Murder & Mayhem in Goose Pimple Junction Read Free Page A

drawer.
    “ She looks as nervous as a cat in a room full of rockin’ chairs,” laughed Cowboy Hat.
    “ You,” said Overalls to Nate, “git the money from the vault, too.”
    In a matter of minutes, the tellers, with shaking hands and rubbery legs, managed to stuff the pillowcases with forty-seven thousand dollars in cash.
    “ C'mon, you,” the short, round man stationed at the door said, motioning with his gun to Nate, “you're comin' with us as a little insurance policy.” They fled the bank, running lickety-split down the street as fast as they could while trying to lug the loaded sacks of money.
    As soon as the men left, bookkeeper and auditor John Hobb came out of his office. Unbeknownst to the bandits or the tellers, he had witnessed the entire robbery. He raced out of the building, hoping to see which direction the men had gone. He saw them go south on Third Street and quickly ran back inside.
    “ Are you all right?” John asked, out of breath, helping Tallulah into a chair. “Did you recognize them?”
    She shook her head. “I thought you were gone.”
    “ We should call the sheriff.” John quickly locked the front doors and picked up the phone.
    “ Sheriff! The bank just got hit. There were three of them, and they’re armed. They went south on Third Street with the money and, they have teller Nate Hunter . . . “
     
     
    [  1979  ]
     
    The young man sat at his grandfather’s bedside, his head resting on his hands, which were clasped over one of his grandfather's. The room was silent except for the sound of labored breathing and the ticking of the wall clock. He sat up straight when his grandfather began speaking.
    “ I’ve done some things in my life that I ain’t a proud of, boy,” the old man said, lifting his head to look at the young man.
    “ Shhh, Papa, it’s okay, it’s okay,” he whispered, patting his grandfather's hand gently.
    “ No! It ain’t okay. Murder and robbery ain’t okay, they’re horrible, rotten acts only a despurt man would commit. But that’s what I was—despurt. I want ya ta know that I only did what I had to do.” He was breathless and stopped a moment, coughing, his chest heaving, as his lungs struggled for air. His grandson held a cup to his lips so he could take a sip of water before continuing.
    “ I wanna get this off my conscience before I die. The bank robbery of ’32. I’s in on it.” He laid his head back on the pillows and squeezed his eyes shut. “It pains me to say that ain’t all, Squirt.” The young man smiled faintly at the sound of the pet name his grandfather had always used for him. Hearing it was bittersweet. He wondered if it would be the last time his grandfather said it.
    “ I killed a man, too. I had ta do it to protect my reputation. I had ta do it,” the old man continued. A tear escaped his eye, falling softly down his weathered cheek; his hand gripped his grandson’s tighter. “I hate havin’ to admit the horrible things I done, but I want to protect my kin.”
    “ It’s all right, Papa—”
    “ It ain’t all right, Squirt. The man had ev’dence. He told me so, right before I killed him. I laughed at him at the time. Laughed right in his face; thought he was bluffin’.” He stopped again, trying to breathe, as well as keep his emotions in check.
    “ He said he took precautions, and one day the world was goin’ ta know what a yellow-bellied coward I was. It weren’t ‘til after I killed him that I found the note in his pocket. It said, ‘ Maye, if you’re reading this I must be dead. Look in the chest, Maye. It’s all there. ’ ‘Course I threw the note away, and his woman never knew about it.” He sighed and then looked directly at his grandson.
    “ But I know he was tellin' the truth. He had somethin', some kind of proof. I’m afraid it’s gonna surface some day and ruin y’alls lives. Look in his house. Promise me, Squirt, that you'll find and destroy the ev'dence before it destroys our family.