"Now, wait a minute! You-"
"Maybe you better wait a minute," Sheriff Bob interrupted. "I don't recollect Lou tellin' us his tire went flat here on Derrick Road. Don't recall his sayin' anything of the kind."
"If I did say it," I said, "I sure as heck didn't mean to. I knew I had a puncture, sure; I felt the car sway a little. But I turned off in the lane before the tire could really go down."
Bob nodded and glanced at Hendricks. The county attorney suddenly got busy lighting a cigarette. I don't know which was redder-his face or the sun pushing up over the hills.
I scratched my head again. "Well," I said, "Ireckon it's none of my business. But I sure hope you fellows didn't chew up a good tire makin' that track."
Hendricks' mouth was working. Bob's old eyes sparkled. Off in the distance somewhere, maybe three-four miles away, there was a suck-whush as a mudhog drilling pump began to growl. Suddenly, the sheriff whuffed and coughed and let out a wild whoop of laughter.
"Haw, haw, haw!" he boomed. "Doggone it, Howard, if this ain't the funniest-haw, haw, haw-"
And then, Hendricks started laughing, too. Restrained, uncomfortable, at first; then, plain unashamed laughter. I stood looking on, grinning puzzledly, like a guy who wanted to join in but didn't know the score.
I was glad now that I'd made that bonehead mistake. When a man's rope slides off you once, he's mighty cautious about making a second throw.
Hendricks slapped me on the back. "I'm a damned fool, Lou. I should have known better."
"Say," I said, letting it dawn on me at last. "You don't mean you thought I-"
"Of course, we didn't think so," said Bob, warmly. "Nothing of the kind."
"It was just something that had to be looked into," Hendricks explained. "We had to have an answer for it. Now, you didn't talk much to Conway last night, did you?"
"No," I said. "It didn't seem to me like a very good time to do much talking."
"Well, I talked to him, Bob, I did. Rather he talked to us. And he's really raring and tearing. This woman- what's her name, Lakeland? — is as good as dead. The doctors say she'll never regain consciousness, so Conway isn't going to be able to lay the blame for this mess on her. Naturally, then, he'll want to stick someone else with it; he'll be snatching at straws. That's why we have to head him off on anything that looks-uh-even mildly peculiar."
"But, shucks," I said, "anyone could see what happened. Elmer'd been drinking, and he tried to push her around, and-"
"Sure. But Conway don't want to admit that. And he won't admit it, if there's any way out."
We all rode in the front seat going back to town. I was in the middle, squeezed in between the sheriff and Hendricks; and all of a sudden a crazy notion came over me. Maybe I hadn't fooled 'em. Maybe they were putting on an act, just like I was. Maybe that was why they'd put me in the middle, so I couldn't jump out of the car.
It was a crazy idea, of course, and it was gone in a moment. But I started a little before I could catch myself.
"Feelin' twitchy?" said Bob.
"Just hunger pains," I grinned. "I haven't eaten since yesterday afternoon."
"Wouldn't mind a bite myself," Bob nodded. "How about you, Howard?"
"Might be a good idea. Mind stopping by the courthouse first?"
"Huh-uh," said Bob. "We go by there and we're apt not to get away. You can call from the restaurant-call my office, too, while you're at it."
Word of what had happened was already all over town, and there was a lot of whispering and gawking as we pulled up in front of the restaurant. I mean, there was a lot of whispering and gawking from the newcomers, the oil workers and so on. The old timers just nodded and went on about their business.
Hendricks stopped to use the telephone, and Bob and I sat down in a booth. We ordered ham and eggs all around, and pretty soon Hendricks came back.
"That Conway!" he snapped, sliding in across from us. "Now he wants to fly that woman into Fort Worth. Says she can't get the right kind of medical attention here."
"Yeah?" Bob looked down at the menu, casually. "What time is he takin' her?"
"I'm not at all sure that he is! I'm the man that has the say-so on handling this case. Why, she hasn't even been booked yet, let alone arraigned. We haven't had a chance."
"Can't see that it makes much difference," said Bob, "as long as she's going to die."
"That's not the point! The point is-"
"Yeah, sure," drawled Bob. "You like to take a little trip into Fort Worth, Lou? Maybe I'll go along myself."
"Why, I guess I could," I said.
"I reckon we'll do that, then. Okay, Howard? That'll take care of the technicalities for you."
The waitress set food in front of us, and Bob picked up his knife and fork. I felt his boot kick mine under the table. Hendricks knew how things stood, but he was too much of a phoney to admit it. He had to go on playing the big hero-the county attorney that didn't take orders from anyone.
"Now, see here, Bob. Maybe I'm new here, as you see it; maybe I've got a lot to learn. But, by God, I know the law and-"
"So do I," the sheriff nodded. "The one that ain't on the books. Conway wasn't asking you if he could take her to Fort Worth. He was telling you. Did he mention what time?"
"Well"-Hendricks swallowed heavily-"ten this morning, he thought. He wanted to-he's chartering one of the airline's twin-motor jobs, and they've got to fit it up with oxygen and a-"
"Uh-huh. Well, that ought to be all right. Lou and me'll have time to scrub up a little and pack a bag. I'll drop you off at your place, Lou, as soon as we finish here."
"Fine," I said.
Hendricks didn't say anything.
After a minute or two, Bob glanced at him and raised his eyebrows. "Something wrong with your eggs, son? Better eat 'em before they get cold."
Hendricks heaved a sigh, and began to eat.
9
Bob and I were at the airport quite a bit ahead of time, so we went ahead and got on the plane and made ourselves comfortable. Some workmen were pounding around in the baggage compartment, fixing things up according to the doctor's instructions, but tired as we were it would have taken more than that to keep us awake. Bob began to nod, first. Then I closed my eyes, figuring to just rest them a little. And I guess I must have gone right to sleep. I didn't even know when we took off.
One minute I was closing my eyes. The next, it seemed like, Bob was shaking me and pointing out the window.
"There she is, Lou. There's cow town."
I looked out and down. I felt kind of disappointed. I'd never been out of the county before, and now that I was sure Joyce wasn't going to live I could have enjoyed seeing the sights. As it was I hadn't seen anything. I'd wasted all my time sleeping.
"Where's Mr. Conway?" I asked.
"Back in the baggage compartment. I just went back for a look myself."
"She-she's still unconscious?"
"Uh-huh, and she ain't ever going to be any other way if you ask me." He shook his head solemnly. "Conway don't know when he's well off. If that no-account Elmer wasn't already dead, he'd be swingin' from a tree about now."
"Yeah," I said. "It's pretty bad all right."
"Don't know what would possess a man to do a thing like that. Dogged if I do! Don't see how he could be drunk enough or mean enough to do it."
"I guess it's my fault," I said. "I shouldn't have ever let her stay in town."