Frye theorized that someone had been shot in the area east of the counter and then had made his way to the door.  He believed that the bloody trail belonged to Tommy Zeigler.

Frye remained at the store all night.  Before dawn he formed his working hypothesis: that Tommy Zeigler had committed all four murders, first his wife, then her parents, finally Charlie Mays at least a quarter of an hour later.  And then had shot himself to divert suspicion.

In the earliest hours of Christmas Day, two witnesses came forth independently with support for Frye’s theory.  Their accounts, coupled with the evidence in the store, portrayed Tommy Zeigler not as a victim but as a calculating killer.