They looked at each other seriously for several moments.
“And that ain’t the funniest part of it,” said Uncle Hozie. “Laura told Honey that I was goin’ to loan ’em Lonnie Myers to run the HJ—and there ain’t never been any mention of me loanin’ anybody.”
“She made it all up, Hozie?”
“’Course she did. Her father’s a broker in Philadelphia, and I s’pose Laura inherited her ability to tell p’lite lies from him. But it’s all right, ain’t it, Curt?”
“Fine! Ma will be glad. She has to watch Honey like a hawk to keep him from cuttin’ L.H. on all the furniture.”
They chuckled together for several moments. Then—
“Hozie, what’s this talk about mebbe Jim’s death wasn’t an accident?”
“Wimmin,” said Hozie quickly. “Old wimmin talkin’.”
“Uh-huh. Yeah, I s’pose it is. I don’t like it, Hozie. But a while ago I got to thinkin’ about Jim. Where’s that note? Ed Merrick must ’a’ signed a copy for Jim. Merrick’s got his copy signed by Jim.”
“Whoever got the money must ’a’ took the note, Curt.”