“Not doing good, I hate to say. I’m worried, Thatcher. No ordinary bellyache lasts this long. With all these crises going on, if I can’t take time off to get her to a doctor, I’m going to ask her friend to take her.”
“What about Dr. Perkins?”
“He’d just give her more drops. She needs to be examined by somebody born after the Civil War. Have you heard of that sanitarium in Temple?”
Thatcher shook his head.
“Couple of doctors down there—names are Scott and White—are building quite a reputation. I may look into getting her in down there.”
They drove along the road where Thatcher had last seen the getaway car’s taillights disappearing around a bend. Bill drove beyond that point, then pulled his car to the side of the road.
“This is pointless. What’s on your mind?”
Thatcher said, “Have you sent anybody out to Pointer’s Gap yet?”
“It was on my list of things to do today, but with the ambush, the fire, I haven’t had the men to spare, and you’d have to go with them to show the way. So, no.”
“Have you arranged for a lawyer for Driscoll?”
“It’s not a priority.”
Bill’s expectant expression prompted Thatcher to get on with it. “This is going to sound like I’m beating around the bush but bear with me.”
The sheriff checked his pocket watch. “It’s a busy day. Five minutes, Thatcher.”
“Last night when you dropped Laurel and me at her house, she was on the brink of a breakdown.”
“Over Davy O’Connor.”
“Sure. But also, yesterday afternoon she had an upsetting visit from Bernie Croft and Chester Landry.”
“Let me guess. They wanted her to merge her business with theirs.”
Thatcher said nothing. Bill waited a few seconds then sighed with exasperation. “They’re bootleggers, Thatcher. They wouldn’t have been interested in Mrs. Plummer’s pie business.”
“I’m not saying anything about her.”
“You don’t have to. I’ve known for years that old Irv dabbled. He didn’t cause anybody trouble, so I looked the other way. Other moonshiners did, too, because he didn’t put too deep a dent in their market. But the lady has gotten everybody riled.”
“Croft and Landry for sure.”
“She turned them down?” Again, Thatcher remained silent, but Bill nodded as though Thatcher had replied. “In return, they shot up her delivery boys.”
“At the scene of the ambush, Harold said to me that somebody had wanted to make a point. I think he was right. I think it was Croft.”
“What about Landry?”
“He was with Laurel when the shooting started, remember?”
“Now I do. I had asked her about it, but we got off on Mike O’Connor’s condition, so I never received an answer. Was he a decoy, sent to keep her occupied while the O’Connors were being ambushed?”
“That’s possible, I guess. But what Landry told Laurel was that he’d returned to make her a better offer.”
“Behind Bernie’s back? A double-cross?”
“Landry is weaselly enough.”
“Oh, I agree. But are you suggesting that while he was negotiating with Mrs. Plummer, Bernie acted alone?”