A time to kill

Jake filled in the blanks in the contract and promissory note, and Carl Lee signed both.

"Jake, how much would you charge a man with plenty of money?"

"Fifty thousand."

"Fifty thousand! You serious?"

"Yep."

"Man, that's a lotta money. You ever get that much?"

"No, but I haven't seen too many people on trial for murder with that kind of money."

Carl Lee wanted to know about his bond, the grand jury, the trial, the witnesses, who would be on the jury, when could he get out of jail, could Jake speed up the trial, when could he tell his version, and a thousand other questions. Jake said they would have plenty of time to talk. He promised to call Gwen and his boss at the paper mill.

He left and Carl Lee was placed in his cell, the one next to the cell for state prisoners.

The Saab was blocked by a television van. Jake inquired as to who owned it. Most of the reporters had left but a few loitered about, expecting something. It was almost dark.

"Are you with the sheriffs department?" asked a reporter.

"No, I'm a lawyer," Jake answered nonchalantly, attempting to seem disinterested.

"Are you Mr. Hailey's attorney?"

Jake turned and stared at the reporter as the others listened. "Matter of fact, I am."

"Will you answer some questions?"

"You can ask some. I won't promise any answers."

"Will you step over here?"

Jake walked to the microphones and cameras and tried to act annoyed by the inconvenience. Ozzie and the deputies watched from inside. "Jake loves cameras," he said.

"All lawyers do," added Moss.

"What is your name, sir?"

"Jake Brigance,"

"You're Mr. Hailey's attorney."

"Correct," Jake answered coolly.

"Mr. Hailey is the father of the young girl raped by the two men who were killed today?"

"Correct."

"Who killed the two men?"

"I don't know."

"Was it Mr. Hailey?"

"I said I don't know."

"What's your client been charged with?"

"He's been arrested for the murders of Billy Ray Cobb and Pete Willard. He hasn't formally been charged with anything."

"Do you expect Mr. Hailey to be indicted for the two murders?"

"No comment."

"Why no comment?"

"Have you talked with Mr. Hailey?" asked another reporter.

"Yes, just a moment ago."

"How is he?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, uh, how is he?"

"You mean, how does he like jail?" Jake asked with a slight grin.

"Uh, yeah."

"No comment."

"When will he be in court?"

"Probably tomorrow or Wednesday."

"Will he plead guilty?"

Jake smiled and replied, "Of course not."

After a cold supper, they sat in the swing on the front porch and watched the lawn sprinkler and talked about the case. The killings were big news across the country, and Carla recorded as many television reports as possible. Two of the networks covered the story live through their Memphis affiliates, and the Memphis, Jackson, and Tupelo stations re-

house surrounded by deputies, and seconds later, being carried from the courthouse under white sheets. One of the stations played the actual audio of the gunfire over film of the deputies scrambling for cover.

Jake's interview was too late for the evening news, so he and Carla waited, with the recorder, for the ten o'clock, and there he was, briefcase in hand, looking trim, fit, handsome, and arrogant, and very disgusted with the reporters for the inconvenience. Jake thought he looked great on TV, and he was excited to be there. There had been one other brief appearance, after Lester's acquittal, and the regulars at the Coffee Shop had kidded him for months.

He felt good. He relished the publicity and anticipated much more. He could not think of another case, another set of facts, another setting which could generate as much publicity as the trial of Carl Lee Hailey. And the acquittal of Carl Lee Hailey, for the murder of the two white men who raped his daughter, before an all-white jury in rural Mississippi

"What're you smiling about?" Carla interrupted.

"Nothing."

"Sure. You're thinking about the trial, and the cameras, the reporters, the acquittal, and walking out of the courthouse, arm around Carl Lee, reporters chasing you with the cameras rolling, people slapping you on the back, congratulations everywhere. I know exactly what you're thinking about."

"Then why'd you ask?"

"To see if you'd admit it."

"Okay, I admit it. This case could make me famous and make us a million bucks, in the long run."

"If you win."

"Yes, if I win."

"And if you lose?"

"I'll win."

"But if you don'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 Mem-

phis morning paper. He hung up and called Lester ana Gwen, then the foreman at the paper mill.

At eleven-fifteen it rang again, and Jake received his first death threat, anonymous of course. He was called a nigger-loving son of a bitch, one who would not live if the nigger walked.