Both of the endings Dougie Bailey wrote for DEVIL MAKE A THIRD feature Buck Bannon's heroic efforts to save his friend Virgil who had been trapped out on an upper ledge of the new Aven Opera House by a catastrophic fire. After reaching the ledge on the ladder, Buck backed himself against the wall along the ledge toward Virgil and as he did, his hands touched the damp mortar and he realized he should have used Buck Baker's contractor, J.W. Baughman, to build his opera house:

from page 375, "Too damned much sand in this mortar. That Georgia crook must have slipped in it in when I was asleep. It won't hold long in this heat. Move on, Virgil, around the corner, and jump over on top of the city hall. Hell, it ain't but about 8 feet and a good-sized man can fall halfway. Any idiot can jump eight feet." (from the January 7, 1951 DOTHAN EAGLE)