Hugh Priest attacks Mellow Tiger and fights with Henry Beaufort

Hugh Priest’s attack on the Mellow Tiger is the violent culmination of his fixation on the fox-tail and his conflict with Henry Beaufort. Armed by Leland Gaunt, Hugh enters the bar and opens fire; Billy Tupper is killed, and a gunfight leaves Hugh and Henry mortally wounded. The encounter ends their feud, while a later report adds a supernatural dimension to the violence: the substance on Hugh’s bullets proves lethal to him as well as to Henry.

The grievance and the weapon

Shortly before four, Hugh arrives at Needful Things in Lenny Partridge’s old Chevy Bel-Air. Still wearing the fox-tail around his neck, he enters the shop barefoot. Charlie Fortin, the only person outside who sees him go in, remarks that Hugh has finally lost control. Inside, Leland Gaunt greets him with calm expectation rather than surprise.

Hugh’s immediate grievance is his fox-tail, which he cherishes and believes Henry has wronged. Gaunt redirects Hugh’s fear toward Henry, suggesting that Hugh should act before Henry can act against him. Hugh readily accepts this proposal. Gaunt then produces a fully loaded automatic pistol and slides it across the glass counter. Hugh takes the weapon, and its physical weight appears to settle his confusion. The exchange transforms a personal fixation into an armed attack: Gaunt supplies the means, while Hugh brings his grievance to the bar where Henry is working.

The attack at the Mellow Tiger

Hugh reaches the Mellow Tiger while Henry Beaufort is trying to contact the Sheriff's Office. Henry hears several shots outside; Billy Tupper then returns to the bar with a fatal gunshot wound and collapses. Hugh follows, wearing the fox-tail and carrying the pistol Gaunt supplied. His entrance turns the dispute into an open attack in the place where Henry is present.

The exchange of fire and its aftermath

Hugh fires repeatedly toward Henry, first striking bottles behind the bar and then damaging a framed document and the liquor license. A later shot wounds Henry in the face. Henry takes cover behind the bar, retrieves the sawed-off shotgun he has stored in a box, and waits for an opening while Hugh advances and taunts him about the fox-tail and their dispute over cars. Their conflict has reached its decisive point: Hugh’s fixation, encouraged and armed by Leland Gaunt, now confronts Henry’s attempt to defend himself.

Henry rises with the shotgun, and both men fire. The shotgun blast throws Hugh across the room; Hugh’s bullet, fired at the same moment, hits Henry in the chest. Hugh’s pistol flies from his hand, and the fox-tail catches fire. Although gravely wounded, Henry drops the shotgun and struggles to reach the telephone, where he presses the button that automatically calls the Sheriff's Office. The fight has left both men near death, but neither wound is the final cause of death later established for Hugh.

A subsequent radio report from Dr. Van Allen changes the meaning of the shooting. Hugh dies in the ambulance, but the doctor says gunshot trauma was not believed to be the cause: a highly toxic substance introduced into Hugh’s blood produced atypical swelling of the brain, followed by rupture, and appears also to have burst his heart. The toxin was probably on the bullets that shot him; the cheek and chest wounds are identified as two points where it entered. The report does not resolve every medical detail, but it establishes that the ammunition carried a lethal danger to the shooter as well as to the person he attacked. Gaunt’s weapon thus makes the violence self-consuming, while the gunfight closes Hugh’s confrontation with Henry at the cost of both men’s lives.

The exchange of fire and its aftermath

Hugh fires repeatedly toward Henry, first striking bottles behind the bar and then damaging a framed document and the liquor license. A later shot wounds Henry in the face. Henry takes cover behind the bar, retrieves the sawed-off shotgun he has stored in a box, and waits for an opening while Hugh advances and taunts him about the fox-tail and their dispute over cars. Their conflict has reached its decisive point: Hugh’s fixation, encouraged and armed by Leland Gaunt, now confronts Henry’s attempt to defend himself.

Henry rises with the shotgun, and both men fire. The shotgun blast throws Hugh across the room; Hugh’s bullet, fired at the same moment, hits Henry in the chest. Hugh’s pistol flies from his hand, and the fox-tail catches fire. Although gravely wounded, Henry drops the shotgun and struggles to reach the telephone, where he presses the button that automatically calls the Sheriff's Office. The fight has left both men near death, but neither wound is the final cause of death later established for Hugh.

A subsequent radio report from Dr. Van Allen changes the meaning of the shooting. Hugh dies in the ambulance, but the doctor says gunshot trauma was not believed to be the cause: a highly toxic substance introduced into Hugh’s blood produced atypical swelling of the brain, followed by rupture, and appears also to have burst his heart. The toxin was probably on the bullets that shot him; the cheek and chest wounds are identified as two points where it entered. The report does not resolve every medical detail, but it establishes that the ammunition carried a lethal danger to the shooter as well as to the person he attacked. Gaunt’s weapon thus makes the violence self-consuming, while the gunfight closes Hugh’s confrontation with Henry at the cost of both men’s lives.