Dorothy Garlock - [Route 66] (40 page)

“What's this?” Rex looked up with a frown.

“I just came from seeing Mrs. Dawson. She was beaten severely with that out by the woodpile last night. She was lying on the kitchen floor when I got there. How she managed to drag herself that far, I'll never know. I've never seen such a vicious beating.” It was plain to the sheriff that the doctor's temper was boiling just below the surface.

“Goda'mighty! Where did you find the whip?”

“In the bushes by the woodpile where someone tossed it. That's where he beat her, judging from the wood splinters I found embedded in her arms, face and legs. The boy said his pa beat her, and he was glad that he was dead. I don't blame him if he had to watch that beating.”

“Could the kid have killed his pa?”

“I hardly think so. There's a little pool of blood out from the woodpile that isn't Mrs. Dawson's. Her blood didn't pool. The fatal blows were delivered over near the truck.”

“I've got Yates in a cell back there. He had threatened Virgil, and he was in town last night. So was Deke Bales. They were drinking together at the PowWow, but Deke got so drunk a friend took him back to the ranch.”

“I suppose you know about Virgil keeping Andy Connors's little girl in the shed, and Isaac getting her out and taking her home. The boy says his pa beat his ma because he thought she had let the child out.”

Sheriff McChesney stood. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“Didn't Yates tell you? Guess it doesn't matter now. Virgil can't hurt the boy. I don't know how he got his hands on the girl, but he did and he tied her up and locked her in the shed. The night Paul died, Isaac got her out and took her home. Virgil blamed his wife. Yates was going to try to get the reward to Isaac without his pa knowing about it.”

Rex sat back down in his chair. “Why didn't Yates tell me this?”

“If you want my guess, it's because of your deputy. Yates doesn't trust him …nor do a lot of folks for that matter.”

After the doctor left, the sheriff put the whip in a lower desk drawer and went back to the cell where Yates was lying on a cot.

“It's hotter than a pistol in here, Sheriff. Can you get me a fan?”

“I'd think a fan would be the least of your worries.”

“Why is that? My conscience is clear.”

“Did you go out to the Dawsons' last night to give Isaac the reward money?”

“Yeah, I did.”

“Virgil came home and you killed him.”

“No, I didn't,” Yates said calmly. “Before I got to town I passed him going home. Then I went on back home and sat on the porch with Andy.”

“How about Deke?”

“The last I saw of Deke he was drinking beer with someone called Cowboy.”

“Deke's out of the picture. He got so drunk Cowboy took him back to the ranch. His cycle is still at the PowWow Were you at the Dawsons' before or after Virgil whipped Mrs. Dawson with the buggy whip?”

Yates sat up on the cot. “How do I know? I was there about five minutes.”

“Who did you see?”

“I saw Isaac. He came out onto the porch. I can tell you every word that was said.” Yates related what had happened when he went to the house. “Isaac didn't want to take the money but I promised him that his pa wouldn't know unless he told him. I put the money in his hand and walked away. As I was leaving the woman thanked me. That's it.”

“She appeared to be all right?”

“I didn't see her, but she sounded all right. Why?”

“Doc says she's in bad shape.”

“That old son of a bitch! What now, Sheriff? Are you going to take me before a judge?”

“Hell, Yates, I'm between a rock and a hard place. Folks are up in arms over the murder. You were my best suspect.”

“According to your deputy.”

“He heard you threaten Virgil. Hell, I don't depend on him for much, but I couldn't disregard that.”

“Why do you keep him on?”

“Did you ever hear of the thing called
politics?
He carries a lot of weight with the voters in this county.”

“I see what you mean.”

“I want to go back out to the Dawsons'. I'll take you with me if you'll swear to God you'll not run. If you do, I'll shoot you. By damn, I will.”

“I'll not run. I want to clear my name and get out of here. I've got a date tonight.”

“Too bad it wasn't last night,” Rex said dryly and unlocked the cell. “You'd of had an alibi.”

Rex led the way out of the cell block. As they came into the front office, Wayne jumped up from behind the desk, grabbing for his gun.

“Hit the floor, Rex,” he shouted. “I got a bead on him.”

“What the hell! Put that damn gun down before you shoot me!” The sheriff put his hands on his hips. “Do it, Wayne, or I'll shoot you myself.”

The deputy lowered the gun. “I thought he had a gun on you and was escapin.”

“Hell and damnation! Sit down behind that desk and play sheriff while I'm gone. Come on, Yates.”

Outside, Yates said, “I wouldn't trust that guy as far as I could throw a bull by the tail. Are you sure he won't shoot me in the back?”

“I'm not sure of much of anything where he's concerned,” the sheriff growled.

On the way out to Virgil's, Rex told about his conversation with Doctor Langley.

“Doc's pretty smart. He found the whip and figured out what happened. I want to look the place over and see if I can get anything out of the boy. He's bound to have heard Virgil whipping his mother. I figure he'll talk to you before he will to me. Something about lawmen scares kids.”

The sheriff drove behind the house and parked the police car behind Virgil's truck. Rex pointed to the spot where Virgil's body was found and to the splatter of blood on the fender of the truck.

“Doc's sharp eyes found these blood spots. He thinks Virgil was struck down over by the woodpile. He crawled toward the truck, then was hit several more times while he was on the ground. Why didn't whoever hit him the first time just finish him off there?”

The two men searched the area until they found the pool of blood, dried now, that the doctor had discovered earlier.

“What Doc says makes sense to me.” Yates followed the scuff marks in the dirt. “Look here at the specks of blood. His head was still bleeding as he crawled toward the truck.”

A young man came out of the house and down off the back stoop with a water bucket in his hand. Yates and the sheriff stood.

“Howdy. I'm Joe Dawson. My brother, Pete, and I came in on the morning freight. We've been working at the CCC camp over near Fort Sill.”

The sheriff greeted Joe and offered his hand. He introduced Yates, who also shook Joe's hand.

“Sorry about your mother.”

“She hasn't woke up. She doesn't know we're here. A doctor sent us a telegram after our brother Paul died and we came as soon as we could.”

Joe Dawson was well muscled from hard work. He was medium height and had thick sandy hair. His eyes reflected the same intelligence that Yates had seen in Isaac's. Nothing about him even remotely resembled Virgil.

“You and your brother will need to make arrangements for your pa's burial.”

Joe's eyes went to the sheriff. According to the expression on his face he was holding his anger on a very tight leash.

“After seeing what he did to Ma, you can tie a wire around his neck, drag him off and leave him for the buzzards. I'll not lift a hand to give him a decent buryin.”

“What he did was terrible, but civilized folks bury their dead.”

“Let that bunch of fanatics at the church bury him. That includes your deputy, Sheriff. He's cut from the same cloth as the old man.”

“I'd like to speak to Isaac.” Yates felt it was time to change the subject. “Will you ask him to come out?”

“Are you the fellow who gave him the reward money for taking Andy's little girl home?”

“I put the reward out. He earned it.”

“To go against the old man took more guts than you can imagine,” Joe said with a bite in his voice.

“I'm sure it did,” said Yates.

“I'll get Isaac as soon as I get a bucket of water.” He went to the well and dropped in the long tin cylinder to bring up the water.

Chapter 32

Y
IATES AND ISAAC SAT IN THE SHADE
on one of the dead-falls Virgil had dragged to the yard to cut up into stove wood. They'd had a dipper of good, cool well water before they sat down.

“I'm sorry about your mother, Isaac. You've sure had your share of trouble lately.”

“Ma didn't do nothin to deserve a whippin'. Pa thought one of us needed whippin' 'bout ever' day.”

“I'm sorry to hear that, Isaac.”

“Ma waited till she thought he was asleep 'fore she went out to get wood for the mornin fire. We'd forgot to go get it while he was gone.”

“Was that after I left?”

“Yeah. You'd not been gone long when he came. He called for Ma to open the door, but she wouldn't. He seemed to be madder than usual and swore he'd take the hide off her.”

“Did you hear your mother when he was whipping her?” Yates asked quietly.

“He was yellin' nasty things at her. She was screamin'. I couldn't stand it.” The boy's thin shoulders shook. “I made Carl hold on to Luke and I ran out. He was crazy. I didn't know what to do.” Sobs he was trying to keep buried bubbled up out of his throat.

Yates stretched to put a comforting arm across Isaac's shoulders. He ached for the boy who had endured so much.

“He was a man and you a boy, Isaac. There wasn't much you could do.”

“I had to make him stop … so I hit him with a stick of wood.” He said the words fast. “It knocked him out. I grabbed the whip out of his hand and threw it in the bushes.”

“You did what you had to do. He might have killed her if you hadn't stopped him.”

“She was cryin somethin awful. I tried to get her up, but I couldn't. I yelled at the man to come help, but he just stood there.”

“A man?” Yates swallowed his surprise. “Where was he standing?”

“Over by the truck. I saw him when I first came out; but I was so scared for Ma, I never looked again, until after I hit Pa. Then when I couldn't get Ma up, I yelled, but he just stood there,” he said again.

“Were your brothers on the porch?”

“Carl was. Luke gets scared and hides.”

“Did Carl come help you?”

“Yeah, but he ain't very big.”

“Did he hear you yelling for the man to help?”

“I don't know. We had to hurry and get Ma in the house 'cause Pa was wakin up. Ma come to and helped. We got her to the porch. She crawled in and told me to lock the door.”

“Did you see your pa after that?”

“I looked out before I shut the door. He was crawling off toward the truck.” The boy's shoulders shook with sobs. “I didn't mean for him to die. I just wanted him to stop hittin Ma.”

Yates pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and put it in the boy's hand.

“I don't think you killed him, Isaac. Can you tell me something about the man you saw by the truck?”

“I think I know who it was. He's been here a lot of times.”

“Was there another car here?”

“I didn't see one. I saw the lawman through the crack in the outhouse the day he brought Ruth Ann. Pa was standing by the car. Ruth Ann was inside. He had his hand on her. I didn't see him put her in the shed.”

“Your pa would have been arrested for kidnapping if the sheriff had found out about it.”

Isaac made a derisive sound. “Him and that lawman was tighter than ticks to a dog's back.”

“The sheriff?”

“That other'n. Me and the boys call him 'Piggy'”

“Deputy Ham?”

“Yeah. Are you goin to tell the sheriff I hit Pa?”

“No. But if you want my advice, you should tell him yourself. Tell him what you've told me about hitting him and about seeing the other man standing by the truck.”

“Will he put me in jail?”

“I'm sure he won't. He'll be grateful for your help.”

“I'm scared of the deputy.”

“You'd have to tell the whole thing. Your pa is gone, your brothers are here with you. If I think there's a chance Deputy Ham will hurt you, I'll be here, too.”

“I told Joe and Pete. Pete didn't think the law would do anythin' to me for killin' Pa. They said I had to tell. I thought if I told you it'd be enough.”

“I wish it was, Isaac. I really do. But the sheriff will have to hear it from you. Why don't we go talk to him? He's up there on the porch talking to Joe.”

It was late afternoon when Yates and Andy left the sheriff's office. Andy had driven to the courthouse to see what he could do for Yates, then waited to drive him home.

Yates had been with Rex when he brought in Abe Patton for the murder of Virgil Dawson. After a few questions from the sheriff, Abe babbled on and on about being at the church service. His story became wilder and full of inconsistencies the longer he talked.

Finally he trapped himself when he said that Virgil had invited him to come home with him after church. He had said that tonight he was going to drag Hazel out of the house and teach her to obey him and wanted him to see it. He had seen Isaac hit his father while he was whipping his wife.

“Was that why you killed him, Abe?” Rex asked matterof-factly while shuffling papers on his desk.

“Heck no. Ain't no law against a man whippin his woman. She'd been sassin him. She needed it.”

“You must have thought you had a good reason for hitting Virgil with that piece of firewood. How many times did you hit him?”

“I don't know. Two or three or four. He promised me I could have Leona,” Abe said as he tried to justify the murder. “He gave her to me a long time ago then went back on his word. I been a waitin' and a waitin' while he dilly-dallied around. I told him that other feller'd get to her if he didn't do somethin. I kept workin and he kept puttin me off till I got a craw full of it.”

Abe was as calm as if he were talking about the weather. He sat back in the chair, his hands hooked in the bib of his overalls, his heavy brogans crossed at the ankles.

“I told him I wasn't going to stand for it and I didn't.”

“You need a lawyer, Abe.”

“What I need is a chaw of tobacco.”

Wayne was all swagger and full of self-importance when he took Abe back to a cell. On his return Rex confronted the deputy about taking Ruth Ann out to Virgil's. He scoffed and denied it at first, but later admitted only to taking a lost child to a relative.