“What happened to them?” Penny asked, surprised by the remark.
“Don’t you ever read the Star?”
“I didn’t today. Too busy. Tell me about the Doolittles, Jerry.”
“Mr. Doolittle was taking a load of melons to market. Another truck brushed him on the River road. The melon truck upset, and the entire shipment was lost.”
“Can’t he get damages?”
“Doolittle didn’t learn who was responsible.”
“Was it an accident or done deliberately?” Penny asked thoughtfully.
“Sheriff Daniels thinks it was an accident. I’m inclined to believe the Black Hoods may have had something to do with it.”
“Why should anyone wish to make trouble for Mr. Doolittle, Jerry? All his life he has stayed on his little truck farm, and strictly attended to his own affairs.”
“There’s only one possible reason so far as I know,” the reporter answered. “Not long ago Doolittle refused to join the Holloway County Cooperative, an organization that markets crops for the truck farmers.”