AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The smile on Mr. Whatley’s face was even bigger now. “That’s nice. I’m shy myself. It’s hard for me to talk to people. Not to you, Miss Brennan,” he added when Hannah had gone back into the house, “or even to the sheriff. I’m by myself a lot.”
“A goodly number of us are that way, Mr. Whatley,” she said sympathetically.
Hannah was back with the telephone number. “Now you give me a few minutes to talk to her first, Mr. Whatley, if you don’t mind.”
“I don’t mind at all. Thank you very much. And I hope you both have a very good day.” He tipped his hat, climbed laboriously into the cab of his enormous vehicle, and went off with a wave.
“Will she suit him do you think?” Abby asked.
“I think she’ll be just what the doctor ordered,” Hannah said. “Her husband was a cheap, thoughtless, mean man. He gave her a meager little allowance, so that she only had enough to buy a new dress once in a blue moon. The house will probably fall down around her brother-in-law’s ears the day he moves in,” she added with a big grin. “And serve him right! She’ll like Mr. Whatley. He’ll like her, too. She’s barely twenty-eight,” she added.
“Probably Mr. Whatley isn’t much older than that,” Abby said thoughtfully.
Hannah wiggled both eyebrows.
“Hannah, you devil, you!” Abby burst out.
“Just helping nature along,” she said. “Besides, it will be the saving of poor Julia Donovan. That sorry, shiftless brother-in-law of hers, giving her two weeks to find another home, not even caring that she’d never had a job because her husband refused to let her work!”
“Was he the only sibling?”
“The only one, and his dad raised him to be just like he was. He never had a chance. But Julia will have one. Bless her heart, she’ll think she’s landed in heaven.”
Abby smiled.
Abby noticed that Mr. Owens was jumpy for the rest of the week, and his mind wasn’t on statutes of law. He passed one of his cases down to another attorney in the firm, Sally Toller. He made phone calls. When he wasn’t making them, he was sitting at his desk, staring at nothing and looking as if the world was sitting on his shoulders. Abby wondered if it was his nephew who was causing him such distress. He was a nice man. She hoped he could straighten things out at home.
CHAPTER FIVE
CODYHADBEENworking on the bank robbery case. It was only the second one he’d had since his tenure in office, and a puzzling one it was, too. The bandit had been wearing a full face mask of a dead president, carrying an old-time revolver in a holster. He hadn’t spoken a word, just shoved a note in Miss Dorothy Hanover’s face and indicated his pistol. She’d handed him the contents of her cash drawer, so upset that she’d forgotten to push the silent alarm button. Nobody had blamed her. She was in her late sixties, and it was hardly a daily event.
People in town had been worried about their savings, but the bank president had assured them that all his assets were protected. And Sheriff Banks would catch the culprit, he added with supreme confidence. Their sheriff was one of the best in Wyoming. Which made Cody walk a little taller, despite his lack of a suspect.
Ordinarily the job would have gone to the local police department, but the police chief was on a short vacation due to the birth of his first child, with his wife. It was a tiny little boy and the chief said these first few days were precious and he was going to take some time off to be with his family. The mayor had just laughed and wished him well. His next in command, Bill Harris, was taking over the chief’s duties, but he was older than most of his men and pretty much beyond tracking down bank robbers, with his health issues. He was much loved, because he’d been a beat cop years ago, always walking around town. He picked up a lot of useful information that way and he got to know the people in his town. He was a bank of information that many of the other officers relied on when they were working on cases.
Cody was careful not to step on Bill’s authority, but the other man was just grateful to have him on the case. Cody was known for his persistence in catching criminals and he never stopped until he solved a crime. That was a remarkable record. But then, Catelow had a very small population and everybody knew where the bad guys lived and who their relations were. It wasn’t like a big city, where there were millions of people who could have committed the crime.
Cody sat down in the visitor’s chair in Bill’s temporary office. He took off his Stetson and sailed it into another chair. “A bank robbery. In our town.” He shook his head. “I don’t even remember one before these.”
“Oh, I do,” Bill said, grinning. He ran a hand over his bald head. “It was back in the sixties, and the perp turned out to be a sixteen-year-old boy who wanted to buy his mama a nice birthday present. She had cancer, you see, and it was just him and her, and there was no money. He tried to kill himself when he got caught but they went easy on him. He was a juvie, after all, and he had a clean record. He got first offender status and when he came of age, we wiped his record. He went on to law school and after working as a prosecuting attorney for many years, he became a circuit judge.”
“His mother would have been proud of him,” Cody replied.
“She was, because he turned himself in and really worked to rehabilitate himself. People in town helped.” He smiled. “It’s one of the nicest things about Catelow, how forgiving and unprejudiced people are here.”
“I’ve noticed that,” Cody agreed, smiling.
“Do we have any suspects?” Bill asked.
Cody shook his head. “The mask wasn’t obtained locally, because we only have one store in town that even sells masks anymore. And the weapon he used wasn’t found.” He shook his head. “Broad daylight, people all around, and he robs a bank and gets away. The bank teller was so shaken that she didn’t hit the silent alarm. He made some pretty bad threats in the note, the witnesses said. They’ll be off work for a day or two, trying to get over it.” He shook his head. “He even took the note with him, so no chance to get prints or even a handwriting expert in. The teller said that when a gun is pointed at you, that barrel looks three times as big. I know what she means. I’ve had guns pointed at me, too.”
“It sort of goes with the job.”
He nodded. “My investigator’s getting fingerprints. We have to do everybody in the bank, so we can sort them out.” He shook his head. “It’s going to be a mess. I wish the chief was here. He’s a great investigator.”
“So are you, Bill,” Cody protested. “I miss him, too, but if I had a brand-new baby, I’d be home for a week, too.”
“She’s a sweet girl, his wife. Went through a lot while they were courting, but they’re really happy. I’m glad for them. I still miss my wife, and she’s been gone over fifteen years.”
