Michael Malone - Weebly

Hayes heard low, murmuring voices. Emerging from
the back office were Judith Haig and (to the editor's
surprise) Winslow Abernathy. They appeared to be
talking (to his greater surprise) about bail having been
arranged for Maynard Henry. Hayes waved.
They nodded.
As a stamp collector, the editor had been for years
a regular customer of Mrs. Haig's, though they were not
friendly. He suspected that she was the genuine
omniphobic he suspected his wife, June, only pretended
to be. Hayes recalled the night Limus Barnum had
roused Glover's Lane by firing his Magnum pistol at his
bedroom slipper while pursuing (he said) a burglar. At
the shot, June had spun, shrieking, out of bed and
locked herself in a closet. What (wondered Hayes,
watching the postmistress shudder as Abernathy
stooped to retrieve his dropped briefcase) would Mrs.
Haig have done, shocked awake by a pistol shot? Gone
temporarily insane? Why did women keep the pitch of
life so high?
On the sidewalk in front of Abernathy &
Abernathy, Hayes tossed four cough drops into his