Free A Killing at Cotton Hill by Terry Shames Page A

landman for his oil and gas exploration business. Landmen are in demand in Texas because so many folks want to find out if they have oil or gas on their property that’s worth drilling for. When he first offered me the job, I said, “DeWitt, I don’t know a thing about being a landman.”
    He said, “Samuel, you’ve got the first part down. You know this part of the state like the back of your hand. And the specifics of oil and gas I can teach you in a week.”
    And he was right. He was a shrewd businessman with a nose for oil and gas, and he said I was a quick study. I made a good living at it until I retired when Jeanne got sick. In the process I learned a good deal about what land was worth in the county—farm and ranch land, agricultural land and commercial enterprises, in addition to natural resources. What Clyde Underwood offered Dora Lee you wouldn’t offer for swampland.
    I sit back and put my feet up on the desk and consider if Clyde Underwood knew about Dora Lee’s precarious financial situation. If I hadn’t just talked to Gary Dellmore, I might not have put it together, but something tells me that Clyde had an inside track on who was hurting for money around here. And that inside track had to come from the person who held the mortgage on Dora Lee’s place. That man is Gary Dellmore. I wonder what Underwood really wants with the land. There’s never been an oil or gas find right around here.
    I’m thinking myself into a fine temper, when I hear a car engine approaching the house. I step into the front room and see Rodell come wheeling up into the side yard, skewing the car to a stop. I go out to meet him, hoping I can head him off of Greg’s trail.
    Rodell untangles himself from his black Chevrolet and eyes me up and down. I can smell the alcohol leeching out of his pores. His eyes are bloodshot. “You’ve got yourself all set up out here, ain’t you?”
    â€œLet’s cut to the chase, Rodell. What is it you’re after?”
    â€œI’m here to let you know I got a call from a Mr. Leslie Parjeter. He wanted to know what kind of a person you were, and what business you had nosing around Dora Lee’s place. He said you took it upon yourself to inform him of Dora Lee’s murder.”
    â€œUh, huh. And you told him what?”
    â€œI told him I’d come out here and check things out.”
    â€œIs that a fact? Well, now you’ve checked things out, how about if you tell Mr. Parjeter that everything’s fine.”
    â€œI can’t do that, Samuel. You’re harboring the criminal that most likely killed poor Dora Lee. For all I know the two of you have cooked up to kill her and take over her property.”
    I’d laugh if I didn’t know that Rodell is like a skunk. He can’t do much damage, but he could sure stink up the place. “I’ll tell you what. Why don’t you tell Mr. Parjeter that if he’s worried he should come on over here and see for himself?”
    Rodell studies me for a minute. He’s not equipped to argue in a rational way, and it’s rarely called for. “Maybe I’ll just do that,” he says.
    Then I have an idea how I can soothe Rodell’s feathers and find out something at the same time. “Rodell, you being the law around here, maybe you can answer a question. Has anybody mentioned seeing somebody out here with a fancy car that they didn’t recognize?”
    Rodell ponders the question. “I don’t recall such a thing. I’m going to have to ask my lieutenants about that. How come you want to know?”
    â€œDora Lee told me she saw somebody driving past her place more than once that kind of spooked her.”
    Rodell squints his eyes. “I fail to see how that’s any of your affair. You leave it to me and my men to figure out what’s been going on out here.”
    â€œRodell, I’m going to do just that. I