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Page 59
mouth when his face began to color. "Sorry," he muttered, "I usually don't get sloppy with my talk when I'm around ladies."
"What kind of weird shit are you referring to?" Brenda smiled. In one fell swoop she put the big man back at ease.
Madden lowered his voice again. I'm not sure why, since we were the only ones in the place besides the waitress, who was listening to the radio. "To tell the truth, when I walked in here and saw you two, I figured you might be reporters. If you was, though, you'd be the first ones that stayed overnight."
"Reporters?" Brenda was working him over. Now it was the wide-eyed, innocent question routine. I wondered if Jake Madden had any idea what kind of buzz saw he was seated next to.
"Well," Jake confided, "seems like a couple of 'em have been showin' up just about every day. They ask a few questions, go down to the drugstore, talk to Percy Kramer, ask me if they can go out to the Carson farm to see where it happened and by nightfall, they've hightailed it outta' town."
"See what?" Honest to God, she was actually fluttering her eyes at him.
"Surely you heard about it," Jake wheezed. "It's been in all the newspapers and was even on television over at Thunder

 
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