feedshed, he didn’t know which. The buckboard was sitting close to the back of the cabin. He thought if he could move the buckboard over some five or ten feet, he could use it to get up on the roof, which appeared to be only about ten feet high.
Straining and being as quiet as he could, he picked up the rear of the buckboard and shifted it over until it was almost against the corner of the cabin.
Longarm got up in the buckboard and stood up on one of its sides, but he couldn’t quite reach the edge of the roof. He had put his boots back on. He looked around. He walked over and carefully opened the door of the little shed. Inside, he found a busted ladder-back chair. He took it, positioned it in the buggy against the wall of the cabin, and then carefully climbed up its flimsy structure. He was able to get his arms and his shoulders onto the roof, and working slowly, inch by inch, he managed to drag himself up onto the building’s top. Once there, he lay flat, his ear pressed to the tarpaper shingles. He could hear a low murmur of voices and now and then a yelp, but he couldn’t make out anything distinctly. A thought occurred to him and he went over to the stovepipe that stuck out of the roof. He touched it first and then put his ear to it and found he could distinctly hear what was being said inside.
The first words he heard clearly were in the carefully modulated voice of Judge Richard Harding. He said in a pleasant voice, “Now, Earl. We’ve been rather easy on you so far. Now, if you don’t tell us where the money is, I’m going to have to let these two gentlemen have their way.”
Longarm heard the voice of Earl Combs say, “I don’t know where the money is, don’t you understand? I had a partner. He took the money.”
Harding said, “You’re lying, Earl”-there was a sound of a sigh-“and I’m getting very tired of it. Jack, you and Morris go ahead.”
Longarm heard the faint sounds of a brief struggle. He heard one of the men swearing. A voice said, “Damn it, Morris. Hold his damn hand still. I can’t bend that finger back the way I want to with him thrashing about.”
Another voice said, “Why in the hell don’t we just hit him on top of the head and slow him down some.”
Richard Harding’s dry voice said, “Yes, Morris. That would be intelligent. Knock him out so he can’t feel the pain. I’m sure that he’d tell us then.”
There was silence for a moment and then a sudden scream rose and rose until it went into a shriek. Longarm clenched his teeth. He hated what was going on in the cabin, but he knew that they would get the information about where the money was faster than he could. He would wait as long as he could stand it.
There was a sound of someone sobbing and saying, “Oh, my God! Oh, my God!”
Harding’s voice said, “Do you see what I mean, Earl? You’re just hurting yourself for no good reason. You are going to tell us where the money is. Go ahead, Jack.”
There came a dim mumble of words, a loud oath, a loud exclamation, and then another scream.
A voice said, “I swear! I don’t know where the money is. I swear it.” Longarm could hear a sob in the voice. He could actually hear the man sound as if he was crying.
Richard Harding said, “Let’s make it a little tougher. Let’s start breaking them in two places.”
Now the screams came swiftly and violently. They went on for something like two or three minutes. The sounds almost made Longarm sick to his stomach. One thing they did, which was something he didn’t think possible, was to make him despise Richard Harding even more.
Finally a voice said, “Judge, this son of a bitch is a harder nut to crack than I thought. Let’s say we fire that kitchen stove up and see how he likes petting red-hot cast iron.”
Harding said, “That sounds like a good idea, Jack. Go ahead.”
Overhead, Longarm heard the news with some alarm. He didn’t know if he’d be able to hear or not. He was not listening at the open end of the stack but at the side. He didn’t know what soot and smoke coming up the pipe would do.
A voice said, “Judge, I think this son of a bitch has passed out. He’s just laying there.”
Longarm heard a thud as if someone had been kicked. “Naw, he was just playing possum. A little nudge in the ribs got his attention.”
Harding said, “Get his shoes off and his socks.”
The voice that Longarm had learned to recognize as Jack’s said, “There, I’ve got that kitchen stove fired up plenty good. It shouldn’t be but a few minutes.”
Harding said, “Jack, while we’re waiting, it might not be a bad idea to try some splinters under his toenails. I’m a great believer in fire as a pain giver. Look around the cabin here and see if you can find some splinters. Just running one underneath his big toenails might get us some response.”
On the roof, Longarm heard laughter. He doubted any of it was coming from Earl Combs. It was strange to hear this and to feel sorry for the man whom he had been so sick of only a week back. There were no sounds from the cabin for a few minutes and then Longarm heard Jack say, “Here, Judge. What about this? I’ve made some shavings off this pine board. Don’t you reckon they’d slip up under there and do a pretty good job?”
Harding said, “Yeah, that’s good thinking, Jack. Give it a try-“
Longarm heard some scuffling and struggling and then a scream, though it was more a scream of fear than anguish or pain. Then there was a silence that lasted about thirty seconds. It ended with a cry of such desperation that Longarm didn’t know how much longer he could stand it. By now, smoke was pouring out of the chimney along with blinking sparks and pieces of wood ash. He supposed the top of the cast iron stove was already beginning to heat up. He dreaded to think of what they were going to do.
The screaming finally subsided into a whimper and then the whimper into quiet sobs and moans.
Harding said, “Well, Earl. It’s up to you. It’s not going to get better. I know You hid that money somewhere.”
Between sobs, Combs said, “Richard, I ain’t got it. I don’t know where it is, you’ve got to believe me.”
The familiar way that Combs addressed Judge Richard Harding made Longarm wonder if perhaps the judge
