| OCR Text |
Show page 69 and got no answer. He knocked again. The third time he knocked Janie Tonklin cracked the door. Tucker hit it with his shoulder, gun in hand. Janie screamed. Hardcastle tried to explain. Tucker shoved the girl away, fired as fast as he could, and left Hardcastle crumbling to the floor, to die. Janie called an ambulance, which prolonged his life awhile. In his hospital room, Hardcastle groaned, stirred, and opened his eyes. A white-coated doctor tiptoed in, followed by a nurse with a tray of hypodermic needles. The glazed look in Hardcastle's eyes stopped the doctor short. He left the room and returned with Police Chief Lattimore, John Henson, and a reporter from Mulberry Dillard's newspaper. All had been waiting in the hallway 'with Lattimore. The chief pulled a chair to the bed and sat down. "How you feeling?" he asked Hardcastle. "Where's Bessie, Chief?" Hardcastle asked, unable to see around his room. "She was here. I sent her home to get some rest." "I'm dying, Chief," Hardcastle mumbled. "I want to ask you something, Ralph." Hardcastle closed his eyes. Lattimore leaned forward in his chair. "Why did you kill Elizabeth Henson?" "I didn't, Chief," Hardcastle managed, opening his eyes to the high ceiling of his room. "I liked the poor kid." "Bessie says you did; told us last night," Lattimore pressed on. "Says that's why she sent Tucker after you, to |
