Tin Maung Myint - In Cold Blood

The small town of Holcomb is located in the middle of endless wheat fields in the flatlands of western Kansas. It is so remote that people often refer to Kansas as a small, twinkling village on the edge of the Old West. It is a remote area, seventy miles from the Colorado border.

The sky is clear and blue, the air is crisp. The environment is like the middle of the western region, unlike the rest of the country. The locals speak with a nasal tone, like those of farm workers in northern Florida. The men wear tight pants and their boots are high-heeled and pointed.

Everywhere you look, there are vast, open plains. Horses, herds of cattle, and tall, roofed flour mills that look like ancient Greek temples can be seen from afar. This is the view that those who have come from far away before reaching Holcomb have seen.

Holcomb, seen from afar, was once a small town. Now there are few features that resemble a city. The only thing left are the dilapidated houses and the railroad that runs through the center of the village. The only thing left is the arch bridge that crosses the brown Arkansas River. The village does not even have a church. The north end of Route 50 is nothing but wheat fields and meadows. The nameless streets are shady, dusty and plain red dirt roads. When it rains, when the snow melts, it becomes muddy. At the other end of town, an old house stands alone. The sign that says "The Concert Hall" has fallen into disrepair. The neon sign is also hanging down. It has been many years since the concert life began. The gold sign on the building nearby is also covered in dust and the letters are barely legible. Only those who remember can read it. The Holcomb Bank, which closed in 1933. What were once bank offices are now residential apartments. It is one of two houses for rent in Holcomb. The other is an old house where many teachers and schoolteachers live. The other houses throughout the town are small one-story houses with entrances.

Not far from the station, there was a postmaster. She was always dressed in a leather jacket and jeans. Her shoes were cowboy boots. She was the boss of the post office, which was leaning as if it was about to collapse.

The station, however, was bare of paint and faded. The station itself was as gloomy as the postmistress's wife. High-ranking officials were always traveling by train, but express trains did not stop at this remote station, so there was hardly anyone to look at them. Even local trains did not stop, and only occasionally did large freight trains stop.

There is a gas station and a convenience store on the road in the distance. They look exactly the same. The only difference is that they are two small shops next to each other. One has a sign saying "Grocery Store" and the other is a small, unassuming store.

Next to the gas station is a cafe. The owner is Mrs. Hartman, who sells sandwiches in paper bags.

Coffee and cold drinks. Beer cans too. (Holcomb, like other Kansas cities, is a very hot place.)

That's all there is to say about Holcomb.

Oh... It's a special place, there's a good school. The building is beautiful. You can guess the situation of the residents by looking at it. But they are simple people. They send their children to this school, which provides a good education from pre-primary to high school. There are three hundred and sixty students. They come from near and far by bus. The people who make a living from farming in the area are of all nationalities. Germans, Irish, Norwegians, Mexicans, and even Japanese. . .

They all raise cattle, goats, and sheep in addition to growing crops such as wheat, millet, and turnips. They are very wealthy. But the people of western Kansas are very hardy. They cannot stand the climate where they get only 18 inches of rain a year. Holcomb is located in Finney Township. It is too dry to even consider irrigating. But fate has favored them. In addition to the income they receive from farming, God has given them another blessing. Seven years ago, they discovered a large deposit of natural gas in their area.

. That is why the school building of their old village has become a big building. The wheat fields are also getting higher and higher and wider. The villagers of Shatu, who have only two hundred and seventy houses, are calm and content. They work hard, watch TV at night, go to church, and meet in the village club to discuss and resolve village issues. ;

One Sunday morning in November, a strange sound broke out among the usual sounds of Holcomb. The howling of a wild dog, the whirring of a passing coal-fired locomotive, were familiar sounds to the villagers of Holcomb. The sound that came out was the sound of a gun, four shots in quick succession, heart-wrenching news that shook the quiet village. The four shots and the news of a mass murder spread. In a place where people didn’t know how to close their doors, where they would close their doors before going to sleep, the news was unbelievable. Neighbors who had lived together their whole lives looked at each other in disbelief. How could people who had lived like brothers and sisters become strangers?

The owner of the "Red River" farm is Herbert William Clutter, forty-eight years old. He was recently examined by a life insurance company and found to be in first-class health. He is a handsome man with rimless glasses. He is not short or tall. He is five feet ten inches. He has broad shoulders, a strong jaw, and black hair. He is young and healthy. His teeth are white and in good condition. He weighs only 154 pounds, as he did when he graduated from Kansas State University with a degree in agriculture. He is not as wealthy as his neighbor, Mr. Taylor Young, who is the richest man in the Hall. But he is a man of character. He is a member of the Garden City Farms, and is respected by all his associates. He also served on the Federal Board of Agriculture in Washington during the Eisenhower era. He was also chairman of the committee to build the first $1.8 million Protestant church in Holcomb and nearby Garden City.

Mr. Clutter was a man of great ambition and a man who achieved his goals. He was struck by a wheat stalk at work and the tip of his finger was severed. As a memento, he wears a gold ring on that finger.

His marriage was also simple. They had been married for a quarter of a century. They had married for love. Bonnie Fox was a beautiful woman. She was the sister of a school friend. She was three years younger than him.

They have four children: three daughters and one son. The eldest, Evina, is married and the mother of a ten-month-old son. She lives in northern Illinois and often visits her parents.

Their family will be coming on Thanksgiving Day. The Clutters are going to get together and have a Thanksgiving feast. (The Clutters came to America from Germany in 1880. When they arrived, their name was spelled Clutter, but they also shortened it to Klotter.)

``The second daughter, Beverly, has also been called back. She is a girl from Evinrude. She is studying nursing in Kansas City. Her boyfriend is a college student, and Mrs. A has taken a fancy to the young man, and is engaged to him, and has already sent out invitations to the wedding at Christmas. Beverly's youngest daughter, Nancy, is a Kansas City girl. The youngest son, Kim Young, is fifteen years older than Faye, and there has been no trouble in Mr. Clutter's life except for the woman's health. He is often in a state of mental disorder and has been under the care of a psychiatrist. The family has not kept the matter a secret. It is well known that this happens frequently, and that he has been under treatment for six years. .

The only sad news in the family was the news that came from the hospital. The whole family was relieved. Everyone was happy. The Wesley Clinic in Wichita was a specialist clinic that had been treating Mischa Klatter for many years. When the doctors examined her, they decided that Mischa Klatter's disease was not a mental illness related to the brain, but a physical disease caused by an abnormal position of the spine connected to the head, and that it could be corrected surgically.

Mrs. Clutter was so happy that she burst into tears when she heard the news. So it was possible to go back to the way it was. Is it possible? No more tense feelings, no more panic attacks, no more sobbing and sobbing with the door closed and the pillow pressed against her head. These are all caused by the wrong position of her spine. Is it possible? So Mr. Clutter can now read the Bible and the scriptures with peace of mind at Thanksgiving dinner.

Mr. Clutter got up at half past six. He was accompanied by two young workers who were moving the milk jugs with a loud noise. The two young workers were talking in whispers in front of their employer. They were the two sons of the innkeeper, Vic Asit. They had been tired the night before, so the two young workers were sent home early that day, and Mr. Clutter was left alone to work. Last night was Friday the thirteenth, and Bonnie immediately became a good person and started to work, asking the workers to do chores and feed them. So they were happy and happy. They were tired too.

In the evening, Ma Shwe Boni put on her best clothes for the school dance and did her makeup. Her hair was done in a messy way, and she even had her lips painted.

The day of the Holcomb High School dance in "Tom Sawyer." The couple clapped and cheered. Nancy played "Becky Thatcher." Looking at the smiling woman in the crowd,