Claws For Concern

“His mother said it did. The cops tried to break her down, but she was apparently a tough old lady. Regular pillar of her church, known to be a good woman, all that kind of thing. People respected her, and when she stood by her son, that had a lot of weight.”

“I heard a version of the story a little while ago from one of my boarders, who’s a deputy in the sheriff’s department here,” I said. “The cops were convinced Delaney was the killer, weren’t they?”

“Yes, they were,” Jack said. “Now, you remember I said people thought Barber might have threatened Delaney with a gun?”

“Yes, I remember,” I replied.

“Even though they never found the weapon, as I also told you, they were sure the killer used Barber’s shotgun,” Jack said. “A friend of his swore one was missing.”

THIRTEEN

“The killer used Barber’s shotgun,” I said. “But the shotgun disappeared. Sounds to me like the killer was someone who knew about Barber’s habit of keeping a lot of cash on hand and seized the opportunity to make off with the cash and the gun.”

“That’s what I think,” Jack said. “The Barber farm was about five hundred acres, if I remember correctly. There aren’t any other houses close to the Barber house by a couple of miles.”

“So no one who lived in the area observed anything out of the ordinary the day of the murder?” I asked.

“Not that I recall,” Jack replied. “I’m not sure how much effort the sheriff’s department put into searching the area around the house and the farm. There’s a wooded area behind the house running between a couple of pastures. The woods extend about half a mile to an old logging road that isn’t much traveled. The killer could have approached the house through those woods.”

“That sounds like a strong possibility to me,” I said. “Besides Bill Delaney, though, wasn’t there anyone else who might have had a grudge against Barber? If he was always sure he was being cheated, he could have made quite a few enemies.”

“True,” Jack said. “I’m sure the sheriff’s department investigated a number of possible suspects. Barber had a reputation as a hothead. He had three or four field hands who worked the farm, and they were all known to have complaints about how he treated them. Also I think he had a long-running dispute with the man who owned a neighboring property.”

“With all that you’ve told me, I have to wonder why the authorities were so sure Bill Delaney was the killer,” I said.

“Because he already had a record and had served time in jail for assault,” Jack said. “He beat up one guy pretty bad, but that happened ten years or more before the Barber murders. He kept clean once he was out of jail, or so I understand.”

I felt overwhelmed by all the information about the Barber murders and Bill Delaney’s connection with the case. And now his conviction for assault. Was this a man I really wanted living in my house?

I expressed as much to Jack.

“That’s a tough call,” he replied. “All of that happened a long time ago, and for all we know, Delaney has turned his life around.”

“I suppose,” I said. “At the library he’s always quiet, almost self-effacing. His demeanor is always respectful, and I haven’t noticed any signs of him being hungover.”

“I don’t know how much experience you have with hard-core alcoholics,” Jack said. “I’ve dealt with a couple, and I have to tell you that they can cover up their drinking to the point you’d swear they were teetotalers.”

“I’ll have to take your word for that,” I said. “I never had any close dealings with an alcoholic that I can recall. A few times over the years in Houston I had to call the cops to remove someone for being drunk and disorderly in the library, but that was it.”

“For your sake, if you decide to take him in, I hope he’s quit drinking,” Jack said. “I promise you that you don’t want to have to deal with a drunk in the house.”

“No, I certainly don’t,” I said. “Thanks for all the information, Jack, I really appreciate it. You’ve given me a lot to consider. Right now I need to get over to the library and see if Delaney is there. I need to reschedule the invitation to dinner until I’ve had time to talk to my family about this crazy idea of mine.”

“Good luck,” Jack said. “I don’t envy you. But I have to say you’ve gotten me interested in the Barber case again. I’m going to see what I have in my files about it.”

“If you find anything else that pertains to Bill Delaney, I wish you’d let me know,” I said.

“I will,” Jack said. “Talk to you later.”

“Thanks.” I ended the call and briefly stared at the phone in my hands. I wondered whether Miss An’gel had responded to my e-mail yet. If she had I thought I would go ahead and get in touch with Ernie Carpenter. After hearing what Jack had to say about Delaney and the Barber murders, I wondered what Ernie’s take on it all would be.

I tapped the mail icon on my phone and waited for the inbox to update. The last time I remembered looking at mail on the phone was about three days ago, so I had to wait a minute or so before I could see any new messages.