The woman really believed the boy was Blan Forsythe's child. It was pathetic. And that reference to Donald's having "the power:" Truggles wondered how many women he had known who thought their sons were "different," who even convinced themselves that the children had been sired by a dream prince or such like. Deluded souls, to so excuse their sins!
He straightened and ran his fingers through his short-clipped gray hair as he strode along the walk. The extensive lawn of Blan Forsythe's mansion stretched only two doors away from the bungalow he had just left. It was decked with flower beds and evergreens.
Truggles was too circumspect to do anything openly at this stage. But he shook a fist at the stone pile, mentally.
Behind him, Truggles had a record of nothing but successes. There had been the alcoholic in Hantown, the Negro fortuneteller in New Bacon, the member of some queer religious sect in Steckleville. Truggles had set his face against them. He had shown the people of these towns what manner of creatures they harbored in their bosoms. They had been driven out (it was unfortunate, in a way, that the alcoholic had been hit by a brick and killed in the confusion of public reaction, but such accidents happen); and eventually Truggles himself, purring inwardly at the consciousness of a job well done, had moved on to fields of further effort.
Blan Forsythe was not big enough to escape his righteousness.
If the mayor of Marston Hill would cooperate, it would save Masefield Truggles a lot of work and possibly some unpleasantness for everyone. Sometimes mayors did cooperate, especially when elections weren't far off.
Truggles was not offended that Mayor Ben Sands received him in the garden of his home on the edge of town. He had known many fine gentlemen with dirt on their hands who abhorred dirt in the mind.
"I haven't seen Blan much lately, but he used to spend a lot of time out here," said Sands, taking his battered pipe from his mouth to speak. "He was interested in the flowers. Those asters, now. They're tetraploid. He developed 'em. Used colchicine."
He looked at Truggles inquiringly, to see if he understood. Truggles allowed a smile to quirk his lips and shook his head slightly.