As you may have guessed, we are doing a major feature on the mysterious journey of Billy the Kid's trigger finger. Yesterday I went home and whipped out this scratchboard to illustrate the article (the finger allegedly ended up in a mason jar):
![](http://api.ning.com:80/files/46rp3lFVpjWOYUu5TwPfg46c4YM-rKvvfB1uUU9BpkWPhGagMjsFAttOv6w5dWH8V9LJzEXmRy2d5RHpRw36-MdA55*7KHSU/billytriggerfinger.jpg)
It got the big thumbs down in today's design review. Too dark and oppressive. So I went home for lunch today and whipped out this version:
![](http://api.ning.com:80/files/46rp3lFVpjV4sBhr-DVpgLmZaYgkU0XV0MFkYxMV3cSgMO7IoLbcJUAf9fWPB4OaFlY6HfymzZYu0Kl6XmtQLfJO3a29FGB-/triggerfingerpainting.jpg)
And, to illustrate the trigger finger in a mason jar I merely walked over to the kitchen and grabbed a jar out of the pantry, poured in some whiskey and dropped in a finger I had been saving from an altercation I had with our pool guy two weeks ago:
![](http://api.ning.com:80/files/46rp3lFVpjXMr2jdiV4dTbJVgbjgl9QUHCuhIBXkTA7X86PjdO9iH6nqz-7ZfT25UlhX3GgHqoQBjaY-jx3Amp-IXZ4PIBqS/triggerfingerjar_01.jpg)
Took another angle for insurance:
![](http://api.ning.com:80/files/46rp3lFVpjUKcr1fJqPRugftquuKLzldFSOzfrvcBhG1ETUaId4eaR4zJHnlkdhrO1ET3F2MtoJpQc4WSm1XkVY1O9DLnyYB/triggerfingerphoto_02.jpg)
Okay, so it's not a real finger, but what is it? And, to be historically correct, were Ball jars available in 1881?
"There is no satisfaction in hanging a man who does not object to it."
—George Bernard Shaw