Blowout

after Stewart was killed, Danny immediately realized what he knew was valuable. He told me he was also going to call Eliza, get money from her as well. Of course I told my friends about it, and without hesitation she told her boyfriend. Then Danny was garroted, just like Stewart.”
    “And no one considered this murderer just might be close to home?”
    “Callie, you must understand. Günter never said another word about any of it to her. She had no idea if he’d even really paid any attention to her. Would you suspect your boyfriend of murder? Of course not.
    “I will be honest with you. My friends suspected I was behind Stewart’s death, though they loved me too much to openly accuse me. No, Bitsy, be quiet. It’s true and you know it. Didn’t I have the best reason?
    “The evening of Stewart’s funeral, your Detective Raven showed us all the photo of Günter, taken many years before. None of us recognized him, except the one who was seeing him, and even she wasn’t certain, she was more disbelieving than anything.
    “But she confronted him Friday morning. He changed, Callie, even as he told her it was the truth, she watched him change into a man she didn’t know. He made her believe that if she told anyone, he had friends who would kill not only her, but the rest of us. She should have called the FBI, but she didn’t, and it’s too late now.
    “He didn’t tell her he was going to kill Eliza, but when Eliza’s murder hit the news on Saturday, she knew. Oh yes, she knew, and she realized she was dealing with a madman.
    “She was terrified, for herself and for us, and so she kept quiet. He kept telling her he was doing all this for her, for us, for me.”
    Callie said, “One of you was with him the night he shot up Agent Savich’s house trying to kill Fleurette.”
    Margaret said, “She was an accessory to Fleurette’s attempted murder, no denying that since she was in the car, waiting for him. Günter forced her to go with him. Again, he threatened to kill her if she didn’t do exactly what he told her to do. You can’t for one minute believe she knew what he planned, or that you were there, Callie.”
    “But she heard the shots. She knew something bad had happened.”
    “Oh yes, she knew, but she was also terrified. When she heard he’d been killed by the FBI, she called us. That’s why we’re all here. We didn’t realize until after reading your story in the Post, Callie, that Günter had lied about all of it, to protect us.”
    “She knew, but she told no one.”
    “If she had, that crazy man might have killed her. He was crazy, Callie, you know that, regardless of why he did anything, he was crazy. He figured he had nothing to lose. What would you have done, Callie?”
    I would have killed him myself, but she held herself quiet. “I don’t know.”
    “No, no one could ever guess what she would do in such a situation. But the fact remains, crazy as he was, he protected her and the rest of us last night before he was killed. He lied to Savich and Sherlock and Ben, and they unwittingly lied to you and the world.”
    “You can’t expect me to keep quiet about this, Mother.”
    “Yes, I can and I do, Callie. Think a moment. She didn’t know what he planned, none of us did. She didn’t know what he’d done until after she saw that photo and began to wonder, and then he killed Eliza. She was terrified, nearly over the edge herself.
    “And she was terribly worried about me. I was a basket case, and she had to pretend that everything was all right, she had to protect me. As I said, it wasn’t until we got word that Günter had been killed by the FBI that she told us the truth.
    “What good would it do if you told your friend, Detective Raven, about this? What good? She might be prosecuted though she committed no crime. What would be the point of that? It could only result in the truth coming out. I loved your stepfather, Callie. I don’t want his name going down in history as the Supreme Court Justice who screwed a law clerk and was murdered for it, along with two other law clerks. I know that you cared for him too. It’s not much of a stretch to believe I would be implicated as well.
    “She has suffered enough. All of us have. Leave it alone, Callie. I’m asking you to leave it alone.”
    “I’m very sorry about the affair between Stewart and Eliza, Mother. I’m sorry you knew about it. I’m very sorry Eliza wasn’t the fine woman Sherlock believed she