“Watch it, Johnny,” Paul warned. “These two have something devious on their minds.”
“Why are you interested in what’s buried on the Ramsey lot?” Johnny asked.
“We’ve got another mystery on our hands, Johnny. I haven’t had a chance to tell you about it.”
“You can’t tell him now,” Adelaide said quickly. “Here comes Leroy.”
“Don’t make a date for tonight,” Johnny said to Kathleen as he and Paul hurried to the back room.
“Afternoon, Leroy,” Adelaide said as he came into the office. Kathleen echoed the greeting. She didn’t have time to completely digest Johnny’s words, but she felt wonderful.
“Hello, Adelaide, Miss Dolan.”
“If you’re thinking about an ad, Leroy, we’ve got a new ad book.”
“No. I . . . ah . . . well—” Looking only at Adelaide, he stood on first one foot and then the other as he struggled for words.
“What is it?”
“We had a Chamber meeting this morning.”
“I didn’t know or I’d have been there.”
“It was a special meeting, Adelaide. About you . . . the paper.”
“For goodness sake. What about me . . . the paper?”
“Some feel that you’re taking too much on yourself to question the sheriff’s decision about . . . the accident.”
“That’s what papers do all the time, Leroy. It’s our job to question.”
“We . . . ah want you to stop it and take that board out of the window.”
For a minute or two silence throbbed between them. Leroy rocked back and forth on his heels, Adelaide looking steadily at him. Finally she spoke.
“If I don’t do as you wish, what will you do?”
“Stop advertising.”
“That’s the word that came down from Doc Herman?”
“We all think that it’s bad for the town.”
“You weak-kneed, spineless jackass!” The words burst from Kathleen as she shot to her feet. “A girl has been brutally murdered in this town. Her reputation was not the best, but she was a living, breathing human being. Would you feel the same if it had been . . . an upstanding citizen like . . . Louise Munday?”
“Sheriff Carroll says that it was an accident. It was night, the driver may not have even known he hit her. She was drunk and staggering down the road.”
“The sheriff is so tied in with Doc Herman that he’ll say anything Doc tells him to say. I’m disappointed in you, Mr. Grandon. I thought you were one man in this town with a mind of his own.”
“I’ve got a business here. I’ve got to get along.”
“At the price of losing your integrity?”
“You’re new here. You don’t understand.”
“I’m not new, Leroy, and I don’t understand how a group of grown men can knuckle under to one-man rule,” Adelaide said.
“I’m just carrying the message, Adelaide.”
“Here’s one you can carry back. You tell that dim-witted bunch, who have no more backbone than jellyfish, that I’ll not take that poster out of the window; and if they withhold their advertising, so be it. I carried every one of them, including you, Leroy, until I almost went broke. I’ll not let you or them or Doc Herman tell me what to do.”
“Hurrah!” Kathleen shouted and clapped her hands. The red-faced man glanced at her and then away.
“I’m sorry you feel that way, Adelaide. We’ve been friends for a long time.”
“Not friends, Leroy, or you’d have stood up with me for what is right.”
“I’ve told you. It’s all I can do.”
“No, it isn’t,” Kathleen said. “You can get those merchants together and tell them it’s time to take their town back from the tyrant who’s had control for so long.”
“The town has prospered under his control,” Leroy replied bellicosely.
“You’re mistaken,” Adelaide said quietly. “The prosperity here is due to the tannery, and you know it. Who comes to buy at your store, Leroy? Could you make it without the tannery people?”
“They help,” he admitted, “but Doc Herman sees to it that we have law and order. He talks to our congressman to get WPA projects for our city. His clinic brings people to town, and they buy gasoline, food, and lodging.”
“The congressman is obligated to spread the projects over the counties in his district. Rawlings is the only town in the county any larger than a wide spot in the road. There are not enough votes in Tillison County for anyone in Washington to pay any attention to a pipsqueak like Doc Herman. He has you all buffaloed.” Disgusted, Kathleen flopped back down on her chair.
“I’ve told you what the Chamber members think, Adelaide. The rest is up to you.” Leroy turned quickly and left the office.
“Adelaide, I’m sorry. This wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t come here.”
“No, I would’ve rocked along and lost the paper anyway. I hate to think that you may lose your investment.”
“If we lose it, we’ll go down fighting, and I intend to do everything I can to take Doc Herman and Louise down with me. If I have to do it all by myself, I’m going out to the cemetry and dig up that box he buried on the Ramsey lot. I’ll bet my entire interest in this paper that it will be empty.”
“I swear, Kathleen. Doesn’t anything get you down?”
“Some things get me lower than a snake’s belly, but not him. He just gets me mad.” Her blue eyes were hard and shone with rage.
“I’m proud of you, love.” Paul’s voice came from the doorway before he came on into the office and went to stand behind Adelaide’s chair. His hands massaged her shoulders.
“We may lose the paper, Paul.”
“It wouldn’t be the end of the world, would it? I know it means a lot to you; but if we have to leave, we’ll still be together.”
Adelaide’s hand went up to cover his.
Kathleen felt an ache in her heart. Not at the thought of losing her investment, but with a longing to have the kind of love Adelaide and Paul shared.
“Did Johnny leave?”
“He went home to do chores. He said to tell you to be ready to go honky-tonking and that he’d come to Hazel’s to get you.”
“Honky-tonking? For crying out loud. That’s the last place I’d’ve thought he’d want to go.”
“Tell Johnny about the birth records and how the deputy tried to get your notebook.”
“I also have to tell him that Barker Fleming is coming tomorrow. I kind of dread telling him that.”
D
r. Herman walked Hazel and Emily to the porch.
“Do you have time to come in, Doctor?”
“No, thank you, Mrs. Ramsey. I’ve a patient waiting at the clinic. I must get back. I wanted to make sure that you and the child were all right. It was a terrible accident, just terrible. If there’s anything I can do, anything at all, send word. If I’m unable to come myself, I’ll send someone.”
“Thank you, Doctor. Is there a chance they’ll find out who . . . who ran over Clara?”
“Not much, dear lady. The driver could be deep in Texas by now. He may have hit her and been too frightened to stop. It happens in and around the cities. It’s something new for us here in Tillison County.”
“Thank you for the ham.”
“You’re welcome.” He glanced at the street. People were coming by car and on foot. “You’re going to have plenty of friends to share the rest of the day with you. I’ll run along.”
“’Bye, Doctor, and thanks again.”
Dr. Herman made his escape back to his car without having to stop and chat with the mourners. They were well away from the house before he spoke to Louise.
“That little problem is solved.”
“It cost you a ham and flowers.”
“Cheap compared to what she was going to stick us for.”
“Do you think the sheriff will stay in line?”
“He will. He likes the prestige of being sheriff.”
“You understand that we have a problem bigger than Clara was.”
“I’m not deaf or blind, Louise.”
“I didn’t mean that you are,” she said hastily. “Mitchell said that Dolan woman from the paper was fooling around in the records department at the courthouse.”
“And he would have stopped her if not for that old fool Judge Fimbres. You told me that,” he added impatiently.
“The excuse she gave for looking at the records is as thin as water.”
“It could be that she was doing just what she said she was. It certainly would be the place to go to look up the maiden name of someone’s mother.”
“The records clerk told Mitchell that she wrote some things down in a notebook.”
“Where else would she write down the information, for God’s sake? Use your head, Louise.”
Louise was becoming irritated at his logical reasoning where that redheaded bitch was concerned. She had devoted her life to Darrell Herman. The least he could do would be to agree with her once in a while. After all the years they had worked together, he was still a mystery to her. She was sure that he was capable of doing whatever needed to be done to rid them of Clara’s threat. That was all right with her; it made him even more fascinating. The little man had a steel trap for a mind and the guts to go with it.
“I wonder what really happened to Clara,” she said as they neared the clinic.
“Don’t play games with me, Louise.” Doc’s eyes were as cold as a stone. “We both know what happened to Clara. Don’t speak of it again.”
• • •
It was already dark when Kathleen left the office at six. She, Adelaide, and Paul had had a talk with Judy. They explained their suspicions about the number of births at Doc Herman’s clinic and why they wanted to keep her reason for being here quiet for a while. Adelaide had spoken to Mrs. Wilson, and she had agreed to
forget
about Judy being in her store.
After a couple of days’ rest and good food, Judy was a different girl. She was bright, personable, and had become attached to Paul, drinking in every word he said. Adelaide explained that the girl probably had never had attention from her father other than in a derisive way and was fascinated with Paul because he treated her like a young person with a mind. It confirmed Adelaide’s belief that Paul would make a wonderful father.
Kathleen left the car behind the house and went in through the kitchen. Hazel and one of her friends were putting away the leftovers of the food that had been brought in to serve after the funeral.
“Hello, Mrs. Ashley, Hazel.” Kathleen put her arm around Hazel. “You doing all right?”
“I guess so. I’m still in shock.”
“It was a nice funeral.” Kathleen didn’t know how any funeral could be
nice
, but it was something people seemed to say at a time like this.
“Even Dr. Herman came,” Mrs. Ashley said. “Wasn’t it good of him, being so busy and all?”
“Very good,” Kathleen dropped a kiss on the top of Emily’s head. “Hi, Sugarpuss.”
“Grandma saved you some supper.”
“Good. I’m starved. Let me get out of this dress, and I’ll be right back.”
Kathleen hadn’t even been aware that she was hungry. Her mind was forging ahead to the date with Johnny and what she would wear. She changed into a soft blue blouse and a black jersey skirt gathered on a wide band. She exchanged the spike heels she had been wearing all day for a pair of pumps with medium heels.
After cleaning her face and applying fresh makeup, she went back to the kitchen.
“My, you look nice.” Hazel placed a clean plate at the end of the table so that Kathleen could help herself from the platters and bowls of food.
“You smell good,” Emily whispered.
“Thank you,” Kathleen whispered back, and helped herself to a slice of smoked ham. She felt guilty being so happy when she looked at Emily’s sad little face.
Johnny followed Hazel into the kitchen after she had answered his knock on the door. Kathleen’s heart jumped alarmingly when his dark eyes caught and held hers. He was back in his twill pants, white shirt, and boots. She was glad that she hadn’t dressed up.
“I was going to take you to Claude’s for a hamburger.”
“I like Claude’s hamburgers, but this ham and potato salad is delicious.”
“Sit down, Johnny, and help yourself. There’s plenty here, and I don’t want any of it to spoil.” Hazel placed a plate in front of him.
“Do you have ice in your box?” he asked.
“It’s chuck full. Dr. Herman sent the iceman down.”
When Kathleen went to her room to get her purse, Emily went with her. Kathleen placed a little dab of
Coty
perfume behind Emily’s ears and powdered her nose with the puff from her compact.
“Are ya comin’ back?”
“Of course, honey. I’m just going out with Johnny for a while.”
“Don’t go to one of them old . . . honky-tonks. Mama did, and she didn’t come back.”