from the August 19, 1933 DOTHAN EAGLE

from the February 9, 1922 DOTHAN EAGLE

from the March 20, 1922 DOTHAN EAGLE

from the March 20, 1922 DOTHAN EAGLE

from the May 6, 1937 WIREGRASS FARMER



Saturday, August 9, 2020 will forever be imprinted in my memory. Yesterday I discovered my key to unlocking more of the secrets contained in DEVIL MAKE A THIRD and it's all because I ran into the word "Longboy" while scanning old Eagles. "Longboy" wasn't just a nickname that Dougie Bailey used for a police officer in his novel. It was also the nickname of well-known Dothan police officer, J.E. "Longboy" Draughon, who was the grandfather of my DHS classmate Dothan High Senior '67, Deborah Draughon.

Officer Longboy Taylor of the Aven Police Department is introduced in Chapter 22 of the novel. While Buck is trying to convince a visiting evangelist to leave Aven or get a 60-day jail sentence for not paying the city for a $2000 tent revival license (Buck, mayor of Aven and Judge of the Aven Municipal Court made up the amount of the fine on the spot while talking to the evangelist) , he sends his brother Jeff off  to City Hall to get Chief Tobe and Officer Longboy.

By the time Jeff brings the policemen back to the scene in the city buggy, Buck is close to getting Reverend Huff to leave town. Officer Longboy has no lines in the novel. All he does is "snikker" and whispers in Chief Tobe's ear something that causes Tobe to laugh so hard that Buck looks over and asks Jeff what was so funny.

What was funny was Longboy had whispered something to Tobe concerning the huge Westcott automobile that had just arrived in Aven. It had been purchased along with a new wardrobe by Buck's new child bride, Lota Kyle (wedding occurs in Chapter 21) . Buck had not seen Lota's pretentious new vehicle or her new flashy wardrobe complete with feather boa which Buck, after getting over his rage at Lota,  later described as making his new wife look like "Mrs. God" to the citizens of Aven.

All of the episodes in Chapter 22  foreshadow many of the events that follow in the remaining chapters of the novel. This literary device of FORESHADOWING adds so much depth to a novel and my discovery of Dougie Bailey's use of these subtle hints to the reader about what's to come in his novel has given me another key to unlocking more of the secrets concealed in the Forward, 33 chapters, 7 Interludes and original ending of a work of fiction that mirrors Dothan's story. Here we have even more evidence of Dougie Bailey's ignored, overlooked, dismissed and discounted genius.