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Light was starting to filter through the crack between the
drapes. Daylight was finally here. Diane imagined that it
was a long time coming for Colton and his mother.
He headed for the door.
Colton, you need to call first, said his mother.
No. I need to go over and do it. I need to get this done,
he said.
I ll go with you, she said. Please let us go with you.
Kathy Nicholson had said us. She apparently wanted
Diane and Kingsley to go along too. Well, thought Diane,
this ought to be fun. She looked at Kingsley, who was get-
ting to his feet.
Son, said Kingsley, you need to wait and do this another
way. You don t know what Mrs. Carruthers reaction will be.
She probably won t believe you at first. She may blame you.
She needs people around her when you tell her.
I ve thought it through. Marsha knows me. When I
come home I always go see her. Samuel will be there. He
doesn t go into his office this early. I know them. They need
to hear this and I need to tell them, and I m going to.
Ross sighed. Very well, he said. Then all of us will go
with you.
332 Beverly Connor
The four of them walked over to the Carruthers house.
Colton Nicholson rang the doorbell. It took a couple of
minutes before anyone answered it. Diane and Kingsley
stood back so that whoever answered the door, or looked
out the peephole, would see the Nicholsons first. Diane
didn t think Marsha Carruthers or her husband would let
them in otherwise.
It was Marsha who opened the door. She was in a robe.
She didn t have on any makeup and her hair was up in a
ponytail.
Kathy? Colton? she said. I didn t know you were
home. Is anything wrong? Then she saw Diane and Kings-
ley. You! What are you doing here?
I asked them, Marsha, said Kathy Nicholson. Colton
needs to tell you and Samuel something.
This early? Can t it wait? she said.
No, Marsha, it can t, said Colton. I should have come
a long time ago.
Honey, who is it? Samuel Carruthers came to the door
in a bathrobe. Colton. It s been a while. He looked at
Diane and Kingsley and pointed a finger at them. I told
you never to come onto my property again.
Please, Samuel, said Kathy. Please, let us come in.
Dr. and Mrs. Carruthers looked confused. They stood
there making no decision for several moments. Then Mar-
sha stepped back and let them come in. They all went into
the living room, where Ellie Rose s portrait hung over the
mantel. The stuffed chair was sitting facing it. An empty
drink glass was on the side table where Marsha had left it
the evening before. Diane wanted to go home and get into
bed.
Marsha and Samuel sat in the leather chairs. Kathy and
Colton sat on the sofa. Diane and Kingsley stood off to the
side, near the wall. Diane hoped she blended into the wall-
paper.
What s this about? asked Marsha.
Colton took a deep breath. For all his insistence on com-
ing over right at this moment, he was losing his nerve. He
blurted it out. No preamble or explanation, just, Tyler
Walters killed El. His grandfather framed that Dance guy.
Tyler told me it was an accident.
DUST TO DUST 333
Marsha and Samuel sat there as if they hadn t heard.
They stared at Colton, then at Kathy, then at Diane and
Kingsley.
They told you to say this, said Marsha. You sons of
bitches.
Marsha, I called them early this morning after Colton
and I talked all night. I d told Colton about the murder of
Stacy Dance, and he got on a plane and flew here. These
people had nothing to do with it. I called them, well, be-
cause they were nice to me and aren t the police though I
know we ll need to talk to the police after we talk to you.
I don t understand, said Samuel. Are you saying that
Tyler Walters killed my baby girl? That he raped her? He
was just a kid then.
Colton laid out the whole story just as he had for Diane
and Kingsley.
There were times when Diane didn t know if Marsha and
Samuel Carruthers were actually hearing what Colton was
telling them. Their eyes seemed out of focus. They looked
dazed and confused.
Did Wendy know? asked Marsha.
Colton nodded. She came home as they were moving
the . . . as they were putting El into Everett s SUV.
Colton had sneaked glances at the portrait as he told his
story. He looked at it now as if it were Ellie Rose herself
looking down on him.
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