Chapter 3 II

I DONT KNOW if law enforcement work is more dangerous now than what it used to be or not. I know when I first took office youd have a fistfight somewheres and youd go to break it up and theyd offer to fight you. to accommodate em. They wouldn't have it no other way. And youd better not lose, neither. You dont see that so much no more, but maybe you see worse. I had a man pull a gun on me one time and it happened that I grabbed it just as he went to fire and the plunger on the hammer went right through the fleshy part of my thumb. You can see the mark of it there. But that man had ever intention of killin me. A few years ago and it wasn't that many neither I was goin out one of these little two lane blacktop roads of a night and I come up on a pickup truck that they was two old boys settin in the bed of it. They kindly blinked in the lights and I backed off some but the truck had Coahuila plates on it and I thought, well, I need to stop these old boys and take a look. So I hit the lights and whenever I done that I seen the slider window in the back of the cab open and here come somebody passin a shotgun out the window to the old boy settin in the bed of the truck. Ill tell you right now I hit them brakes with both feet. It skidded the unit sideways to where the lights was goin out into the brush but the last thing I seen in the bed of the truck was the old boy puttin that shotgun to his shoulder. I hit the seat and I just had hit it when here come the windshield all over me in them little bitty pieces they break up into. I still had one foot on the brake and I could feel the cruiser slidin down into the bar ditch and I thought it was goin to roll but it didnt. It filled the car just full of dirt. The old boy he opened up on me twice more and shot all the glass out of one side of the cruiser and by then Id come to a stop and I laid there in the seat, had my pistol out, and I heard that pickup leave out and I raised up and fired several shots at the taillights but they was long gone.

Point bein you dont know what all youre stoppin when you do stop somebody. You take out on the highway. You walk up to a car and you dont know what youre able to find. I set there in that cruiser for a long time. motor had died but the lights was still on. Cab full of glass and dirt. I got out and kindly shook myself off and got back in and just set there. Just kindly collectin my thoughts. Windshield wipers hangin in on the dashboard. take somebody that will actually throw down on a law enforcement officer and open fire, you have got some very serious people. I never saw that truck again. Nobody else did neither. I drove back to Sanderson and pulled in at the cafe and Ill tell you they come from all over to see that cruiser. It was shot just full of holes. Looked like the Bonnie and Clyde car. I didnt have a mark on me. Not even from all that glass. I was criticized for that too. Parkin there like I done. They said I was showin out. Well, maybe I was. But I needed that cup of coffee too, Ill tell you.

I read the papers ever mornin. Mostly I suppose just to try and figure out what might be headed this way. Not that Ive done all that good a job at headin it off. It keeps gettin harder. Here a while back they was two boys run into one another and one of em was from California and one from Florida. And they met somewhere or other in between. And then they set out together travelin around the country killin people. I forget how many they did kill. Now what are the chances of a thing like that! Them two had never laid eyes on one another. I dont think. Well, we dont know. Here the other day they was a woman put her baby in a trash compactor. Who would think of such a thing? My wife wont read the papers no more. .

BELL CLIMBED THE REAR steps of the courthouse and went down the hall to his office. He swiveled his chair around and sat and looked at the telephone. Go ahead, he said. Im here. The phone rang. He reached and picked it up. Sheriff Bell, he said. He listened. He nodded. Mrs Downie I believe hell come down directly. Why dont you call me back here in a little bit. Yes mam. He took off his hat and put it on the desk and sat with his eyes closed, pinching the bridge of his nose. Yes mam, he said. Yes mam. Mrs Downie I havent seen that many dead cats in trees. I think hell come down directly if youll just leave him be. You call me back in a little bit, you hear?

He hung the phone up and sat looking at it. Its money, he said. You have enough money you dont have to talk to people about cats in trees. Well. Maybe you do. The radio squawked. He picked up the receiver and pushed the button and put his feet up on the desk. Bell, he said. He sat listening. He lowered his feet to the floor and sat up. Get the keys and look in the turtle. Thats all right. Im right here. He drummed his fingers on the desk. All right. Keep your lights on. Ill be there in fifty minutes. And Torbert? Shut the trunk. He and Wendell pulled onto the paved shoulder in front of the unit and parked and got out. Torbert got out and was standing by the door of his car. The sheriff nodded. He walked along the edge of the roadway studying the tire tracks. seen this, I reckon, he said.

Yessir. Well lets take a look. Torbert opened the trunk and they stood looking at the body. The front of the mans shirt was covered with blood, partly dried. His whole face was bloody. Bell leaned and reached into the trunk and took something from the mans shirt pocket and unfolded it. It was a bloodstained receipt for gas from a service station in Junction Texas. Well, he said. This was the end of the road for Bill Wyrick. I didn't look to see if he had a billfold on him. Thats all right. He dont. This here was just dumb luck. He studied the hole in the mans forehead. Looks like a .45. Clean. Almost like a wadcutter.

Whats a wadcutter? Its a target round. You got the keys? Yessir. Bell shut the trunklid. He looked around. Passing trucks on the interstate were downshifting as they approached. Ive already talked to Lamar. Told him he can have his unit back in about three days. the mornin. I aint loadin him into one of our units and he damn sure dont need a helicopter. You take Lamars unit back to Sonora when you get done and call and me or Wendell one will come and get you. You got any money? Yessir. Fill out the report same as any report. Yessir. White male, late thirties, medium build. How do you spell Wyrick?

You dont spell it. We dont know what his name is. Yessir. He might have a family somewhere. Yessir. Sheriff? Yes. What do we have on the perpetrator? We dont. Give Wendell your keys for you forget it. They are in the unit. Well lets not be leavin keys in the units. Yessir. Ill see you in two days time. Yessir. I hope that son of a bitch is in California. Yessir. I know what you mean. I got a feelin he aint. Yessir. I do too. Wendell, are you ready? Wendell leaned and spat. Yessir, he said. Im ready. He looked at Torbert. You get stopped with that old boy in the turtle just tell em you dont know nothin about it. Tell em somebody must of put him in there while you was havin coffee.

Torbert nodded. You and the sheriff goin to come down and get me off of death row? If we cant get you out well get in there with you. You all don't be makin light of the dead that away, Bell said. Wendell nodded. Yessir, he said. Youre right. I might be one myself some day. Driving out 90 toward the turnoff at Dryden he came across a hawk dead in the road. He saw the feathers move in the wind. He pulled over and got out and walked back and squatted on his bootheels and looked at it. He raised one wing and let it fall again. Cold yellow eye dead to the blue vault above them. It was a big redtail. He picked it up by one wingtip and carried it to the bar ditch and laid it in the grass. They would hunt the blacktop, sitting on the high powerpoles and watching the highway in both directions for miles. Any small thing that might venture to cross. Closing on their prey against the sun. Shadowless. Lost in the concentration of the hunter. He wouldn't have the trucks running over it.

He stood there looking out across the desert. So quiet. Low hum of wind in the wires. High bloodweeds along the road. Wiregrass and sacahuista. Beyond in the stone arroyos the tracks of dragons. The raw rock mountains shadowed in the late sun and to the east the shimmering abscissa of the desert plains under a sky where raincurtains hung dark as soot all along the quadrant. That god lives in silence who has scoured the following land with salt and ash. He walked back to the cruiser and got in and pulled away. When he pulled up in front of the sheriffs office in Sonora the first thing he saw was the yellow tape stretched across the parking lot. A small courthouse crowd. He got out and crossed the street.

What happened, Sheriff? I dont know, said Bell. I just got here. He ducked under the tape and went up the steps. Lamar looked up when he tapped at the door. Come in, Ed Tom, he said. Come in. We got hell to pay here. They walked out on the courthouse lawn. Some of the men followed them. You all go on, said Lamar. Me and the sheriff here need to talk. He looked haggard. He looked at Bell and he looked at the ground. He shook his head and looked away. I used to play mumbledypeg here when I was a boy. These youngsters today I dont think would even know what that was. Ed Tom this is a damned lunatic. I hear you. You got anything to go on? Not really. Lamar looked away. He wiped his eyes with the back of his sleeve. Ill tell you right now. This son of a bitch will never see a day in court. Not if I catch him he wont. Well, we need to catch him first. That boy was married. I didn't know that. Twenty-three year old. Clean cut boy. Straight as a die. Now I got to go out to his house fore his wife hears it on the damn radio. I dont envy you that. I sure dont. I think Im going to quit, Ed Tom. You want me to go out there with you? No. I appreciate it. I need to go. All right. I just have this feelin were looking at somethin we really aint never even seen before. I got the same feelin. Let me call you this evenin. I appreciate it. He watched Lamar cross the lawn and climb the steps to his office. I hope you dont quit, he said. I think were goin to need all of you we can get. WHEN THEY PULLED up in front of the cafe it was one-twenty in the morning. There were only three people on the bus. Sanderson, the driver said. Moss made his way forward. Hed seen the driver eyeing him in the mirror. Listen, he said. Do you think you could let me out down at the Desert Aire? I got a bad leg and I live down there but I got nobody to pick me up. The driver shut the door. Yeah, he said. I can do that. When he walked in she got up off the couch and ran and put her arms around his neck. I thought you was dead, she said. Well I aint so dont go to slobberin. I aint. Why dont you fix me some bacon and eggs while I take a shower. Let me see that cut on your head. What happened to you? Wheres your truck at? I need to take a shower. Fix me somethin to eat. My stomach thinks my throats been cut. When he came out of the shower he was wearing a pair of shorts and when he sat at the little formica table in the kitchen the first thing she said was Whats that on the back of your arm? How many eggs is this? Four. You got any more toast? They two more pieces comin. What is that, Llewelyn? What would you like to hear? The truth. He sipped his coffee and set about salting his eggs. You aint goin to tell me, are you? No. What happened to your leg? It broke out in a rash. She buttered the fresh toast and put it on the plate and sat in the chair opposite. I like to eat breakfast of a night, he said. Takes me back to my bachelor days. What is goin on, Llewelyn? Heres whats goin on, Carla Jean. You need to get your stuff packed and be ready to roll out of here come daylight. Whatever you leave you aint goin to see it again so if you want it dont leave it. Theres a bus leaves out of here at seven-fifteen in the mornin. I want you to go to Odessa and wait there till I can call you. She sat back in the chair and watched him. You want me to go to Odessa, she said. Thats correct. You aint kiddin, are you? Me? No. I aint kiddin a bit. Are we out of preserves? She got up and got the preserves out of the refrigerator and set them on the table and sat back down. He unscrewed the jar and ladled some onto his toast and spread it with his knife. Whats in that satchel you brought in? I told you what was in that satchel. You said it was full of money. Well then I reckon thats whats in it. Where's it at? Under the bed in the back room. Under the bed. Yes mam. Can I go back there and look? Youre free white and twenty-one so I reckon you can do whatever you want. I aint twenty-one. Well whatever you are. And you want me to get on a bus and go to Odessa. You are gettin on a bus and goin to Odessa. What am I supposed to tell Mama? Well, try standin in the door and hollerin: Mama, Im home. Where's your truck at? Gone the way of all flesh. Nothins forever. How are we supposed to get down there in the mornin? Call Miss Rosa over yonder. She aint got nothin to do. What have you done, Llewelyn? I robbed the bank at Fort Stockton. Youre a lyin sack of you know what. If you aint goin to believe me whatd you ask me for? You need to get on back there and get your stuff together. We got about four hours till daylight. Let me see that thing on your arm. You done seen it. Let me put something thin on it. Yeah, I think theres some buckshot salve in the cabinet if we aint out. Will you go on and quit aggravatin me? Im tryin to eat. Did you get shot? No. I just said that to get you stirred up. Go on now. HE CROSSED THE Pecos River just north of Sheffield Texas and took route 349 south. When he pulled into the filling station at Sheffield it was almost dark. A long red twilight with doves crossing the highway heading south toward some ranch tanks. He got change from the proprietor and made a phone call and filled the tank and went back in and paid. You all gettin any rain up your way? the proprietor said. Which way would that be? I saw you was from Dallas. Chigurh picked his change up off the counter. And what business is it of yours where Im from, friendo? I didn't mean nothin by it. You didn't mean nothing by it. I was just passin the time of day. I guess that passes for manners in your cracker view of things. Well sir, I apologized. If you dont want to accept my apology I dont know what else I can do for you. How much are these? Sir? I said how much are these. Sixty-nine cents. Chigurh unfolded a dollar onto the counter. The man rang it up and stacked the change before him the way a dealer places chips. Chigurh hadnt taken his eyes from him. The man looked away. his teeth and doled a third part of them into his palm and stood eating. Will there be something thin else? the man said. I dont know. Will there? Is there something thin wrong? With what? With anything. Is that what you asking me? Is there something wrong with anything? The man turned away and put his fist to his mouth and coughed again. He looked at Chigurh and he looked away. He looked out the window at the front of the store. The gas pumps and the car sitting there. Chigurh ate another small handful of the cashews. Will there be anything else? You've already asked me that. Well I need to see about closure. See about closing. Yessir. What time do you close? Now. We close now. Now is not a time. What time do you close. Generally around dark. At dark. Chigurh stood slowly chewing. You dont know what youre talking about, do you? Sir? I said you dont know what youre talking about do you. Im talkin about closin. Thats what Im talkin about. What time do you go to bed. Sir? Youre a bit deaf, arent you? I said what time do you go to bed. Well. Id say around nine-thirty. Somewhere around nine-thirty. Chigurh poured more cashews into his palm. I could come back then, he said. Well be closed then. That's all right. Well why would you be comin back? Well be closed. You said that. Well we will. You live in that house behind the store? Yes I do. You've lived here all your life? The proprietor took a while to answer. This was my wifes fathers place, he said. Originally. You married into it. We lived in Temple Texas for many years. Raised a family there. In Temple. We come out here about four years ago. You married into it. If thats the way you want to put it. I dont have some way to put it. Thats the way it is. Well I need to close now. Chigurh poured the last of the cashews into his palm and wadded the little bag and placed it on the counter. He stood oddly erect, chewing. You seem to have a lot of questions, the proprietor said. For somebody that dont want to say where it is theyre from. Whats the most you ever saw lost on a coin toss? Sir? I said whats the most you ever saw lost on a coin toss. Coin toss? Coin toss. I dont know. Folks dont generally bet on a coin toss. Its usually more like just to settle somethin. Whats the biggest thing you ever saw settled? I dont know. Chigurh took a twenty-five cent piece from his pocket and flipped it spinning into the bluish glare of the fluorescent lights overhead. He caught it and slapped it onto the back of his forearm just above the bloody wrappings. Call it, he said. Call it? Yes. For what? Just call it. Well I need to know what it is were callin here. How would that change anything? The man looked at Chigurhs eyes for the first time. Blue as lapis. At once glistening and totally opaque. Like wet stones. You need to call it, Chigurh said. be right. Just call it. I didnt put nothin up. Yes you did. You've been putting it up your whole life. You just didn't know it. You know what the date is on this coin? No. Its nineteen fifty-eight. Its been traveling twenty-two years to get here. And now its here. And Im here. And Ive got my hand over it. I dont know what it is I stand to win. In the blue light the mans face was beaded thinly with sweat. He licked his upper lip. You stand to win everything, Chigurh said. Everything. You aint makin any sense, mister. Call it. Heads then. Chigurh uncovered the coin. He turned his arm slightly for the man to see. Well done, he said. He picked the coin from his wrist and handed it across. What do I want with that? Take it. Its your lucky coin. I don't need it. Yes you do. Take it. The man took the coin. I got to close now, he said. Don't put it in your pocket. Sir? Don't put it in your pocket. Where do you want me to put it? Dont put it in your pocket. You wont know which one it is. All right. Anything can be an instrument, Chigurh said. Small things. Things you wouldn't even notice. They pass from hand to hand. People dont pay attention. And then one day theres an accounting. .Its just a coin. For instance. Nothing special there. What could that be an instrument of? You see the problem. To separate the act from the thing. As if the parts of some moment in history might be interchangeable with the parts of some other moment. that be? Well, its just a coin. Yes. Thats true. Is it? Chigurh cupped his hand and scooped his change from the counter into his palm and put the change in his pocket and turned and walked out the door. The proprietor watched him go. Watched him get into the car. The car started and pulled off from the gravel apron onto the highway south. The lights never did come on. He laid the coin on the counter and looked at it. He put both hands on the counter and just stood leaning there with his head bowed. When he got to Dryden it was about eight oclock. He sat at the intersection in front of Condras Feed Store with the lights off and the motor running. Then he turned the lights on and pulled out on highway 90 headed east. The white marks at the side of the road when he found them looked like surveyors marks but there were no numbers, just the chevrons. He marked the mileage on the odometer and drove another mile and slowed and turned off the highway. lights and left the motor running and got out and walked down and opened the gate and came back. He drove across the bars of the cattleguard and got out and closed the gate again and stood there listening. Then he got in the car and drove out down the rutted track. He followed a southrunning fence, the Ford wallowing over the bad ground. The fence was just an old remnant, three wires strung on mesquite posts. In a mile or so he came out on a gravel plain where a Dodge Ramcharger was parked facing toward him .He pulled slowly alongside it and shut down the engine. The Ramchargers windows were tinted so dark they looked black. Chigurh opened the door and got out. A man got out on the passenger side of the Dodge and folded the seat forward and climbed into the rear. Chigurh walked around the vehicle and got in and shut the door. Lets go, he said. Have you talked to him? the driver said. No. He dont know what happened? No. Lets go. They rolled out across the desert in the dark. When do you aim to tell him? the driver said. When I know what it is that Im telling him. When they came to Mosss truck Chigurh leaned forward to study it. Is that his truck? Thats it. Plates is gone. Pull up here. Have you got a screwdriver? Look in the jockeybox there. Chigurh got out with the screwdriver and walked over to the truck and opened the door. He pried the aluminum inspection plate off of the rivets inside the door and put it in his pocket and came back and got in and put the screwdriver back in the glovebox. Who cut the tires? It wasn't us. Chigurh noded. Lets go, he said. They parked some distance from the trucks and walked down to look at them. Chigurh stood there a long time. It was cold out on the barrial and he had no jacket but he didnt seem to notice. The other two men stood waiting. He had a flashlight in his hand and he turned it on and walked among the trucks and looked at the bodies. The two men followed at a small distance. Whose dog? Chigurh said. We don't know. He stood looking in at the dead man slumped across the console of the Bronco. He shone the light into the cargo space behind the seats. Where's the box? he said. Its in the truck. You want it? Can you get anything on it? No. Nothing? Not a bleep. Chigurh studied the dead man. He jostled him with his flashlight. These are some ripe petunias, one of the men said. Chigurh didnt answer. He backed out of the truck and stood looking over the bajada in the moonlight. Dead quiet. The man in the Bronco had not been dead three days or anything like it. turned around to where the two men were standing and shot them once each through the head in rapid succession and put the gun back in his belt. The second man had actually half turned to look at the first as he fell. Chigurh stepped between them and bent and pulled away the shoulder-strap from the second man and swung up the nine millimeter Glock hed been carrying and walked back out to the vehicle and got in and started it and backed around and drove up out of the caldera and back toward the highway .