Read Online Red Dog Saloon by R.D. Sherrill - Free Book Online Page A

didn’t care much what went on, especially since he was dealing
more than alcohol from behind his bar. We’re talking cocaine, pot and pills. It
was like a drug store.
    Sam
stopped the story teller for a moment, wondering aloud about any incidents that
could have left bad blood over the years. Cliff scratched his scraggly beard as
he considered the question for a moment.
    “There
were a couple of stabbings out there but those were over women,” Cliff began as
pressed his brain for details. “And there was Jim Cole who was beaten to death
with a pool cue out there. That was reportedly over a gambling debt. They
charged Sid Bouldin with it but the jury ended up hung since all the witnesses
as well as the victim were drunk when the killing happened. Some even claimed
Earl Cutts did it himself trying to break up a brawl before they busted up his
bar. I guess we’ll never know who did it for sure since Earl supposedly burned
up when the Red Dog burned down.”
    “Supposedly?”
Sam asked.
    “Well,
sheriff, if you’d bother reading my story on the fire you’d notice they only
found his dentures in the rubble,” Cliff responded. “Granted, it wasn’t the
most meticulous fire scene investigation in history since your predecessor did
it but they did sift through what was left and didn’t find any other remains.
That’s why my story read he was assumed dead.”
    “Couldn’t
the fire have been hot enough to incinerate his remains?” Sam posed.
    “Sure,
and that’s probably what happened. It was a huge fire. The flames could be seen
clearly all the way in town,” Cliff agreed. “It really doesn’t matter since
Earl would be pretty deep into his eighties by now if he wasn’t burned up in
the fire.”
    “What
did you mean about my predecessor?” Sam asked.
    The
sheriff caught the reporter’s barb at the former sheriff’s handling
of the crime scene investigation.
    “All
I’m saying is no one went out of their way to figure out who torched the
place,” Cliff said. “They didn’t even call in the fire marshal’s office. They
just worked it themselves, the sheriff’s department that is, and shoved it in
the closed case files. If you ask me they were glad Earl went up in smoke along
with the old Red Dog. I got the feeling they really didn’t want to find out who
done it.”
    While
enlightened by the reporter’s chronicling of the history of the old bar, Sam
was still disappointed as the newsman had been unable to shed any light on a
connection between the murders and the long-gone tavern.
    “I
suppose a lot of secrets burned up along with the late Mr. Cutts,” Sam surmised.
“I’d hoped to find a common thread between our murders and the old bar but I
guess that was just wishful thinking.”
    “Sorry
I couldn’t help you sheriff but I honestly can’t think of anything that would
have hung around so long, that is unless Earl Cutts has come back from the
ashes to seek his revenge,” Cliff chuckled as he banged his pipe on the
edge of his desk as if to clean it out. “You don’t believe in ghosts do you
sheriff?”
    “Hey,
after the past couple of days I’m not so sure anymore,” Sam admitted.
    “Okay,
your turn,” Cliff countered. “I’ve shared my vast knowledge of local history,
now it’s your turn to give me the scoop on what happened out there this
morning. Your men have the place sealed off tight.”
    “Yeah,
I told them to keep the press away,” Sam quipped. “Especially old farts that
carry pipes. Do you ever smoke that thing?”
    “Smoking
is bad for you sheriff,” Cliff responded as he indignantly shoved the pipe back
in his mouth. “Now tell me about our latest murder. You can start with our
victim’s name. Your boys wouldn’t even give me that.”
    Sam
was surprised the veteran reporter hadn’t been able to get the name already. He
must be slipping in his old age.
    “Our
victim’s name is Eddie Young, age forty-two, an employee of…” Sam began before
being cut off