The Wild Hog Murders

by Bill Crider

  Rhodes didn’t know the extent of Janice’s involvement, but he knew that Ruth was taking care of that end of things. He hoped Munday thought it made for good radio. A murder suspect on the run. Too bad it wasn’t on television.

  It wouldn’t be much good for radio or TV, either, if Rhodes didn’t catch Andy Chandler. Chandler had nearly reached the house, and Rhodes wasn’t far behind. Rhodes had ditched his little .32 for the occasion and was carrying a .38 Police Special in a leather holster at the small of his back. It had been concealed by the windbreaker that he wore. Most law enforcement officers had given up revolvers for automatics with more firepower, but Rhodes was a traditionalist.

  He didn’t want to try to pull the pistol out while he was running, and he didn’t want to stop running. So he yelled at Andy instead.

  “Chandler! Stop and talk to me. We can work this out.”

  Rhodes didn’t mention that he’d already worked it out, and he was quite surprised when Andy stopped.

  He was even more surprised when Andy proved that he, too, was carrying a pistol. Not a revolver, though. Rhodes didn’t know where the gun had been, but it was in Andy’s hand now. Rhodes dived to his left, off the asphalt driveway and onto the grass. He hit and rolled just as he heard the crack of the pistol. When he stopped rolling, he came to his knees with his own gun in his hand, but Andy had gone behind the house.

  Rhodes holstered the revolver and went after him.

  He didn’t see Andy anywhere, but the animals were excited. Dogs barked. Hogs grunted. Horses whinnied. Cows bawled.

  There was a large barn near the back of the animal pens. The barn door was open, and Rhodes went in that direction. He hadn’t gone far when he heard a noise above the racket the animals made. It was the sound of an engine starting.

  A big gray Toyota pickup erupted from the barn and bore down on Rhodes, who didn’t have time to draw and shoot. He jumped out of the way, and as the pickup went by him, he reached out and grabbed the tailgate. He was jerked off his feet and his arms nearly popped out of their sockets, but he held on.

  It was quite an accomplishment, and it would be a lot more impressive if he managed to get himself into the bed before his arms separated from his body. As it was, he had all he could do to hang on. The toes of his shoes bounced in the dirt as the pickup pulled him along.

  Rhodes knew that a good movie stuntman would be in the pickup bed in seconds. It was too bad he wasn’t a stuntman.

  After a few seconds, Rhodes realized that Chandler wasn’t going back toward the radio van or the road. He seemed to be headed for the woods. Rhodes didn’t know if that was good or bad. It was definitely bad if he couldn’t get into the bed, because he knew he couldn’t hang on much longer.

  Rhodes tightened his grip on the tailgate and tried to swing his legs to the right. He didn’t get them far enough to do much good the first time, but he was encouraged enough to try again. This time he succeeded in getting his heels onto the wide bumper that Andy had installed on the back of the pickup. With his feet braced on the bumper, Rhodes could push himself up enough to hook his arms over the tailgate. When he’d done that, he hauled himself over the top of the tailgate and into the bed. He lay on his back and tried to let his breathing get back to something resembling normal while he bounced around. He hoped Andy didn’t know he was there. If he did, all he had to do was stop the truck and shoot Rhodes, who couldn’t do a thing to stop him. His arms felt like boiled noodles.

  The pistol dug into Rhodes’s back, and his head bonged on the metal bed every time the pickup went over a bump, which was every time the wheels turned.

  It wasn’t easy, but Rhodes tried to think. Andy was going to bypass Ruth, which was probably a smart move for him, but to get across to the road, he’d have to go through the woods. Rhodes didn’t see how a pickup could get through, but Andy might know a route that Rhodes wasn’t aware of.

  Rhodes got to his knees and reached behind his back for the pistol.

  Andy made a sharp turn, and Rhodes fell over on his side. He slid and bumped his head, but he held on to the pistol.

  Andy drove into the trees. Bare branches lashed the pickup. The tips skreeked along the side, scoring the paint. Rhodes stayed down to avoid being slapped in the face by the branches.

  When they came to a clearing, Rhodes tried again to get up. He almost made it, but there was a hole in the ground that Andy must not have seen, and the pickup’s front right wheel went into it.

  The bumper of the pickup slapped the ground, and the bed whipped right, throwing Rhodes out. He landed hard and rolled over a couple of times before coming to a stop against the trunk of an elm tree. He spit out some dirt and pushed himself into a sitting position as quickly as he could. The pickup sat twenty feet away with the bumper dug into the dirt. Andy was gone.

  Rhodes didn’t know if Andy had seen him. He did know that the air bag in the truck had been disabled. Too bad that wasn’t a felony.

  Using the tree trunk to push against, Rhodes stood up. He didn’t think he had any broken bones, just bruises and scratches. He couldn’t hear anything other than the hissing of the radiator or a broken hose. Rhodes looked around to see if he could tell which way Andy had gone. No clues. Rhodes started in the direction of the county road. He limped a little at first, but by the time he crossed the clearing, he was jogging pretty well. He kept his pistol in his hand.

  He wasn’t far into the woods, and the ground was rutted and churned. Hogs had been there, rooting for acorns. That was no surprise, but what bothered Rhodes, aside from the difficulty of walking, much less jogging, was that the earth was freshly turned. The hogs had passed that way not long before. They rambled at night and went into hiding during the day. Nobody hunted them in daylight.

  Rhodes thought he heard Andy thrashing through the trees ahead of him. Andy wasn’t trying to keep quiet, so it was likely he didn’t know Rhodes was after him. Rhodes hoped to catch up with him and take him by surprise.

  Unfortunately, the hogs surprised Andy first. Rhodes had just caught sight of him through the trees when Andy stumbled into an area of fallen branches that some of the sows had taken for nesting with their young. The sows didn’t take at all well to being disturbed, especially with the little ones nearby. Rhodes heard the grunting and then the squealing.

  Andy skirted the place where the sows congregated, but the noise of the sows aroused some of the boars. Rhodes drew his pistol, even though it wouldn’t be much protection against a feral hog. He didn’t think Andy’s automatic would be any better.

  Andy heard the hogs and started to run. Most of the hogs stayed where they were, but not all of them. Rhodes heard a boar snort, and then it came crashing through the trees after Andy.

  Rhodes stood still. He didn’t see any point in attracting attention to himself. He hadn’t started this, and as far as he was concerned, Andy’s problems were his own.

  Hogs didn’t see too well, and since Rhodes had been a good distance behind Andy, he didn’t think the boar had spotted him. If it had, it wasn’t interested. It didn’t even glance in his direction.

  Andy was moving faster than Rhodes would’ve thought he could, dodging trees and jumping over fallen limbs. Within seconds he was out of sight. Rhodes followed at a slower pace, moving away from where the sows nested and being as quiet as he could. Let sleeping hogs lie, that was his new motto.

  Even though he was going slowly, Rhodes caught up with the hog. He heard it before he saw it. Besides the snorting and grunting, there was another noise, almost like a hammer hitting a board.

  Rhodes picked his way, being careful to look as far ahead as he could. After he’d gone about fifty yards, he saw the big hog ramming the trunk of a tree. Not far above the hog, Andy sat on a limb. He had one arm wrapped around the trunk of the tree, and he held the automatic in the other hand. Rhodes started to yell at him and tell him that if he shot the hog, he’d only make it mad, but it was too late for that.

  Andy pulled the trigger. Either beca
use the hog shook the tree or because Andy was nervous, he missed.

  Worse, he fell out of the tree.

  Even worse, he landed on the hog.

  Rhodes didn’t know who was more surprised, Andy or the hog, which stood frozen for a second with Andy draped over its back. Then it bucked like a bronco, throwing Andy into the air. Andy did a flip and landed flat on his back. Rhodes heard something crack, but he thought it was a stick and not Andy’s back. The pistol lay a few feet away from Andy, but he didn’t make any move to get it. Rhodes didn’t think he could move.

  The hog could move, though. It pawed the ground and glared at Andy with beady black eyes.

  Andy still didn’t move. Rhodes didn’t think that would save him. Being motionless hadn’t saved Rhodes a few years before when he’d been the victim of an enraged hog.

  It worked for Andy, however. The hog watched him for a full minute without moving. Then it turned and headed back in Rhodes’s direction. Rhodes moved behind a tree and stood as motionless as he could. The hog took no notice of him.

  When Rhodes was sure the hog was gone, he rounded the tree, expecting to see Andy still lying there, but Andy was gone.

  The pistol was gone, too.

  Chapter 27

  Rhodes wasn’t resentful that Andy’s playing possum had kept him safe from the hog, but he wished the trick had worked for him. It didn’t seem fair.

  Andy no longer tried to keep quiet. Rhodes could hear him blundering along through the trees. Rhodes heard something else, too: a siren.

  Rhodes started jogging again in an attempt to catch up to Andy. It didn’t take him long. Andy had been hurt when he fell on the hog or when the hog had thrown him, and he was limping badly.

  The siren sound got louder, and Rhodes saw Ruth’s county car through the trees. She had pulled into the field, anticipating that Andy would drive the truck out and try to get to the road. She stopped the car and got out.

  Andy saw her, too, and as he limped out of the trees, he fired his pistol. Rhodes heard the shot. He saw the bullet dimple the car door, but he didn’t hear the sound.

  Ruth wasn’t in much danger. She had crouched behind the front of the car so the engine would protect her from bullets. Rhodes knew she wouldn’t fire back at Andy, because she didn’t know where Rhodes was and wouldn’t take a chance of hitting him by accident. Considering that he was in the line of fire, Rhodes was glad she was being careful.

  Andy pulled the trigger again, and another bullet hit the cruiser. Mikey Burns and the other commissioners weren’t going to like that. Ruth took a quick glance over the hood of the car and ducked back down.

  Andy stayed where he was for the moment. He couldn’t go forward with Ruth blocking his way, and the hogs were behind him in the woods. So was Rhodes, who still wasn’t sure if Andy knew he was there. Andy knew, though, and he must have decided that he had a better chance against Rhodes and the hogs than against Ruth. He was a bank robber, after all, and it takes a certain amount of nerve to go into a bank lobby and demand that the teller hand over the money, even if you have a gun and the teller doesn’t.

  When Andy made his decision, he didn’t waste any time. He turned back to the woods and started to run. Rhodes stepped out from behind a tree.

  “Stop right there, Andy. We have you covered from two sides.”

  Andy wasn’t impressed. He didn’t stop running, not even when he raised his pistol and started to shoot.

  Rhodes wasn’t too worried about being shot. Hitting a target is hard enough for someone who’s standing still. Hitting something while running on unlevel ground is next to impossible. Andy might get lucky, but the odds weren’t in his favor.

  “Stop where you are, Andy,” Rhodes said.

  Andy wasn’t listening. He didn’t stop. A bullet hit a tree about five yards from Rhodes, and chunks of bark flew off the trunk.

  Rhodes didn’t want to shoot Andy, but it looked as if he didn’t have much choice. He checked on Ruth. She was still hidden behind the car. Rhodes raised his pistol.

  Andy stumbled. His arms windmilled as he tried to regain his balance, but he couldn’t. He continued to run, leaning farther and farther forward. After a couple of steps, he was almost parallel to the ground. He stretched his arms in front of him and landed facedown. The pistol went off, but the bullet didn’t come anywhere near Rhodes, who ran out of the trees and kicked the gun out of Andy’s hand.

  Andy tried to get up.

  “Not a good idea,” Rhodes said. “Just lie there still and quiet for a while.”

  Rhodes looked toward the county car. Ruth was already on her way over. She had her handcuffs ready.

  “Hands behind your back,” Rhodes said to Andy, who complied without bothering to argue.

  “Did you shoot him?” Ruth asked as she walked up.

  “No,” Rhodes said. “He fell. Cuff him.”

  “Glad to,” Ruth said, and she did.

  * * *

  Andy wasn’t the only one who was cuffed. When they got back to the KCLR van, Rhodes saw that Janice Chandler also had a pair of cuffs on and was sitting in a chair. Buddy watched her, his hand only a few inches from the butt of his .38. Like Rhodes, Buddy was a traditionalist.

  “How’d Buddy get here so fast?” Rhodes asked Ruth before they got out of the county car. Andy was safely stashed in the backseat.

  “He was listening to the radio show,” Ruth said. “When he heard what was going on, he drove out here. Got here just in time, too.”

  “He didn’t try to shoot anybody, did he?”

  “No, but he did ask Ms. Chandler if she felt lucky.”

  “He loves that line,” Rhodes said. “I take it she didn’t feel lucky.”

  “No. I was pretty much in control by then anyway. Buddy cuffed her, and I went to look for you.”

  “You were just in time, like Buddy. How about Alton?”

  “He was great. He’s the one who pulled Ms. Chandler off me just before Buddy got here.”

  They got out of the car. Milton Munday waved them over.

  “Here they are now, folks, Sheriff Dan Rhodes and his courageous deputy Ruth Grady. They’ve captured the killer, and I can see him sitting in the backseat of their car right now. He appears to be very subdued. Maybe we can get the sheriff to say a few words for us. How about it, Sheriff?”

  He stuck the microphone out at Rhodes, who walked up to it and said, “Just doing our job.”

  Munday pulled the mic back. “How about that, folks. Just doing their job and keeping Blacklin County safe. We can be proud that we have a fighting sheriff like Dan Rhodes and deputies like Ruth Grady to watch our backs.”

  Rhodes was amazed at how suddenly his reputation had turned around. He looked at Mikey Burns, who was shaking his head in agreement with Munday. Then he looked at Buddy, who looked a little miffed.

  Rhodes gestured for the mic, and Munday handed it to him.

  “Let’s not forget Buddy, here. He’s another of the county’s fine deputies. In fact, you could say that he’s the Dirty Harry of Blacklin County, and without him we’d never have subdued one of the Chandlers. Take a bow, Buddy?”

  Buddy, grinning like a schoolboy, took a bow. It probably didn’t even occur to him that no one could see him. As soon as he completed the bow, he turned back to Janice Chandler, watchful and serious as ever.

  “Then there’s Alton Boyd,” Rhodes said. “He’s the county’s animal control officer, but he helped control a different kind of animal today. Thanks, Alton.”

  Boyd smiled and waved. Rhodes didn’t know who he was waving to, but maybe Alton had somebody in mind.

  “Finally, let’s not forget Ed Garver,” Rhodes said.

  Garver was beside Burns, and Burns stuck out a hand for Garver to shake. Rhodes wished they were on TV.

  “It was Ed Garver’s testimony that helped us bring this whole thing off,” Rhodes said. “Remember, Ed works at Allison’s Plumbing, and they can take care of all your plumbing needs. Give them a call, and ma
ybe Ed Garver will show up at your house to help you out.”

  “Are you getting a kickback?” Ruth whispered.

  Rhodes grinned and handed the mic back to Munday. The broadcast went on for a while after that, but Rhodes and the deputies didn’t stick around to hear the rest. Ruth and Rhodes drove back to town in her cruiser with Andy, and Buddy took Alton Boyd back with Janice stashed in the rear seat. There was no room for Garver, so he stayed until Mikey Burns could give him a ride back to town.

  * * *

  Rhodes thought it would take a while to get confessions from the Chandlers, but he hoped to play them off against each other and find out the whole story that way. It worked out pretty much like that, and as it turned out, things had happened just about the way Rhodes had it figured. There was one surprise, however. Rhodes had been right about Baty and Andy having been on the way to the Chandler place when he started chasing them, and he’d been right about Andy calling Janice. It was Janice, though, who’d brought the pistol to the woods, and she was the one who’d killed Baty. Or at least that was Andy’s story. Janice said it was all a lie, which was fine by Rhodes. He’d go on letting them implicate each other until they got tired of it and he got the whole story.

  That is, he would if Randy Lawless didn’t stop him. The Chandlers had refused to say a word after they had a lawyer, and of course they’d gone for the best in the county. Rhodes wasn’t worried. Lawless had never come out ahead of him yet, and he hadn’t been successful in keeping the Chandlers quiet so far.

  Jennifer Loam was a bit annoyed with Rhodes for using the radio show to stage the capture. She told him he was contributing to the downfall of newspapers, but she was only kidding. Or so Rhodes hoped. He promised her an exclusive interview as soon as the Chandlers confessed, and that was pretty much it, except for one thing.

  The phone call came two days after the Chandlers were arrested. Hack answered, listened, and looked at Rhodes.

  “This is for you. I don’t know who it is. Line two. You want to take it?”

  Rhodes picked up the phone. “This is Sheriff Rhodes.”