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Show page 59 THE HENSON CASE John Henson, a barber of our toxsn, was a n e a t , mousy man of f i f t y , with wispy gray h a i r and g e n t l e eyes. He was so i n s i g n i f i c a n t to t h e woman at t h e poolroom window t h a t she almost ignored him. Henson, cramped and s t i f f from c u t t i n g h a i r , had stepped to the sidewalk for a b r e a t h of f r e s h a i r . He leaned against a barber pole attached to the f r o n t of h i s shop n e a r e s t the poolroom, flexed h i s f i n g e r s , and spoke p l e a s a n t l y t o a c quaintances and p a s s e r s - b y . He was about to r e - e n t e r his shop when the woman pecked a g i t a t e d l y on t h e poolroom window with a coin, cupped her hands on both sides of her face t o peer i n s i d e, then backed away from t h e window and looked up and down t he sidewalk. Her gaze f e l l on Henson. The woman was well dressed, though s l i g h t l y hefty, with wavy blonde h a i r . She appeared t o be u p s e t , in so much of a hurry, t h a t Henson, out of courtesy, asked i f he might be of * help. He was influenced by the woman's blonde hair. His daughter, Elizabeth, had blonde hair. Normally he would have known to whom he was speaking, but gullied, sunbaked hills three miles outside our town's corporate limits had been found to contain bauxite, and strangers were filling our torai. "No," she said in reply to his offer. "I think he saw me." At rhjf mnrnur^* a +~a11i bareheaded man came from the poolroom, |
