people.” Hale was even “giving ponies away to young boys.”
One of the undercover operatives who was playing a Texas
cattleman had slowly become close with Hale. They shared stories
about the old days cowboying, and the operative accompanied
Hale as he inspected his herds of cattle. The operative reported
that Hale seemed to be mocking investigators. Hale boasted to
him, “I’m too slick and keen to catch cold.”
White would see Hale on the streets of Fairfax, with his bow tie
on and his chin up—the incarnation of what White and his
brothers, and their father before them, had spent their lives
chasing. He carried himself, White thought, “like he owned the
world.”
Sometimes, as the strain on White intensified, as each
promising lead dead-ended, he would take his rifle and disappear
into the countryside. Spotting a duck or some other flying prey, he
would take aim and fire until the air was laced with smoke and
blood drained into the soil.