Free Death of a Dyer by Eleanor Kuhns Page B

well, but Sam’s violent belligerence surprised him.
    The farmer in front of the first fellow turned around. Although in homespun, the linsey-woolsey had been dyed a dark blue. “Will?” Rees looked at the man without recognition. “Adam Barlow.” Rees stared in amazement. This grizzled fellow with the paunch was the elfin Adam? “I heard you were back. Are you planning to settle down on the farm now?”
    “For a little while,” Rees said. “Nice to see you again.”
    As the line moved inside, other men recognized him and he developed a rhythm. “Yes, I’m back for a little while. I still weave. No, I don’t plan to sell the farm; my son is managing it right now.”
    He was relieved when, on some unseen signal, everyone else cleared out. He found a table and sat down. Jack Jr., as lanky and towheaded as his father had been at that age, brought him a slice of Sally Lunn bread. “Coffee?”
    “Please.”
    “I’ll tell my parents you’re here.”
    A few minutes later, Susannah hurried out. Her curly hair sprang out from under her cap in tight ringlets. “Willie,” she cried, scurrying across the floor. “How nice to see you again.” Rising to his feet, Rees gestured her to a seat at the table. Dimpling up at him, she sat down, saying, “Are your ears burning? Everyone is talking about you. You’re studying Nate’s death, I hear.” Rees stared at her in consternation. She smiled mockingly. “This is a small town, remember? Not much goes on that we don’t hear about.”
    Rees offered her a sickly smile and replied with as much gallantry as he could muster. “I knew I should apply to you and Jack for answers.”
    As he spoke, Jack came out of the back, his belly straining against his apron. An old schoolmate, although a few years older, the lanky boy Rees once knew had matured into a balding, self-confident businessman. “Do you and Suze have a few moments to speak to me?”
    “Of course. None of us wants a killer running loose.”
    Rees eyed his old friend with interest. “You didn’t like Nate, if I recall,”
    “You recall correctly,” Jack said with a nod. “He exhibited a sweeter side to you. But you didn’t live in town, and you missed a lot of school. You never saw him bully the smaller boys.”
    Rees said nothing. He had seen that side. He recalled many a fistfight with Nate, who would fling himself upon Rees in a sudden frenzy. But even as a boy, Rees had been taller and stronger than most, and Nate always lost to him. “Did he bully his family?” he asked, although he recalled no bruises or marks upon Molly or the children.
    “I don’t know.” Jack looked at his wife. “Do the women talk?”
    Rees smiled at Susannah, who was frowning at her husband. “I hope so,” he said. Female observation and discussion had helped him in the past more times than he could count.
    “With maturity came a certain steadiness,” she said. “He was almost too benign. Many of us thought Richard could use a firmer hand.”
    “Who would want to murder him?”
    “Other than Richard?” Susannah asked with a smile.
    “No one,” said Jack. “Everyone. He was tough in business but reclusive. Even I, who grew up with him, always felt I didn’t know him well.” Susannah nodded.
    “And Richard?” Rees said. “What do you think of him?”
    Jack and Susannah exchanged a long look. “I wouldn’t want to accuse him of murdering his father,” Jack finally admitted.
    His wife nodded in agreement. “But he was a bully, too,” Susannah said. “Jack Jr. used to come home covered with bruises.”
    “Like father, like son,” Jack murmured.
    “I’m looking for the boy now,” Rees said. “I want to talk to him before the constable jails him.”
    Both Jack and Susannah shook their heads. “We haven’t seen him,” Jack said.
    “I thought he might be with Augustus,” Rees said.
    “You know about Augie?” Susannah said in surprise.
    “I know a little. He’s Rachel’s boy and grew up with