Nobody Knows Your Secret

71

"Nothing," said Hadley. "Just thinking out loud."

She caught some movement out of the corner of her eye.

"Look," Hadley said, pointing to a break in the woods.

The old man was nowhere to be seen.

"Where'd that guy go?" Bill said. "I told him I needed to ask him some more questions. And who's that?"

Out of the woods, a second man was approaching. He was grizzled and ancient. His clothes were ragged and soiled. He was dressed in all in black, a hood and cloak covering him from head to foot.

His eyes were cast down to the earth, but he made a straight path for the opened door of the trailer. Bill ran to stop the old man, but the sheriff stopped in his tracks.

Hadley walked up to Bill who stood at the opened door looking in. Her eyes widen in surprise by what she witnessed. The ancient stood over Hardy's body. Hardy was dressed in a pair of jeans and nothing else. His feet and torso were bare. The bullet had pierced his heart.

The old man reached inside his tattered cloak and retrieved some cheese and bread. He stood over Hardy's body, whispering something unintelligible. Hadley strained her hardest, but she could make out nothing but the old man's last two sentences.

"I give passage to thee now, dear one," the stranger said. "And for thy worldly sins, I pawn my soul."

"Where in the heck did he come from?" Bill asked.

The sin-eater finished. He walked to the door, refusing to acknowledge either Hadley or Bill. He walked right past them.

Bill and Hadley were helpless to stop him. The mystery man dressed in black disappeared into the woods.

"I'll bet that old man waiting outside the trailer knew this guy was coming," said Hadley. "He's a sin-eater."

"Sin-eater! I thought those guys were extinct," said Bill.

"There are still some pretty remote places in these hills," Hadley said, thinking of Runie and Ronnie.

"I'm not believing this," Bill said. "When I tried to stop him, I dunno. I can't explain it. It was like my feet were stuck to the ground. I couldn't move."

"Don't worry about it," Hadley said. "I was here. I am a witness, and I still don't believe what I saw."

***

Sirens were wailing in the distance. Bill had managed to get a short message out for help before his radio went dead. It was just one more mystery added to a day full of them.

"Bill," said Hadley, suddenly. "Let me in there for one second."

"Are you crazy?" Bill said.

"No," said Hadley. "Walk right beside me. You'll see I won't touch anything. But I've got to see Hardy's feet."

"His feet!" Bill said. "Hadley, you've lost it."

"No, I haven't," Hadley said, rushing past Bill before he could stop her.

"There," said Hadley. "Just as I suspected."

"You suspected what?" Bill said.

"Syndactyly," Hadley said.

"Sin-what?" said Bill.

"Webbed toes," said Hadley. "That's what this condition is called. It's a birth defect. It never would have hit me, but this morning, Maury and I went on a gallivant. We ran into two of the most unusual brothers. They had to be inbred."

"What does that have to do with Hardy's suicide?" Bill asked.

"You'll never be able to prove it," Hadley said, "but I think that Hardy killed Kyle. Kyle has webbed toes. Just like Hardy's.

"I'll bet if you took a cast of Hardy's feet and Kyle's, they'd look identical. And who else had those same webbed toes?"

"Claire," said Hadley. "I've seen her feet in sandals before. And Candy does, too."

"Now that you mention it, Kyle's two kid's feet are like that," Bill said. "Those two kids are like savages. They were running around town last week. I told them to get some shoes on before they blistered their feet or stepped on a piece of glass or something."

"Inbreeding causes genetic defects," Hadley said. "I just bet that those webbed toes point to the fact that Hardy is the father of Kyle. Now that I see him lying here, he looks relaxed. Younger. Look at him, Bill. He could be Kyle at Kyle's age."

"I do see the resemblance," Bill said.

"Bill!" Hadley exclaimed. "That's the motive!"

"What are you talking about?" Bill said.

"We know that Claire was a loose woman," Hadley said.

"I don't know, Hadley," said Bill.

"Of course you do. It's common knowledge." Hadley said. "Claire would sleep with any man who would give her money. What if Hardy is Kyle's father?"

"But Hardy is Candy's father?" Bill said.

"Exactly," Hadley said. "Nobody could ever figure out why Candy left home so young. What if, and I'm only speculating here, what if Hardy was messing around with her."

"Hadley, you can't go off and accuse folks of that kind of stuff," Bill said.

"But you've seen Hardy around Candy when she was young," Hadley said. "He fawned all over her."

"What are you getting at?" Bill said.

"Like I said," Hadley said, "you'd never be able to prove any of this, but what if Hardy was jealous of Kyle. Kyle was his son. Candy was his daughter. They've had two kids together. Kyle treated Candy horribly. She's worked to the bone, but she still stayed with the bum. But what if Hardy couldn't take it anymore? You know, Hardy snapped and shot Kyle as he slept."

"I don't know," said Bill.

"Of course, you do," said Hadley. "It all fits. The pieces of the puzzle fit perfectly if you think about it."

"Promise me you won't breathe a word of this to anyone," said Bill.

"You have my word," said Hadley. "When you think about it, that sin-eater's appearance was timed perfectly. I think Hardy sent for him. He couldn't live with the guilt of killing Kyle, and he realized he'd never get Candy back."

"Do you think Hardy knew Kyle was his son?" Bill asked.

"Maybe he suspected it. Maybe not. I think he was blinded by his love for Candy. Candy was Hardy's Achilles' heel."

"That's some theory," Bill said. "Whether it's true or not."

"I know," said Hadley.

"Well," Bill said, "Let's me and you get out of this trailer before the cavalry gets here. I sure as heck don't want to have to explain what we just witnessed to anyone."

"I'm with you," Hadley said.