Dorothy Garlock (42 page)

“Naw. Not much. I'll be good as new in a day or two. You all right? ”

The boy nodded, then, after a poke by his mother, said, “Yes, sir.”

“Lady Luck was riding with us, Bobby. Did you learn anything about staying away from fire? ”

“Yes, sir. And … I learned to mind my mama when she says not to do something.”

“That's a good thing to know. Don't forget it. Mamas usually know what's right.”

“I'll never, ever, be able to thank you enough for what you did.” The woman's eyes teared up again.

“No thanks are necessary. I just happened to be at the right place.”

“May I…give you a hug? ”

“Well, now … I've never turned down a hug by a pretty lady in my life. My mama would be plumb ashamed of me if I did. The only thing is … be careful of my back.”

“A kiss, then? ”

“Sounds good.” Thad bent down and the woman placed a kiss on his cheek.

“You're a real hero, Mr. Taylor. You've given my little boy his life. I pray that he'll grow up to be as fine a man as you are.”

“Ma'am, you should want the boy to shoot a mite higher than that, but I thank you for saying so.”

As Thad watched them leave, he felt a small warm hand wiggle into his. Jill looked tired. She was wearing one of her Sunday dresses. Her shiny blond hair was held back on one side with a barrette. His heart thudded with pride when he looked at her.

“You are a hero.” Her blue eyes smiled into his.

“You heard that, huh? ”

“Saw her kiss you, too. If she'd been ten years younger, I'd have been on her like a bee on a honeypot.”

“Jealous? I like that.”

“Don't get a swelled head, Thad Taylor.”

“Yes, ma'am. Let's go get something to eat. There's enough food back there to feed an army.”

Whenever possible, the sheriff went home for dinner. Being in the quiet house with his wife of twenty-two years had the calming effect that he needed. Especially today. When he returned, Gus, his deputy, left for his noon meal.

Alone in the office, the sheriff leaned back in his chair and rested his booted feet on the corner of the desk. He had plenty to think about. He had an unsolved murder on his hands, and the young lawyer who most folks considered a decent, churchgoing young man was acting strange. Half the mothers in town were trying to hook him for their daughters. The sheriff just didn't know what to make of it.

Where there's smoke, there's fire.

Recalling the saying, the sheriff began to think that it might not be too far-fetched, after all, that it could have been Madison who had tried to run down Hunter West-fall. For months, now, the young lawyer had done everything he could to discredit the man who provided most of the jobs for the citizens of Rainwater.

Laura had been frightened by what happened at the wash house; but with only the two women's word against Madison's, the complaint would go nowhere. The man swore he meant the child no harm. Thank God he didn't have to deal with his claim to be the son of Justine Byers. That would be up to Judge Broers.

“Where you been? ”The sheriff squinted at Jelly when he came in and hung his hat on the rack.

“At Martha's. You can get a better meal here for less money than in the city.” Jelly took off his coat and carefully hung it over the back of a chair. “Madison was holding court at the café. He's blaming Westfall for the death of the driller. He says poor equipment and unsafe practices cost the man his life.”

“Bullshit! ”Sheriff Page snorted. “I'm not crazy about Westfall, I think he's a queer duck; but drilling is a dangerous job, and anyone who chooses to do it knows the risks. Did Madison have anything to say about Justine Byers? ”

“Not a word. Some of the folks made a remark or two about her passing on, but he didn't say anything.”

“I was sure he'd be out spreading the story about being her son.” The sheriff's feet hit the floor. “What the hell! ”

An old truck stopped in front of the office so fast the front wheel came up onto the walk. A skinny, bald man was out of the truck in an instant and came barreling through the door.

“Sheriff …Sheriff — ”He was out of breath and his eyes were rolling. “I…I…found it.”

The sheriff was on his feet. “What the hell you talkin 'about, Robinson? ”

“The … the … head! ”he gasped.

“You found the woman's head? Where? ”

“At Westfall's. Casper came to get me. Said Mr. West-fall wanted me to help haul off the roof from an old shed that blowed down.”

“Casper's the colored man who works for Westfall? ”

“Yes. He helped me load up the roof and showed me some big stuff to load. He said he'd saw up some of the planks for the cookstove. I prowled around the stack he told to leave and I saw …this gunnysack. I pulled it out and looked — ”

“Where was Casper? ”

“His woman called and he went off somewhere. He didn't want me to mess with the pile. He kept sayin 'that he'd tend to it. Jesus, Sheriff, I never saw anythin 'so awful. After I puked, I came here as fast as I could.”

“You left it there? ”

“Hell, yes! I ain't touchin 'it.”

“Come on, Jelly, this might be the break we've been waiting for.”

Robinson led the way in his old truck to the back of the Westfall property where the shed had stood. The skinny man looked fearfully about, then went to a pile of boards and pointed to a brown-stained gunnysack.

“Jesus! ”Sheriff Page gagged when he saw what was inside. Bugs and maggots were crawling all over it. One ear had a gold loop earring attached to it. The blond hair was stiff with blood. “Want to see? ”he asked Jelly.

“No, thanks. I'll take your word for it.”

The sheriff carried the bag to his car and placed it on the floor of the backseat.

“Is this where you found it? ”

“Just about.”

“What did the colored man say about that pile of boards? ”

“Said leave them alone. Said it a time or two.”

“Go on home, Robinson. Keep this under your hat for a while.”

“Are ya goin 'to arrest that murderin 'nigger? ”

“Why do you say that? ”

“Ain't it plain to ya? He knowed it was there.”

“Maybe. The law will handle it.”

“I get the reward, don't I? ”

“I would think so. Go on, now. Keep this under your hat. I'll be in touch.”

The sheriff and Jelly waited until Robinson had left before they approached the house. They stepped up onto the porch and knocked on the back door. A neat woman with a smooth coffee-colored face came to the door.

“How do, ”she said politely.

“Is Casper here? ”

“Nawsah. He gone to de icehouse.” A worried frown came over her face when she saw the star on the sheriff's shirt. “Be there somethin 'I can do? ”

“No. Is this him coming, pulling the wagon? ”

“Yassah.”

The sheriff and Jelly stepped back. Casper approached the back door with a puzzled look on his face. His eyes went from the men at the door to Dinah.

“Go on in, Casper, ”Sheriff Page said. “Get the ice in the box, then come out. We want to talk to you.”

“Yassah.” Casper sank a pair of ice tongs in the block of ice and lifted the fifty-pound chunk out of the wagon. His wife held open the door and he carried it into the kitchen. He came out almost immediately.

“Let's walk out to where the shed blew down last night, Casper, and have a little talk.”

“Yassah.”

Casper walked along beside them until they reached the sheriff's car. The sheriff stopped and leaned against the side of it.

“The shed blew down in the big wind, did it? ”

“Yassah. We be cleanin 'up de mess.”

“Rudy Robinson been helpin 'you? ”

“Yassah.”

“Rudy said you didn't want him to bother with that stack of boards over there. Is that right? ”

“Yassah. Dinah want 'em for de cookstove.”

“Did you notice a gunnysack under the boards? ”

“Nawsah.”

Sheriff Page reached into the car and pulled out the gunnysack. “Take a look, Casper. Have you ever seen anything like that? ”

Casper peered into the sack, then reared back in shock. His eyes rolled, his hands came out as if to ward off the ghastly sight. He staggered back a step.

“Law-ssy! Ah, Law-ssy! ”

“You didn't know that was in the shed? ”

“Nawsah, nawsah, nawsah! ”

“Didn't you ever go into the shed? Didn't you smell anything? ”

“Nawsah. I don 'go in dey shed fo 'a long time.”

“Why not? ”

“Dey was a big ol 'rattler in der. Nothin 'in der I need.”

“How do you think that sack got in there? ”

“I don 'know, sah. I don 'know.”

“It's the head of that woman who stayed here with Mr. Westfall. You know that, don't you? ”

“Yassah.” Casper was so shaken that he put his hand on the car to steady himself.

“What time will Mr. Westfall get home? ”

“Suppertime.”

“I'll be back to talk to you some more about this.”

As Jelly and the sheriff drove away from Hunter Westfall's house, Jelly spoke for the first time since they had left the office.

“Poor cuss. He was so shocked, it wouldn't have surprised me if he'd taken off running.”

“You don't think he knew it was there? ”

“Hell, no! ”

“He could be protecting Westfall.”

“Could be, but not likely. If he knew it was there, he'd not have gone off and left Robinson out there by himself. And if he or Westfall had put it there, they would have moved it as soon as the shed blew down.”

“My thoughts exactly. But who planted it there? ”

“Somebody who hates Westfall.”

By suppertime the sheriff and his deputy had all the trouble they could handle. Rudy Robinson had made the rounds of the domino parlors and pool halls, telling what he had found in Westfall's shed. The news swept the town like a prairie fire.

Rudy was the man of the hour.

He told his story over and over, and each time he embellished it. Casper, Westfall's colored man, had tried to keep him from finding the sack. But, according to Rudy, he had become suspicious about a gunnysack Casper had tried to hide beneath some boards. It wasn't until Casper was called away that Rudy was able to dig under the pile of lumber to see what he was hiding and go for the sheriff.

The remarks from the crowd of listeners surprised even Rudy:

Westfall and his colored man are in it together.

Yeah, it was Westfall's whore's head. He probably butchered her in that shed.

I thought there was something fishy about him bringing them colored folk here to live with him.

The nigger probably did Westfall's dirty work. He wouldn't want to get his hands dirty.

We ought to hang the son-of-a-bitch!

Don't it beat all what rich folks can get away with.

Comments such as these were roiling the townspeople to a fevered pitch as Lloyd Madison moved among them:

We don't want to jump the gun here. Every man is entitled to a fair trial no matter how guilty we think he is.

The sheriff will want to make sure before he makes an arrest.

No, I don't believe in mob rule, but in this case —

Oh, my God. Have you heard that Westfall is courting Laura Hopper? She could be next.

She's a sly one. Could of helped him.

It's sad, but true, that once a killer gets a taste of killing he never stops.

Someone should warn that poor girl.

The sheriff should take her into custody for safekeeping.

Poor girl, my foot. You know what they say about birds of a feather.

Yeah, especially birds with deep pockets. Hee, hee, hee.

On hearing the remarks, Lloyd knew that he was using just the right words to whip up the crowd without seeming to do so. Unconsciously, he caressed the mark on his face. This was turning out far better than he had expected.

On his return from the telephone office where he had called Clarence Hurt, his superior in the Oklahoma City Police Department, Jelly mingled with the men on the street, listened to the remarks and hurried back to the sheriff's office.

Conrad Burke, the bookkeeper from Westfall Drilling, was talking to the sheriff.

“As soon as we heard the talk on the street, we locked up. Perry Reade has gone out to the field to find Mr. Westfall. That idiot Rudy Robinson is telling everyone who will listen that Casper Ellis killed Carsie Bakken and hid her head in that old shed.”

“The stupid son-of-a-bitch! ”The sheriff cursed loud and long, then looked at Jelly. “What did you find out? ”

“Out on the street? It's like the man says. The roustabouts and loafers are gathering on every street corner. Madison is putting his two cents 'worth in. On the pretext of trying to calm them down, he's adding fuel to the fire. He thinks you should bring in Laura Hopper.”

“What the hell for? ”

“He planted two seeds in the minds of the gullible. She could have helped Westfall kill the woman, or she's in danger of him killing her.”

“Christ on a horse! Aren't they using any common sense? ”

“Don't look like it. Could be trouble before the night's over. Clarence is catching the night train. He'll be here early in the morning with some interesting information. It's all he'd say.”

The sheriff sank down in his chair. Why in hell had he decided to become a lawman? He wouldn't be having all this grief if he were a barber or a meat cutter.

Chapter 30

A
S SOON AS PERRY READE FOUND HUNTER
and gave him a quick rundown on what was going on in town, Hunter began to issue orders with the precision of a drill sergeant. Thirty minutes later, he drove into town followed by two truckloads of armed men. He stopped at the sheriff's office.

“Have you arrested Casper? ”he demanded as soon as he cleared the door.

“No.” The sheriff got to his feet. “But the dead woman's head was found in your shed, and Rudy Robinson seems to think that your man Casper was trying to hide it.”

“That's bullshit! ”Hunter shouted. “I've known Casper all my life. He wouldn't hurt a flea. Rudy Robinson is an ignorant, stupid fool! ”