“Thatcher Hutton.”
He gave a harrumph. “Figures.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Did he come around to boast about all the men he killed?”
“He didn’t kill
anybody.”
“Not what I heard. The boys at the filling station said—”
“The filling station?”
“Stopped there on my way into town. It’s where you go to get a soda pop and the latest news. Word is that Hutton’s the sheriff’s new sharpshooter, said he dropped at least a dozen men last night. They say he’s taken the sheriff’s boy Tim’s place in his daddy’s affection. Said—”
“Nobody was killed.”
“Then why’d he come over here if not to brag?” One of his eyebrows went up, the other down. “Or don’t I know?”
She ignored the implication. “Actually, today I went looking for him to ask if he would pass along some information to the sheriff.” She explained why she thought the blowout that Corrine had witnessed between Gert and Wally Johnson was important.
“Things were peaceful around here before that jug-eared runt was murdered,” Irv said. “Now, look where we’re at. Folks shootin’ at each other.” He crumbled the second half of the dry biscuit into the remaining egg yolk. “What about the O’Connors? Do you know how they fared last night?”
“They weren’t around. They were making a delivery to Ranger.”
“That was mighty convenient.”
“Why are you still mistrustful of them?”
He waved his hand in dismissal. “They ain’t at the top of my worry roster. Deputy Hutton holds that spot. Laurel, if you keep seeing him on a regular basis—”
“It’s not on a regular basis.”
“—he’s going to find us out.”
“He already has.”
Irv wiped a napkin over his mouth, then held it there as she told him about Thatcher finding the barrette at the abandoned still site. “It was Corrine’s, but it matched ones he’d seen me wear. A hair clip isn’t conclusive evidence, of course, but even before he found it, he suspected.”
“Has he come right out and accused you?”
“Not exactly.”
“Not exactly?”
“We talk around it. For instance, he let me know that you and Corrine hadn’t been arrested last night by saying he didn’t recognize any names on the lists of arrests. He warns me to be careful.”
“Of the likes of the O’Connors and that Chester Landry. But maybe he’s the one you should be more careful of.”
“He wears a badge now, but I truly believe he’s looking out for us, Irv. He doesn’t want us to get caught.”
“For his sake as well as ours.”
“How so?”
He thought over his answer. “Men like Hutton have this…fortitude. Honor. Whatever you want to call it. Unlike the most of us, it’s hard to bend and damn near impossible to break. If he was put in a position of letting you off the hook, or enforcing the law he’s now sworn to uphold, which do you figure he’d do?”