I glanced over at Fred who seemed to be sound asleep. His mouth was still open. But I decided to take no chances. He hates for me to get tangled up in anything more dangerous than meeting with the investment club that Sister and I belong to. Which, come to think of it, can be pretty dangerous at times. Anyway, I don’t like to worry him.

“Let me go in the bedroom and take this,” I said.

Sitting on the bed, I told her the whole story, including Albert Lee Packard’s visit and the news that Terry had been planning on leaving Betsy for Susan. I also included the fact that it was believed on Chandler Mountain that Eugene Mahall had feathered his nest with the mining company’s money.

I finished with, “And did you know he can walk?”

“A few steps. He’d do a lot better if he’d stuck to his physical therapy.”

Louellen cleared her throat. “Now let me tell you what I know.”

“Okay.”

“Let me light a cigarette.”

There was a pause. Then, “Eugene Mahall adored his wife. He adored his son, and I’m sure he did feather his nest. God only knows why he married me or why I married him. He’s mean as a snake, and I was a drunk. I’d been hanging around Nashville for years, had one hit, ‘Kicking Balls,’ and couldn’t handle it. I was broke and singing at a club called the Tennessee Line. Eugene came in several nights and then one night he asked me to marry him. And I thought, ‘Well, hell, why not? I’ll straighten myself up and be a good wife for this poor rich man in a wheelchair. That shouldn’t be hard to do.’ Hah. Shows how clear I was thinking.”

“Did he physically abuse you?”

“No. He didn’t touch me. Turned out what he wanted from me was children. Lots of them. I guess he thought he was going to start a Mahall dynasty. God knows why he picked me. And I’d failed to tell him about my little hysterectomy. Just didn’t think it was important. When he found out, he totally ignored me. And I needed help, honey, let me tell you.”

“What about Terry?”

“If I could have had children, I wouldn’t. Not after I saw the way Eugene treated Terry. I don’t think the child’s ever had a thought of his own.”

I doubted that last statement. I asked Louellen if she had known any of the snake handlers.

“I knew Monk Crawford. And Susan, of course. I know Eugene had a fit when he found out that Terry’s girlfriend was one of that crowd. Told him he couldn’t date her.”

“Well, do you think he’ll welcome her children?”

“He’ll conveniently forget their background, turn them into Mahall clones.”