“Is Sheriff Churchill’s disappearance just talk?”
“Um!... Sheriff Churchill—to be sure. Disappeared. Um!... Gabble, gabble, gabble.”
“Talk of murder is not gabble,” said Carmel.
“Ugly word.... Shouldn’t use it. Makes me shiver.” He shivered like a gelatin dessert. “Forget such talk. My advice—straight from the heart.... Stirs things up—things best forgot. Best let rest for the sake of wife and children.... Paper can’t live here without my support. Can’t be done. Can’t conscientiously support a paper that stirs up things.”
“Is that a threat, Mr. Fownes.”
“Goodness, no! Gracious, no! Just want to help.... Kind heart, Miss Lee. Always think of me as a kind heart. Love to do things for folks.... Love to do things for you.”
“Thank you, Mr. Fownes. You hold a chattel mortgage on this plant.”
“Don’t think of it. Not a breath of worry—cancel it if you say so—cancel it this minute.”
“In consideration of what?”
“Why—you put it so sharplike, so direct. I wasn’t thinking of consideration. Just being friendly and helpful.... Public-spirited gift to Gibeon. Newspaper a wonderful benefit to a town—the right kind of a newspaper.”