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He brought the gavel doith a thunderous bang

“There will be order!” he commanded “There will be silence! There will be justice!”

Chapter 98

NOW TO PICK A JURY

That summer had been one of the hottest on record It seemed to me that God had saved up all the excess heat and huht it down upon Eudora today It was already so hot in the courtroo like a flock of restless birds

Judge Corbett had evidently taken measures to spruce up the courtroom for the national press, ere allowed inside between sessions to gather scraps of news He had ordered all the spectator benches and tables and chairs sanded and revarnished, and indeed they all gleamed as if brand-new But the new varnish turned soft and sticky in the heat and gave off fu I breathed the sweetish, medicinal smell; the seat of my trousers stuck to my chair

This was going to be a very long day

I saw at once that Judge Corbett still ran an efficient courtroom It took only ten minutes for the first three candidates to be interviewed, approved, and seated in the jury box: three ed white men

Jonahhis objections for an occasion when they ht prove persuasive

It didn’t take long

The clerk read a name from the list: “Patton William Taylor”

Chapter 99

FROM THE FRONT ROW rose a mousy little man commonly known as Patsy-Boy Taylor I knew hion I had ridden to the Klanat Scully’s barn

I scribbled a note and passed it to Jonah

Taylor served tiirl Believe he broke her leg