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Show 62 "Aw, that dumb fart. I wasn't talking 'bout him, Judge. He was so drunk he didn't know the difference. I was talking about a guy wasn't even there and Verne thought I meant him and he slugged me." "What's this about his sister then?" "Sue? I don't know. I'd been dancing with her and he'd tol' me to stop." "Did you?" "Just 'cause he t o l ' me to? Hell no, I t o l ' him to go to hell. So'd Sue, but we didn't figger he was mad, we just figgered he was drunk. He sure was plastered all right." Castle looked down to find something with his finger on the paper before him. "Verne says here you'd been out riding with his sister, out in your car someplace." "I reckon." "And you didn't suppose he'd object?" "Why should he? If Sue wants to go riding with me, that's her business." "And you weren't expecting Verne to start anything?" "I wasn't even expecting him to hear me." "Well, you say you weren't talking about Verne, but he thought you were, so how am I gonna know whether you were or not?" "That's easy, Judge. I'd never call a man a son of a bitch and not be ready for him. Specially Verne, he's too much bigger'n me." "So you say it was Verne's fault?" Buck shrugged. "No, I can't say that. He just didn't hear me right, that's all." "Well, there was a good fight, no doubt about that, and if it wasn't your fault and it wasn't Verne's, who'm I gonna find guilty?" "Why not George there?" No one laughed, no one smiled, they were down |