No Regrets

sometimes. She just got sucked in by Ruth and Ruth’s money.”
    The state of Winnie Kay’s mind may have only been one man’s opinion, but Ruth had a much stronger personality than she did. As one of Ruth’s “dearest friends,” she went along with Ruth and neither of them would tell Paul where the promised car was.
    Stranded without a car on an island where he didn’t know anyone, Paul went to a local restaurant and lounge where he proceeded to get drunk. He met a man there, Marty Beekman,* who agreed to give Paul a ride out to Ruth’s house, where he planned to plead once more for the car she had promised him. But when he got there, it was all locked up, and no one responded to Paul’s frustrated pounding on the doors. Muttering, Paul turned to Beekman and said, “I’ve got a mind to talk to the FBI or someone about what Ruth got me into! She killed him and Bob cut him up...”
    Beekman didn’t pay much attention because it soundedlike an angry drunk talking. However, he later mentioned it to some of the regulars at the lounge and that information soon became yet another juicy bit of gossip to spread around Lopez. Greg Doss eventually heard about it, and he arranged for Marty Beekman to talk to the San Juan County criminal prosecutor, Charlie Silverman.
    It was just one more instance of the alleged facts of a brutal murder being passed around, and the backward case was now becoming circular. As Ruth Neslund continued to reclaim her life and planned happily for her next business endeavor, the investigators were as disheartened as a Californian would be by the clammy fog that sometimes envelops Lopez Island, blotting out the vistas of the sea and pastures.
    There seemed no way through to any clarity or truth in their search for Rolf Neslund.
    Had Ruth Neslund killed her husband and masterminded a gruesome plan to scatter his body?
    Or was she only the innocent victim of a whisper campaign to destroy her reputation?

Ten
    Ray Clever would not give up on solving the case and indicting the killer. He kept making lists, checking out his theories, and trying to find physical evidence that would validate the scuttlebutt. Sheriff Sheffer backed him, saying, “Go for it, Ray. I don’t think you’re gonna solve it—but go as far as you can.”
    While Ruth seemed unfazed by the gossip, the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office, and the inquiries of the county’s criminal prosecutor, Ray Clever was determined to find her brother Paul. He figured that Ruth’s angry and disappointed brother might just be the witness who would tell Clever the truth, and he set out to find him. This proved to be a complex endeavor. Even today, Clever won’t go into detail about those who helped him locate Ruth’s brother—a policeman’s prerogative—but he did manage to locate Paul.
    It sounded as though Paul Myers might be the weakest link in the chain of family members who surrounded Ruth. Paul was something of a nomad. He and Ruth were definitely reported to be at odds, according to her friends and neighbors. Ruth kept shutting doors in Paul’s face, counting on his continued loyalty to her, no matter how she outfoxed him in business deals.
    By 1982, Ruth was trying to put the tiresome investigation into Rolf’s disappearance behind her as she preparedto launch a very high-end bed-and-breakfast lodging for tourists visiting Lopez Island. As she pointed out, she was all alone now in her big house with extra bedrooms and wonderful views of the water. She was a good cook, specializing in baked goods and her homemade sausage, and she had always enjoyed entertaining. She would call her home The Alec Bay Inn, stressing the beautiful vistas. There would be virtually no start-up costs, and she looked forward to meeting new people and having some company. She calculated that she could clear $150 to $200 a night for each room.
    Paul heard about her plans and figured Ruth owed him a share of her future business income. He didn’t have a steady job or a house or any money in the bank. Since she had burned him on the car deal, he planned to convince Ruth that she needed a man around the place to help with chores and for protection. He would go into partnership with her on the bed-and-breakfast. Their brother Robert wasn’t in very good health, and Paul argued that he himself was the obvious choice. Ruth shook her head. She didn’t need a partner.
    Turned down for that, Paul asked her for a loan. It was the least she could do, but