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"To see if you&039;d admit it"

"Okay, I admit it This case couldrun"

"If you win"

"Yes, if I win"

"And if you lose?"

"I&039;ll win"

"But if you don&039;t?"

"Think positive"

The phone rang and Jake spent ten minutes with the editor, owner, and only reporter of The Clanton Chronicle It rang again, and Jake talked with a reporter with the Me up and called Lester ana Gwen, then the fore again, and Jake received his first death threat, anony son of a bitch, one ould not live if the nigger walked

Dell Perkins servedafter the killings All the regulars and soathered early to read the papers and talk about the killings, which had taken place less than three hundred feet from the front door of the Coffee Shop Claude&039;s and the Tea Shoppe were also crowded earlier than usual Jake&039;s picture e of the Tupelo paper, and the Mee photos of Cobb and Willard, both before the shootings and afterward as the bodies were loaded into the ambulance There were no pictures of Carl Lee All three papers ran detailed accounts of the past six days in Clanton

It idely accepted around town that Carl Lee had done the killing, but ruunmen surfaced and flourished until one table at the Tea Shoppe had a whole band of wild niggers in on the attack However, the deputies in the Coffee Shop, though not talkative, throttled the gossip and kept it pretty ular, and there was concern for his wounds, which appeared to be inally reported He reunman as Lester Hailey&039;s brother

Jake entered at six and sat near the front with some farmers He nodded at Prather and the other deputy, but they pretended not to see hiht There were soe picture, but no one questioned Jake about his new client or the killings He detected a certain coolness aulars He ate quickly and left

At nine Ethel called Jake Bullard was holding

"Hello, Judge How are you?"

"Terrible You represent Carl Lee Hailey?"

"Yes, sir"

"When do you want the prelie?"

"Good question Look, the funerals are to sometime, and I think it would be best to wait till they bury those bastards, don&039;t you?"

"Yeah, Judge, good idea"

"How &039;bout tomorrow afternoon at two?"

"Fine"

Bullard hesitated "Jake, would you consider waiving the prelirand jury?"

"Judge, I never waive a preliht I&039;d ask a favor I won&039;t hear this trial, and I have no desire to get near it See you toh the intercoance, there are some reporters here to see you"

Jake was ecstatic "From where?"

"Memphis and Jackson, I believe"

"Seat them in the conference roohtened his tie and brushed his hair, and checked the street below for television vans He decided to less phone calls he walked down the stairs, ignored Ethel, and entered the conference roo table, because of the lighting He declined, told his, and sat at one side with his back to the rows of thick, expensive law books

The hts adjusted, and finally an attractive lady froe across her forehead and under her eyes cleared her throat and asserted herself "Mr Brigance, you represent Carl Lee Hailey?"

"Yes, I do"

"And he&039;s been charged with the murders of Billy Ray Cobb and Pete Willard?"

"That&039;s correct"

"And Cobb and Willard were charged with raping Mr Hailey&039;s daughter?"

"Yes, that&039;s correct"

"Does Mr Hailey deny killing Cobb and Willard?"

"He will plead not guilty to the charges"

"Will he be charged for the shooting of the deputy, Mr Looney?"

"Yes We anticipate a third charge of aggravated assault against the officer"

"Do you anticipate a defense of insanity?"

"I&039; to discuss the defense at this time because he has not been indicted"

"Are you saying there&039;s a chance he may not be indicted?"

A fat pitch, one Jake was hoping for The grand jury would either indict hirand jurors would not be selected until Circuit Court convened on Monday, May 27 So the futurethe streets of Clanton, tending their shops, working in the factories, cleaning house, reading newspapers, watching TV, and discussing whether or not he should be indicted

"Yes, I think there&039;s a chance he rand jury, or will be after the preli"

"When&039;s the preli?"

"Toe Bullard will bind hirand jury?"

"That&039;s a pretty safe assu Bullard would be thrilled with the answer

"When will the grand jury rand jury will be sworn in MondayIt could look at the case by Monday afternoon"

"When do you anticipate a trial?"

"Assu he&039;s indicted, the case could be tried in late summer or early fall"

"Which court?"

"Circuit Court of Ford County"

"Who would be the judge?"

"Honorable Omar Noose"

"Where&039;s he from?"

"Chester, Mississippi Van Buren County"

"You mean the case will be tried here in Clanton?"

"Yes, unless venue is changed"

"Will you request a change of venue?"

"Very good question, and one I&039;m not prepared to answer at this time It&039;s a bit prey"

"Why would you want a change of venue?"

To find a blacker county, Jake thought He answered thoughtfully, "The usual reasons Pretrial publicity, etc"

"Who e Noose The decision is within his sole discretion"

"Has bond been set?"

"No, and it probably won&039;t be until after the indictments come down He&039;s entitled to a reasonable bond now, but as a matter of practice in this county bonds are not set in capital nment in Circuit Court At that point the bond will be set by Judge Noose"

"What can you tell us about Mr Hailey?"

Jake relaxed and reflected a minute while the caolden chance to plant some seeds "He&039;s thirty-seven years old Married to the sairl Nice guy with a clean record Never been in trouble before Decorated in Vietnam Works fifty hours a week at the paper mill in Coleman Pays his bills and owns a little land, does to church every Sunday with his family Minds his own business and expects to be left alone"

"Will you allow us to talk to him?"

"Of course not"

"Wasn&039;t his brother tried for o?"

"He was, and he was acquitted"

"You were his attorney?"

"Yes, I was"

"You&039;ve handled several murder trials in Ford County, haven&039;t you?"

"Three"

"How many acquittals?"

"All of them," he answered slowly

"Doesn&039;t the jury have several options in Mississippi?" asked the lady froht With a capital uilty of hter, which carries twenty years, or capital murder, which carries life or death as deteruilty" Jake s he&039;ll be indicted"

"How&039;s the Hailey girl?"

"She&039;s at home Went home Sunday She&039;s expected to be fine"

The reporters looked at each other and searched for other questions Jake knew this was the dangerous part, when they ran out of things to ask and began serving up screwball questions

He stood and buttoned his coat "Look, I appreciate you folks stopping by I&039;ive a little lad to talk to you anytime"

They thanked hi, in a no-frills double service at the funeral home, the rednecks buried their dead The led desperately for cohts to lay upon the small crowd and over the two closed caskets The service was brief with few tears

The pickups and dirty Chevrolets le hearse as the procession left town and crawled into the country They parked behind a small red brick church The bodies were laid to rest one at a tirown cemetery After a few additional words of inspiration, the crowd dispersed

Cobb&039;s parents had divorced when he was sham for the funeral After the burial he disappeared Mrs Cobb lived in a small, clean white frae, ten miles south of Clanton Her other two sons and their cousins and friends gathered under an oak tree in the backyard while the woers in general, and chewed Red Man and sipped whiskey, and reers knew their place Now they were just paovern white people could do One cousin knew a friend or soive hi before his death, the cousin explained, and when he and Billy Ray were kids the old ers in Ford and Tyler counties What they should do was the saer had done, but there were no volunteers Maybe the Klan would be interested There was a chapter farther down south near Jackson, near Nettles County, and the cousin was authorized to contact them

The women prepared lunch The men ate quietly, then returned to the whiskey under the shade tree The nigger&039;s hearing at 2:00 PM was mentioned, and they loaded up and drove to Clanton

There was a Clanton before the killings, and there was a Clanton after the killings, and it would be ic, bloody event, the duration of which was less than fifteen seconds, transforht thousand into a raphers, soanizations Cameramen and TV reporters bumped into one another on the sidewalks around the square as they asked the man in the street for the hundredth time how he or she felt about the Hailey event and how he or she would vote if he or she was on the jury There was no clear verdict from the man on the street Television vans followed small, marked, imported television cars around the square and down the streets chasing leads, stories, and interviews Ozzie was a favorite at first He was interviewed a half dozen ti, then found other business and delegated the interviewing to Moss Junior, who enjoyed bantering with the press He could ansenty questions and not divulge one new detail He also lied a lot, and the ignorant foreigners could not tell his lies from his truth

"Sir, is there any evidence of additional gunmen?"

"Yes"

"Really! Who?"

"We have evidence that the shootin&039;s were authorized and financed by an offshoot of the Black Panthers," Moss Junior replied with a straight face

Half the reporters would either stutter or stare blankly while the other half repeated what he said and scribbled furiously

Bullard refused to leave his office or take calls He called Jake again and begged him to waive the preliminary Jake refused Reporters waited in the lobby of Bullard&039;s office on the first floor of the courthouse, but he was safe with his vodka behind the locked door

There was a request to film the funeral The Cobb boys said yes, for a fee, but Mrs Willard vetoed the proposal The reporters waited outside the funeral home and filmed what they could Then they followed the procession to the grave sites, and filmed the burials, and followed the mourners to Mrs Cobb&039;s, where Freddie, the oldest, cursed them and made them leave

The Coffee Shop on Wednesday was silent The regulars, including Jake, eyed the strangers who had invaded their sanctuary Most of therits

"Aren&039;t you Mr Hailey&039;s attorney?" shouted one from across the roo

"Aren&039;t you? Sir?"

"What if I auilty?"

"I&039; breakfast"

"Will he?"

"No comment"

"Why no comment?"

"No comment"

"But why?"

"I don&039;t co breakfast No comment"

"May I talk to you later?"

"Yeah, make an appointulars hooted, but the strangers were undaunted

Jake consented to an intervieithout charge, with a Memphis paper Wednesday, then barricaded hi At noon he visited his famous client at the jail Carl Lee was rested and relaxed Fro of the reporters in the parking lot

"How&039;s jail?" Jake asked

"Not that bad Food&039;s good I eat with Ozzie in his office"

"You what!"

"Yep Play cards too"

"You&039;re kidding, Carl Lee"