The answer seemed obvious to Duane: Edward Williams would have been the immediate and obvious suspect. He could have been convicted with the same set of facts and findings which had been used to convict Tommy Zeigler.

If nothing else, Duane thought, this was a powerful argument against capital punishment. If Zeigler was guilty, then only his own luck and good aim had saved the state from convicting and executing an innocent man.

Guilty or innocent, Duane thought, Tommy Zeigler had been very close to keeping his good name on Christmas Eve. All he had to do was die.