watching the cameras. I knew she’d have her sidearm though, so I had to announce my presence before she caught wind of me on the premises.
The barn door was cracked open so I slipped inside and made my way down a corridor of stables and to an indoor arena. River was in the middle of the arena, working Shadow. The horse was performing those complicated show maneuvers that looked like dancing. And he was doing it all based on hand signals and whistling. I heard a laugh off to the side and saw Judith start to clap. I smiled. I couldn’t have picked a more perfect time.
I strode out from my hiding spot and let myself into the arena. River’s eyes widened and she shot a nervous look at Judith, who made her way to the center of the arena to stand next to River. Shadow stopped prancing and relaxed in place. I stepped up and gave both of them long stares.
“Anything the two of you want to tell me?” I asked.
They glanced at each other, neither knowing what to say, then Judith looked at me for a long time, and finally, her shoulders slumped.
“She knows,” Judith said.
“That the two of you pulled the Headless Horseman stunt?” I asked. “Yeah. I knew but seeing this horse work clinched it. There was a zombie at the festival that night who had what I thought was a perfected limp, but turns out it was the real deal.”
River shot a dirty look at Judith. “I told you it was a horrible idea.”
Judith looked completely contrite. “I know. I should have never gotten you involved. Is Carter on his way to arrest us?”
I shook my head. “I haven’t told him. I haven’t told anyone.”
They looked at each other, then back at me, clearly confused.
“Why not?” Judith asked.
“Because I think I have a good idea why you did it, but I wanted to know for sure,” I said.
“Might as well tell her,” River said.
“I cooked it up after Gil’s murder,” Judith said. “I never thought it was a carjacking. All his acting weird and asking me about a gun…I was afraid he’d stepped in it again and this time it was serious business.”
“You thought he was afraid of Tiffany,” I said. “Which means you had an idea he was running around on her.”
“Maybe,” Judith said. “I mean, I didn’t know for sure but he’d said some things that made me think in that direction—the girlfriend thing, I mean. I just assumed that Tiffany was who he was worried about getting crossways with because if he divorced her, she wouldn’t get a dime.”
“So you assumed Tiffany found out about his affair and killed him,” I said.
She nodded. “But the NOLA police weren’t treating it that way. They were convinced it was a carjacking and I was afraid it was going to be shoved into a file and pushed into a back cabinet and forgotten. Then I remembered that incident at the Halloween festival last year—where the guy was already dead but creating a scene had everyone taking a closer look at his death. Especially you. I know everyone tries to play down the things you do but people talk, and I have an idea you’re right at the center of everything. I figured if anyone wouldn’t be able to resist looking into Gil’s death, it would be you.”
“So you staged the entire thing to get me to investigate,” I said. “You know, I actually do that for a living. You could have given me a call and hired me. Made all the things I did legitimate. Well, most of them.”
She stared at the ground, shuffling her foot around in the dirt. “I would have, but I don’t have the money for that sort of thing. Farms barely pay the bills most of the time, especially small ones like mine. Any time I get a little extra, it goes right back into repairs or new equipment.”
“Like the new tractor?” I asked.
“Yeah, that’s where this year’s crops went,” she said. “But there wouldn’t have been a next year without it. Look, I’m sorry for what I did. Even sorrier for dragging River into it. She didn’t want to. Thought I was crazy.”
“Were you really that certain that Tiffany killed Gil?” I asked.
Her eyes widened. “Why wouldn’t I be? I mean, all that other stuff about the art and all—who could have imagined that? I just figured it was your old standard husband, wife, other woman, and money thing.”