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The anger and frustration was building in the witness

stand The wise old grandfather/professor with all the right ansas becouilty by reason of insanity"

"How do you explain that, Dr Rodeheaver? Five against one, and the jury finds against you?"

"You just can&039;t trust juries," he blurted, then caught hirinned aardly at the jurors

Jake stared at him with a wicked smile, then looked at the jury in disbelief He folded his ar and grinning at the witness

"You ance," Noose finally said

Moving slowly and with great ani at Rodeheaver "I think we&039;ve heard enough from this witness, Your Honor"

"Any redirect, Mr Buckley?"

"No, sir The State rests"

Noose addressed the jury "Ladies and gentlemen, this trial is almost over There will be no more witnesses I will now meet with the attorneys to cover some technical areas, then they will be allowed to in at two o&039;clock and take a couple of hours You will finally get the case around four, and I will allow you to deliberate until six If you do not reach a verdict today, you will be taken back to your rooms until tomorrow It is now almost eleven, and we&039;ll recess until two I need to see the attorneys in chambers"

Carl Lee leaned over and spoke to his lawyer for the first time since Saturday&039;s adjournood, Jake"

"Wait till you hear the closing argument"

Jake avoided Harry Rex, and drove to Karaway His childhood home was an old country house in don, surrounded by ancient oaks and maples and elms that kept it cool in spite of the su open field which ran for an eighth of a mile and disappeared over a small hill A chickenwire backstop stood over the weeds in one corner Here, Jake had taken his first steps, rode his first bike, thrown his first football and base-

ball Under an oak beside the field, he had buried three dogs, a raccoon, a rabbit, and so not far from the small cemetery

The house had been locked and deserted for two rass and tended the lawn Jake checked the house once a week His parents were somewhere in Canada in a camper-the summer ritual He wished he ith them

He unlocked the door and walked upstairs to his rooe The walls were covered with team pictures, trophies, baseball caps, posters of Pete Rose, Archie Manning, and Hank Aaron A row of baseball gloves hung above the closet door A cap and gown picture sat on the dresser His mother still cleaned it weekly She once told hi hoh his scrapbooks, and get all teary eyed

He thought of Hanna&039;s room, with the stuffed animals and Mother Goose wallpaper A thick knot formed in his throat

He looked out the , past the trees, and saw hi in the tire near the three white crosses where he buried his dogs He reet another dog He thought of Hanna and her dog, and his eyes watered

The bed was much smaller now He re fros He scored seven touchdowns in five games It was all on film downstairs under the bookshelves The butterflies floated wildly through his stomach

He carefully placed his notes-his notes, not Lucien&039;s- on the dresser He studied himself in thehis biggest probleized A laalks into a courtroo to offer but his credibility And if he does anything to hurt his credibility, he has hurt his cause, his client He asked them tb believe that he would never put a convicted felon on the stand as an

expert witness in any trial He did not know of the conviction, he raised his hand and swore to this The world is full of psychiatrists, and he could easily have found another if he had known Bass had a problem, but he simply did not know And he was sorry

But what about Bass&039;s testihteen in Texas Does thatnow in this trial? Does that mean you cannot trust his professional opinion? Please be fair to Bass the psychiatrist, forget Bass the person Please be fair to his patient, Carl Lee Hailey He knew nothing of the doctor&039;s past

There was so that was notthe doctor to pieces The girl he had sex as seventeen She later becanant when she and the boy were killed in a train-

"Objection!" Buckley shouted "Objection, Your Honor That evidence is not in the record!"

"Sustained Mr Brigance, you are not to refer to facts not in evidence The jury will disregard the last statenored Noose and Buckley and stared painfully at the jury

When the shouting died, he continued What about Rodeheaver? He wondered if the State&039;s doctor had ever engaged in sex with a girl under eighteen Sees, didn&039;t it? Bass and Rodeheaver in their younger days-it seemed so unimportant now in this courtroom almost thirty years later

The State&039;s doctor is a hly trained specialist who treats thousands for all sorts of nize insanity His testihed

They watched him, listened to every word He was not a courtroom preacher, like his opponent He was quiet, sincere He looked tired, almost hurt

Lucien was sober, and he sat with folded arms and watched the jurors, all except Sisco It was not his closing, but it was good It was coized for his inexperience He had not been in many trials, not nearly as reen, or if he ainst Carl Lee It wasn&039;t his fault He was just a rookie trying his best against a seasoned adversary who tried murder cases every month He made a mistake with Bass, and he ive hihter, the only one he would ever have She was four, almost five, and his world revolved around her She was special; she was a little girl, and it was up to hi he could not explain He talked about little girls

Carl Lee had a daughter Her name was Tonya He pointed to her on the front row next to her irl, ten years old And she can never have children She can never have a daughter because-"

"Objection," Buckley said without shouting

"Sustained," Noose said

Jake ignored the commotion He talked about rape for a while, and explained how rape is one, and not forced to deal hat happened to her The family must deal with it, but not the victi, of trying to understand, of asking questions, and, the worst part, of knowing the rapist is still alive and may someday escape or be released Every hour of every day, the victim thinks of the rape and asks herself a thousand questions She relives it, step by step, minute by minute, and it hurts just as bad

Perhaps the most horrible crime of all is the violent rape of a child A woood idea why it happened Soer and violence But a child? A ten-year-old child? Suppose you&039;re a parent I to explain to your child why she was raped I to explain why she cannot bear children

"Objection"

"Sustained Please disregard that last stateentlemen"

Jake never hter is raped, and you&039;re a Vietnaet your hands on one while your daughter is lying in the hospital fighting for her life Suppose the rapist is caught, and six days later you e to maneuver to within five feet of hiot the M-16

What do you do?

Mr Buckley has told you what he would do He would hter, turn the other cheek, and hope the judicial system worked He would hope the rapist would receive justice, be sent to Parchman, and hopefully never paroled That&039;s what he would do, and they should ad soul But ould a reasonable father do?

What would Jake do? If he had the M-16? Blow the bastard&039;s head off!

It was simple It was justice

Jake paused for a drink of water, then shifted gears The pained and hunation Let&039;s talk about Cobb and Willard They started thisto justify Who wouldpushers Would society miss such productive citizens? Wasn&039;t Ford County safer without them? Were not the other children in the county better off now that two rapists and pushers had been removed? All parents should feel safer Carl Lee deserves a medal, or at least a round of applause He was a hero That&039;s what Looney said Give the man a trophy Send him home to his fahter He also had one leg, thanks to Carl Lee Hailey If anyone had a right to be bitter, to want blood, it was DeWayne Looney And he said Carl Lee should be sent hoive as Looney had forgiven He asked them to follow Looney&039;s wishes

He becah He wanted to leave theht Picture this if they could When she was lying there, beaten, bloodied, legs spread and tied to trees, she looked into the woods around her Se, she saw so toward her It was her daddy, running desperately to save her In her dreams she saw him when she needed him the most She cried out for him, and he disappeared He was taken away

She needs him now, as much as she needed him then Please don&039;t take him away She waits on the front row for her daddy

Let hio home to his family

The courtroolanced at the jury, and saw Wanda Woer For the first time in two days he felt a flicker of hope

At four, Noose bid farewell to his jury He told theet busy He told them they could deliberate until six, maybe seven, and if no verdict was reached he would recess until nine TuesdayThey stood and filed slowly froht, Noose recessed until six and instructed the attorneys to remain close to the courtroom or leave a number with the clerk

The spectators held their seats and chatted quietly Carl Lee was allowed to sit on the front roith his farove waited in chambers with Noose Harry Rex, Lucien, and Jake left for the office and a liquid supper No one expected a quick verdict

The bailiff locked them in the jury room and instructed the two alternates to take a seat in the narrow hallway Inside, Barry Acker was elected foreman by acclamation He laid the jury instructions and exhibits on a s tables placed end to end

"I suggest we take an informal vote," he said "Just to see where we are Any objections to that?"

There were none He had a list of twelve nauilty, or undecided Or you can pass for now"

"Reba Betts"

"Undecided"

"Bernice Toole"

"Guilty"

"Carol Corman"

"Guilty"

"Donna Lou Peck"

"Undecided"

"Sue Williams"

"Pass"

"Jo Ann Gates"

"Guilty"

"Rita Mae Plunk"

"Guilty"

"Frances McGowan"

"Guilty"

"Wanda Womack"

"Undecided"

"Eula Dell Yates"

"Undecided, for noanna talk about it"

"We will Clyde Sisco"

"Undecided"

"That&039;s eleven I&039;uilty"

He tallied for a few seconds and said, "That&039;s five guil-ties, five undecideds, one pass, and one not guilty Looks like we&039;ve got our work cut out for us"

They worked through the exhibits, photographs, fingerprints, and ballistics reports At six, they inforry and wanted to go He recessed until Tuesdaylittle, watching as darkness surrounded the town below and ushered in theto their skin and ht echoed softly across the front lawn Sallie had offered to cook Lucien declined and ordered whiskey Jake had no appetite for food, but the Coors filled his systes were good and dark, Nesbit eh the front screen door, and into the house A moment later he slammed the door, walked past them with a cold beer, and disappeared down the driveway in the direction of his car He never said a word

Sallie stuck her head through the door and made one last offer of food Both declined

"Jake, I got a call this afternoon Clyde Sisco wants twenty-five thousand to hang the jury, fifty thousand for an acquittal"

Jake began shaking his head

"Before you say no, listen to uarantee an acquittal, but he can guarantee a hung jury It just takes one That&039;s twenty-five thousand I know it&039;s a lot of ot it I&039;ll pay it and you can repay me over the years Whenever, I don&039;t care If you never repay it, I don&039;t care I&039;ve got a bankful of CD&039;s You knowto me If I were you I&039;d do it in a minute"

"You&039;re crazy, Lucien"

"Sure I&039;ood yourself Trial work&039;ll drive you crazy Just take a look at what this trial has done to you No sleep, no food, no routine, no house Plenty of booze, though"

"But I&039;ve still got ethics"

"And I have none No ethics, no morals, no conscience But I won, bubba I won more than anybody has ever won around here, and you know it"

"It&039;s corrupt, Lucien"

"And I guess you think Buckley&039;s not corrupt He would lie, cheat, bribe, and steal to win this case He&039;s not worried about fancy ethics, rules, and opinions He&039;s not concerned aboutand only one thing-winning! And you&039;ve got a golden chance to beat hiet it, Lucien Please, just forget it"

An hour passed with no words The lights of the town beloly disappeared Nesbit&039;s snoring was audible in the darkness Sallie brought one last drink and said good night

"This is the hardest part," Lucien said "Waiting on twelve average, everyday people to make sense of all this"

"It&039;s a crazy system, isn&039;t it?"

"Yes, it is But it usually works Juries are right ninety percent of the time"

"I just don&039;t feel lucky I&039; on the miracle"

"Jake, my boy, the miracle happens tomorrow"

"To"

"Would you care to elaborate?"

"By noon to like ants around the Ford County Courthouse Maybe more"

"Ten thousand! Why?"

"To scream and shout and chant &039;Free Carl Lee, Free Carl Lee&039; To raise hell, to scare everybody, to inti There&039;ll be so overnor will send in more troops"

"And how do you know all this?"

"Because I planned it, Jake"

"You?"

"Listen, Jake, when I was in my prime I knew every black preacher in fifteen counties I&039;ve been in their churches Prayed with the with them They sent me clients, and I sent them money I was the only white radical NAACP lawyer in north Mississippi I&039; filed more race discriton These were my people I&039;ve just made a few

phone calls They&039;ll start arriving in the ers with a stick in don Clanton"

"Where will they come from?"

"Everywhere You kno tracks love to reat for the forward to it"

"You&039;re crazy, Lucien My crazy friend"

"I win, bubba"

In Rooaathered some coins and announced he wanted a soft drink Sisco said he was not thirsty

Acker tiptoed past a guardsman asleep in the hall The machine informed him it was out of order, so he quietly opened the exit dqpr and walked up the stairs to the second floor, where he found another machine next to an ice maker He inserted his coins The machine responded with a diet Coke He bent over to pick it up

Out of the darkness two figures charged They knocked him to the floor, kicked him and pinned him in a dark corner beside the ice e one grabbed Acker&039;s collar and threw hiainst the cinder block wall The smaller one stood by the Coke machine and watched the dark hall

"You&039;re Barry Acker!" said the large one through clenched teeth

"Yeah! Let go of me!" Acker attempted to shake free, but his assailant lifted him by the throat and held him to the ith one hand He used the other hand to unsheathe a shiny hunting knife, which he placed next to Acker&039;s nose The wiggling stopped

"Listen to ood We know you&039;re ot three kids, and we knohere they play and go to school Your orks at the bank"

Acker went lier walks free, you&039;ll be sorry Your family will be sorry It may take years, but you&039;ll be awfully sorry" He dropped hirabbed his hair "You

breathe one word of this to anyone, and you&039;ll lose a kid

Understand?"

They vanished Acker breathed deeply, al

for breath He rubbed his throat and the back of his head

He sat in the darkness, too scared to move

At hundreds of sathered before dawn and loaded picnic baskets, coolers, lawn chairs, and water jugs into converted school buses and church vans They greeted friends and chatted nervously about the trial For weeks they had read and talked about Carl Lee Hailey; now, they were about to go help Many were old and retired, but there were entire families with children and playpens When the buses were full, they piled into cars and followed their preachers They sang and prayed The preachers met other preachers in small towns and county seats, and they set out in force down the dark highways When daylightto Ford County were filled with caravans of pilgrims

They jammed the side streets for blocks around the square They parked where they stopped and unloaded

The fat colonel had just finished breakfast and stood in the gazebo watching intently Buses and cars,from all directions to the square The barricades held firear More excitement At seven-thirty, he called Ozzie and told hiee, who assured him it was a peaceful ? Ozzie asked Thousands, said Agee Thousands

&039;They set up camp under the stately oaks, and ed tables and chairs and playpens They were indeed peaceful, until a group began the familiar cry of "Free Carl Lee!" They cleared their throats and joined in It was not yet eight o&039;clock

A black radio station in Memphis flooded the airwaves early Tuesday with a call for help Black bodies were needed to march and demonstrate in Clanton, Mississippi, an hour away Hundreds of cars hts activist and black politician in the city made the trip