to do it when his father was alive.”
Ida Belle shook her head. “It’s crazy but not the strangest thing I’ve ever heard. Gil was very concerned about how people perceived him. Liam could have thought it was a way to make a stab at his father’s ego and hurt Tiffany at the same time.”
Gertie slumped in her seat. “This sucks. I don’t want it to be Liam.”
“Neither do I,” I said. “It sounds like he deserves a break.”
“Well, a forensics team should be able to clear him, right?” Gertie asked.
“I’d be surprised if they could,” I said. “That butcher shop is blood central. And I imagine they clean it all the time. It would take them a hundred years to collect and test every specimen they found in there. And even if they did find something, it would be diluted or damaged from the cleaning.”
“And even if Gil’s DNA was there, it would be a partial match for Liam,” Ida Belle said. “The defense could easily blame a lower match percentage on degradation.”
“Then why sweep the place at all?” Gertie asked.
“Because they have to follow the logical path,” I said. “Even if they can’t find anything that makes their case, a lot of perps cave from the pressure of an investigation, especially if they’re not normally criminals.”
“Well, I really hope Judith knows something worthwhile,” Gertie said. “Because I don’t like the direction this is going.”
I nodded. I didn’t either.
We were almost to the exit for Judith’s farm when I saw the red Mustang on the opposite side of the highway, moving at a fast clip.
“I guess Tiffany decided to bail before the rest of Sinful could descend on her,” I said.
“I wonder where she’s going,” Gertie said.
I have no idea why the thought came to me, but I pointed at the car.
“Follow her,” I said.
Without saying a word, Ida Belle yanked the steering wheel left and drove into the grass median. Gertie flew up and hit the roof as she launched into the dip, then fell on the floorboard, only to be shot up again as Ida Belle jumped the shoulder back onto the highway. I turned around and shook my head