said he believed that someone else killed Mama and then killed Daddy to make it look like a murder-suicide.”
The silence that followed told her that both sisters were as shocked by the news as she had been. Finally Sammie asked hoarsely, “Did he have any proof? What were the reasons for his suspicions?”
“That’s the problem. He’s really vague about things. Apparently he had doubts that it went down the way they said and started asking questions. I think someone threatened him, or maybe us, if he pursued it.”
“Are you sure he wasn’t just hoping that was the case?” Bri asked.
“I’m not sure about anything. I talked to Aunt Gibby yesterday. She knew about his suspicions but said he stopped talking about them and she figured he just finally accepted the truth.”
“What about the police chief? Have you talked to him?”
“I was going to but he’s dead.”
“What?” Sammie and Bri screeched together.
“He’s been sick for a while. It wasn’t unexpected.”
“Hell, Savannah,” Bri said. “We thought you were talking about Zach.”
“Good heavens, no. I was talking about Harlan Mosby. I came to the hospital this morning to talk to him and found out he died last night.”
“You’re thinking someone put him down?”
Savannah winced at Bri’s less-than-delicate words but answered, “I don’t know. Seems oddly coincidental, but no one knows about my suspicions other than Gibby.”
“You think she told someone?”
“I don’t know why she would. She got really upset when I was talking about it yesterday, telling me I shouldn’t stir up trouble.”
“Maybe she told someone she trusted and they told someone, like the real killer.”
Savannah had had the same thought, but why would Gibby tell others when she was so concerned that Savannah didn’t upset anyone with her questions?
“I spent most of yesterday reading the newspaper accounts. Do you guys remember anyone ever saying that things might not have happened the way we were told?”
“I never heard anything like that,” Sammie said.
“Me either,” Bri added. “All I ever heard was the bad stuff about Daddy.”
Savannah knew exactly what she was talking about. People had come out of the woodwork to share their dislike of Beckett Wilde. Every questionable thing he had done had been built upon and expanded for entertainment of the town gossips.
“What does Zach say?” Sammie asked.
“I haven’t told him yet.”
“Why not? He could get you all the records on the investigation.”
“I want to make sure I have something besides just these vague suspicions.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to start asking around. I went to Faye’s Diner this morning but couldn’t find a soul to talk to about it. Nesta Kilgore called last night and invited me to dinner next week. She always invites Mama and Daddy’s friends. I’ll be as vague as I can be and just feel everyone out.”
“Why not just ask the Kilgores outright?” Bri said. “They were Mama and Daddy’s friends. I’m sure they’d tell you if they knew anything.”
“Because I’m going with Zach.”
If things hadn’t been so serious, Savannah would have laughed at the shocked silence. Though Sammie’s shock wouldn’t be as great as Bri’s. “Anyway, I wanted to tell you two and get your input. Do you think I’m crazy?”
“No,” they answered together, and then Bri added, “Daddy doing these horrific things never made sense, but we believed what we were told.”
“You guys …” Sammie’s voice was just above a whisper. “What if Daddy was really innocent? My God …”
Sammie didn’t need to finish the sentence. If this were true, everything they had believed about their father was wrong. Almost every aspect of their lives had been colored by this one event. What if it had all been a lie?
“Can you fax us copies of the letters?” Sammie asked. “Let us take a look at them?”
“I’ll do that as soon as I get home.”
“So you and Zach are seeing each other,” Bri said.
A lot had happened since she’d talked to Sammie about kissing Zach. Telling them that she’d done much more than kiss him was out of the question. They’d want to know everything, and right now, she couldn’t articulate her feelings. She really wasn’t sure what she felt other than this intense need driving her whenever Zach was around.
“Let’s just say we’ve seen each other a few times.” She cleared her throat. “He told me what happened … why he did what he did.”
“Can you tell us?” Sammie asked.
Even to her sisters, she couldn’t reveal Zach’s pain and humiliation. That was his secret to share with whomever he wanted, not hers.