Hashknife smiled at them and rolled a cigarette.
“It kinda looks to me as though the law is stuck,” observed Honey.
“It is,” smiled Hashknife.
He scratched a match on the steps, lighted his cigarette and turned to Honey.
“Honey, who is there in this country that likes Joe Rich and didn’t like Jim Wheeler?”
Honey scratched his elbow on his hip and blinked.
“Never heard of anythin’ like that,” he said. “Everybody liked Jim, and everybody liked Joe. What’sa idea, Hashknife?”
“Just curiosity. Everybody knows that Joe Rich stole that five thousand from Jim Wheeler, and the sheriff thinks somebody is hidin’ Joe.”
“I see yore idea. He thinks Joe is bein’ taken care of by somebody, eh?”
“That’s the only solution, Honey. He’s got to eat and have a place to hide out. It must be somebody that likes Joe too well to turn him in for the reward—somebody that don’t care about the loss of the HJ.”