“Got me out and I’ll be staying out this time. Third time’s the charm, they say. I’ll kill a man to keep from going back if I have to.” He cracked his knuckles and gave Archer a look that made him conclude that Dickie Dill ever not being behind bars was not a good thing for the rest of humanity.
He wore faded dungarees and what looked to be a homespun shirt tucked in with dusty brogans on his feet. His belt was a length of braided rope, and his old porkpie hat was creased, worn, and stained. The few teeth he had were displayed in a perpetual snarl.
“You checking in with Miss Crabtree, were you?” asked Dill, eyeing the building behind them. “I was in there not mor’n half hour ago. She’s a looker all right, but a cold fish. Gal needs a man to warm her up.”
Archer briefly wondered if Dill was the subject of the comments on the page in the typewriter. He could see all of them fairly applying. He put his hand in his pocket and felt the balled-up note. And was Dill also the author of that? Archer could see that being the case, too, particularly given the violence and misspellings.
“Just finished up. A woman as a parole officer? What’s her story anyway?”
“Ain’t you never heard of Carson Crabtree?”
“Doesn’t ring any bells. Guess he’s related?”
“Her daddy.”
“Okay, everybody’s got a daddy.”
“Yeah, but Carson Crabtree done killed three people down in Texas, oh, been more than a dozen years gone by now.”
Archer processed this. “Three people. What for?”
“Man was just mean. They ’lectrocuted his ass.”
“Being mean doesn’t sound like enough reason to murder three people.”
Dill thumped his thumb against his temple. “Touched in the head, more like. You know, crazy, I ’spose. To kill a man you got to be, or else he done you a wrong and you’re just settlin’ matters. Not a damn thing wrong with that and I got experience that way.”
“Not sure the law would agree with that, Dickie.”
“That’s your goddamn problem, Archer, you think rules is all there is.”
“More or less what the Army taught me.”
“Hellfire, boy, you ain’t in uniform no more. Live life and kick you some ass now and then.”
Archer looked thoughtful as he glanced back at the steps he’d just come down. “Maybe Miss Crabtree is overcompensating then.” He said this more to himself than Dill.
“Come again?” said Dill, eyes twitching and his sideburns doing the same. “What’s that mean?”
“Her father was a criminal, so now she’s working to help other criminals turn away from their bad ways.”
“Oh, right, I see. Hey, I’m thinking ’bout maybe having a go at her. Like I said, gal needs a man to tell her what’s what.”
Archer emphatically shook his head. “You do not want to do that, Dickie, trust me.”
“Why not? I think she might cotton to me after a while.”
“You do anything, touch one hair on her head, say one word out of line, and they’ll send your butt right back to Carderock, and you won’t be getting out ever.”
Dill eyed him funny, but there was alarm in the man’s eyes, too.
“You sure ’bout that?”
“Damn sure, Dickie. Don’t try it. Promise me now. I’m looking out for you.”
“Oh, all right then. I promise. Thanks for the advice, Archer.”
“You working?”
“Yeah, got me a job at the slaughterhouse. Would be there already ’cept I had my talk with Miss Crabtree and then lined my belly over at a diner. Truck’s gonna take me out now.”
“What’s it you do there?”
Dill grinned ferociously. “Kill the dang hogs.”
“How do you do that?”
“Smack ’em in the head with a sledgehammer.” He pointed to a spot on his own skull. “Right about here. They don’t feel no pain. Less I don’t kill ’em with the first pop. I try to, though. Hell, man, you know how much pork this here country eats?”
“Never gave it a minute’s thought.”
“A lot. Bacon and sausage and something called cutlets. Me, I can’t stomach it. I’m up to my ass in blood and hog brains all day long. Gets to you after a while. But it pays good. Got dollars in my pocket. Got three other ex-cons from Carderock working there.”
“Miss Crabtree’s suggestion?”
“Yep. Got the job same day. They need skull crushers. I don’t mind it. I mean, somebody’s got to do it, if you want your bacon, right?”