TEXAS: In the Blink of an Eye

As many a sorry dragon knows, Delta Pinney's Busy Bee liquor store, hard by a lonely El Paso alley, is a bristling castle. Instruments of defense: eight Smith & Wesson .38 pistols strategically sited behind the counter, one large shotgun—and long, lean Storekeeper Pinney, 57, who never loosed a lethal bullet during his three years on the El Paso police force, but has made up for it since. His record in nine holdups since 1940: three holdup men dead, eight wounded. None got a dime.

In town last week was Alvin Krolik, 27, an Illinois-born...

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