Page 25 of Backwater Justice

“You guess,” Oliver repeated sarcastically.

“I guess my instincts kicked in, and I punched her.”

“Cut to the chase, Bart.”

“Chase? There was no chase.”

Oliver shut his eyes and bit the inside of his upper lip. He spoke slowly. “Get to the point, Bart. How did she get away?”

“She musta pulled the bars out of the wall, broke the window, and crawled out.”

“Listen, Captain Obvious, I know she pulled the bars and broke the window. I want to know how she was able to pull the bars away from the wall.”

Bart looked sheepish. “When we were working on it, I knew you was in a hurry. We ran out of the right kind of compound and used some spackle to hold it for the time being.”

“Spackle. You used spackle.”

“Yes, sir.” Bart had thought it was a good idea at the time. “It was only supposed to be there until we could get back and finish it proper. But then this happened with the girl.”

“And it hadn’t occurred to you that she might be able to pull the bars out?”

“No, sir. She was a scrawny thing. Besides, I guess I was kinda distracted about the whole thing, you know, getting her situated.”

“I am certain that is not the end of the story.” Oliver shot him a dagger-sharp look.

“Right. So, she musta been standing on the table.”

“And it was with sheer force she was able to pull the bars away from the wall?”

“Well, no. She musta broke the lamp and used part of it to jiggle it. We found a piece of it on the floor next to the table.”

“The table that was below the window.”

“Right.”

“Obviously, you hadn’t thought about the many ways she could get out?”

“Like I said, she was a bit of a thing.”

“A very clever one.” Oliver was clenching his teeth at that point. “Find her.” He spun on the heels of his Ferragamos and marched back into his father’s private suite.

“Can we at least say hello?” Dickie called from the hallway.

This time, the orderly asked him to, “Please keep your voice down.”

“Come on, Bart. We have a hunting trip to go on.”

* * *

Milton was sitting up in bed. Most of the color had returned to his cheeks. “Everything alright, son?”

Myra took her cue and moved to the alcove sitting area of the room.

“Yeah. Just a situation with one of the drivers.”

“Oh, that reminds me. I have a new employee lined up for you.”

Oliver looked perplexed. “A new employee? For what?”

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