"B-but just two days ago-"
"So what?" I said. "No man likes to be yanked into marriage. He wants to do his own proposing, which is just what I'm doing right now. Hell, we've already put it off too long, in my opinion. This crazy business tonight proves it. If we were married we wouldn't have all these quarrels and misunderstandings like we've been having."
"Since that woman came to town, you mean."
"All right," I said. "I've done all I could. If you're willing to believe that about me, I wouldn't want-"
"Wait, Lou!" She hung on to me. "After all, you can't blame me if-" And she let it go at that. She had to give up for her own sake. "I'm sorry, Lou. Of course, I was wrong."
"You certainly were."
"When shall we do it, Lou? Get married, I mean."
"The sooner the better," I lied. I didn't have the slightest intention of marrying her. But I needed time to do some planning, and I had to keep her quiet. "Let's get together in a few days when we're both more ourselves, and talk about it."
"Huh-uh." She shook her head. "Now that you've- we've come to the decision, let's go through with it. Let's talk about it right now."
"But it's getting daylight, honey," I said. "If you're still here even a little while from now, people will see you when you leave."
"I don't care if they do, darling. I don't care a teensyweensie little bit." She snuggled against me, burrowing her head against my chest. And without seeing her face, I knew she was grinning. She had me on the run, and she was getting a hell of a kick out of it.
"Well, I'm pretty tired," I said. "I think I ought to sleep a little while before-"
"I'll make you some coffee, darling. That'll wake you up."
"But, honey-"
The phone rang. She let go of me, not very hurriedly, and I stepped over to the writing desk and picked up the extension.
"Lou?" It was Sheriff Bob Maples.
"Yeah, Bob," I said."What's on your mind?"
He told me, and I said, Okay, and hung up the phone again. Amy looked at me, and changed her mind about popping off.
"Your job, Lou? You've got some work to do?"
"Yeah," I nodded. "Sheriff Bob's driving by to pick me up in a few moments."
"You poor dear! And you so tired! I'll get dressed and get right out."
I helped her dress, and walked to the back door with her. She gave me a couple of big kisses and I promised to call her as soon as I got a chance. She left then, a couple of minutes before Sheriff Maples drove up.
8
The county attorney, Howard Hendricks, was with him, sitting in the back seat of the car. I gave him a coldeyed look and a nod, as I got in the front, and he gave me back the look without a nod. I'd never had much use for him. He was one of those professional patriots, always talking about what a great hero he'd been in the war.
Sheriff Bob put the car in gear, clearing his throat uncomfortably. "Sure hated to bother you, Lou," he said. "Hope I didn't interrupt anything."
"Ndthing that can't wait," I said. "She-I'd already kept her waiting five-six hours."
"You had a date for last night?" asked Hendricks.
"That's right"-I didn't turn around in the seat.
"For what time?"
"For a little after ten. The time I figured I'd have the Conway business finished."
The county attorney grunted. He sounded more than a mite disappointed. "Who was the girl?"
"None of your-"
"Wait a minute, Lou!" Bob eased his foot off the gas, and turned onto Derrick Road. "Howard, you're getting way out of line. You're kind of a newcomer out this way-been here eight years now, ain't you? — but you still ought to know better'n to ask a man a question like that."
"What the hell?" said Hendricks. "It's my job. It's an important question. If Ford had himself a date last night, it-well"-he hesitated-"it shows that he planned on being there instead of-well, uh-some place else. You see what I mean, Ford?"
I saw, all right, but I wasn't going to tell him so. I was just old dumb Lou from Kalamazoo. I wouldn't be thinking about an alibi, because I hadn't done anything to need an alibi for.
"No," I drawled, "I reckon I don't know what you mean. To come right down to cases, and no offense meant, I figured you'd done all the jawing you had to do when I talked to you an hour or so ago."
"Well, you're dead wrong, brother!" He glared at me, red-faced, in the rearview mirror. "I've got quite a few more questions. And I'm still waiting for the answer to the last one I asked. Who was the-"
"Drop it, Howard!" Bob jerked his head curtly. "Don't ask Lou that again, or I'm personally going to lose my temper. I know the girl. I know her folks. She's one of the nicest little ladies in town, and I ain't got the slightest doubt Lou had a date with her."
Hendricks scowled, gave out with an irritated laugh. "I don't get it. She's not too nice to sl-well, skip it-but she's too nice to have her name mentioned in the strictest confidence. I'm damned if I can understand a deal like that. The more I'm around you people the less I can understand you."
I turned around, smiling, looking friendly and serious. For a while, anyway, it wasn't a good idea to have anyone sore at me. And a guy that's got something on his conscience can't afford to get riled.
"I guess we're a pretty stiff-necked lot out here, Howard," I said. "I suppose it comes from the fact that this country was never very thickly settled, and a man had to be doggoned careful of the way he acted or he'd be marked for life. I mean, there wasn't any crowd for him to sink into-he was always out where people could see him."
"So?"
"So if a man or woman does something, nothing bad you understand, but the kind of thing men and women have always been doing, you don't let on that you know anything about it. You don't, because sooner or later you're going to need the same kind of favor yourself. You see how it is? It's the only way we can go on being human, and still hold our heads up."
He nodded indifferently. "Very interesting. Well, here we are, Bob."
Sheriff Maples pulled off the pavement and parked on the shoulder of the road. We got out, and Hendricks nodded toward the weed-grown trail which led up to the old Branch house. He jerked his head at it, and then turned and looked at me.
"Do you see that track through there, Ford? Do you know what caused that?"
"Why, I reckon so," I said. "A flat tire."
"You admit that? You concede that a track of that kind would have to be there, if you had a flat tire?"
I pushed back my Stetson, and scratched my head. I looked at Bob, frowning a little. "I don't guess I see what you boys are driving at," I said. "What's this all about, Bob?"
Of course, I did see. I saw that I'd made one hell of a bonehead play. I'd guessed it as soon as I saw the track through the weeds, and I had an answer ready. But I couldn't come out with it too fast. It had to be done easy-like.
"This is Howard's show," said the sheriff. "Maybe you'd better answer him, Lou."
"Okay," I shrugged. "I've already said it once. A flat tire makes that kind of track."
"Do you know," said Hendricks slowly, "when that track was made?"
"I ain't got the slightest idea," I said. "All I know is that my car didn't make it."
"You're a damned li-Huh?" Hendrick's mouth dropped open foolishly. "B-but-"
"I didn't have a flat when I turned off the highway."