Excerpt
…played in getting the dry law passed. She wondered if that’s why
Angie mentioned it. She could stand a little needling if she and
Ned got what they came for.
“Ted always says we owe a lot to the liquor laws but we owe
more to human nature,” Angie said. “Lots of young men came
down here in those days. I couldn’t remember them all.”
“See if you can recall whether Pete Torgerson might have spent
time here, Mrs. Karn,” Pease said. “Was he one those young men?”
“Oh, yes,” Angie said, “back when he was at the packing house,
but after he went into the car business he didn’t come as often. He
only drank beer, he never, you know, went upstairs. He and
George Pearson and their friends used to sit right over there playing
poker, until real late sometimes.”
“Friends,” Ned said. “I’ll bet he had a lot of friends.”
“For somebody new in town, he sure did. ‘Course, Mr. Pearson
was new, too, and they sorta flocked together, ‘long with a couple
of the Wilton boys and some others. And, oh, yeah, that big heavy
fella’s on the council now. Wasn’t so heavy then. Real estate fella. I
can never think of his name.”
Pease felt the toe of Winifred’s shoe on his ankle and swallowed
the word.
“I know what you mean, Angie,” Winifred said, “I have a time
trying to think of things these days, too.
“What did they talk about?” Pease said.
“Oh, man stuff. Sports, women, jokes, business, cars. They was
all nuts about cars.”
“Did Poodie James ever come in here in those days?
“Poodie? Oh, no. I never even knew about him until he showed
up looking for newspapers and bottles. That must have been
around ’33 or ’34.”
“Ever hear Torgerson and his friends talk about Poodie, Mrs.
Karn?”
“Not until a few weeks ago. I called you ‘bout that, Mrs. Stone.”
“You certainly did, Angie, and you’ve been most helpful today;
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