Another nod.
“Do you think Bud hated her so much he’d try to pin something on her?”
Timberman shrugged noncommittally.
Joe said, “I’m not asking you to tell me something I’d ask you to repeat in court. I’m just trying to sort things out for myself. I know Bud to be a kind man, but pretty mule-headed at times. He’d focus on things until they got done. I remember when I worked for him, he’d bring up the same section of loose fence at breakfast every day to his ranch hands until I’d go out and fix it myself just to shut him up. I’m wondering if he was focused on getting back at Missy.”
“He did have some choice things to say about her from time to time,” Timberman conceded.
“Me, too,” Joe said.
Timberman reacted to that with a slight smile—no more than a twin tug up on the corners of his mouth.
“Word is,” Joe said, “Bud’s the star witness for the prosecution.”
Timberman said, “Hmmmm.” Then: “Maybe I ought to cut down on my Jim Beam order. I might not be pouring as much in the next few weeks.”
Joe finished his coffee. “Did Bud ever talk about wind turbines?”
Timberman looked up, puzzled. “Everybody does these days.”
Joe sighed. This was hard work getting anything out of Buck Timberman. “Did he seem to have any opinion of them either way?”
“Not that I can recall. More?” Timberman asked, chinning over his shoulder toward the pot.
“You’ve got more?” Joe said, not meaning coffee.
“Not really.”
“Then I’m fine.”
Joe slid off the stool and put a five on the bar.
“Don’t worry about it,” Timberman said, waving at the bill as if trying to get it out of his sight.
Joe left it, and said, “If you see him, give me a call, will you? My wife is pretty concerned about what’s going on.”
The slight nod. Then, “He lives upstairs. I’ve rented the rooms to him for a while. He pays in cash and on time, and there haven’t been any complaints.”
“Does he entertain guests?” Joe asked.
“Not that I’ve ever noticed.”
“No one recently, then?”
“No, sir.”
“Thanks for the coffee, Buck.”
“Anytime, Joe.”
Joe hesitated before opening the door to go outside. He glanced up the street, to see Deputy Sollis striding back angrily from Sandvick’s Taxidermy, barking on his radio.
“One thing,” Buck Timberman said softly, and Joe realized he was talking to him.
Joe turned and raised his eyebrows in surprise. Timberman had left his order on the counter and stood in the crook of the bar close to Joe and as far away from the four cowboys as possible.
“Nice-looking lady in here a week ago. She and Bud seemed to get on pretty well. She said her name was Patsy. Don’t remember a last name.”
Joe shook his head, not following.
“Before she met Bud, she asked me if I knew where she could find your friend.”
Joe felt his scalp tighten. “Nate Romanowski?”
“That’s the one,” Buck said.
“What did you tell her?”
“Nothing. There’s nothing to tell as far as I’m concerned.”
Joe nodded. Then he got it. “You said she got along with Bud, though. Think she asked him about Nate?”
“Couldn’t say for sure,” Timberman said, but Joe could read between the lines.
“Interesting,” Joe said. “Will you let me know if Patsy comes back?”
Timberman nodded his slight nod before turning and going back to his order form. Cutting down on his order of Jim Beam.
Justice of the Peace Tilden Mouton held the preliminary hearing. After a recap of the charges and the evidentiary testimony by Sheriff McLanahan but without an appearance by Bud Longbrake, Mouton bound Missy over for arraignment before Judge Hewitt on Monday.
