A time to kill

instantly he was in trouble with Hailey. The five blacks grew tense and arrogant as if they welcomed the case and the inevitable argument. The foreman, Mrs. Gossett, looked particularly pious as Ozzie mumbled to himself and flipped papers. Most of the whites looked noncommittal, but Mack Loyd Crowell, a hard-looking middle-aged rural type, appeared as arrogant as the blacks. Crowell pushed back his chair and walked to the window, which looked over the north side of the courtyard. Buckley could not read him precisely, but he knew Crowell was trouble.

"Sheriff, how many witnesses do you have for the Hailey case?" Buckley asked, somewhat nervously.

Ozzie stopped shuffling paper and said, "Well, uh, just me. We can get another if we need one."

"All right, all right," replied Buckley. "Just tell us about the case."

Ozzie reared back, crossed his legs, and said, "Shoot, Rufus, everbody knows about this case. Been on TV for a week."

"Just give us the evidence."

"The evidence. Okay, one week ago today, Carl Lee Hailey, male black, age thirty-seven, shot and killed one Billy Ray Cobb and one Pete Willard, and he shot a peace officer, one DeWayne Looney, who's still in the hospital with his leg cut off. The weapon was an M-16 machine gun, illegal, which we recovered and matched the fingerprints with those of Mr. Hailey. I have an affidavit signed by Deputy Looney, and he states, under oath, that the man who did the shootin' was Carl Lee Hailey. There was an eyewitness, Murphy, the little crippled man that sweeps the courthouse and stutters real bad. I can get him here if you want."

"Any questions?" interrupted Buckley.

The D.A. nervously watched the jurors, who nervously watched the sheriff. Crowell stood with his back to the others, looking through the window.

"Any questions?" Buckley repeated.

"Yeah," answered Crowell as he turned and glared at the D.A., then at Ozzie. "Those two boys he shot, they raped his little girl, didn't they, Sheriff?"

"We're pretty sure they did," answered Ozzie.

"Well, one confessed, didn't he?"

"Yep."

Crowell walked slowly, boldly, arrogantly across the room, and stood at the other end of the tables. He looked down at Ozzie. "You got kids, Sheriff?"

"Yep."

"You got a little girl?"

"Yep."

"Suppose she got raped and you got your hands on the man who did it. What would you do?"

Ozzie paused and looked anxiously at Buckley, whose neck had turned a deep red.

"I don't have to answer that," Ozzie replied.

"Is that so. You came before this grand jury to testify, didn't you? You're a witness, ain't you? Answer the question."

"I don't know what I'd do."

"Come on, Sheriff. Give us a straight answer. Tell the truth. What would you do?"

Ozzie felt embarrassed, confused, and angry at this stranger. He would like to tell the truth, and explain in detail how he would gladly castrate and mutilate and kill any pervert who touched his little girl. But he couldn't. The grand jury might agree and refuse to indict Carl Lee. Not that he wanted him indicted, but he knew the indictment was necessary. He looked sheepishly at Buckley, who was perspiring and seated now.

Crowell zeroed in on the sheriff with the zeal and fervor of a lawyer who had just caught a witness in an obvious lie.

"Come on, Sheriff," he taunted. "We're all listenin'. Tell the truth. What would you do to the rapist? Tell us. Come on."

Buckley was near panic. The biggest case of his wonderful career was about to be lost, not at trial, but in the grand jury room, in the first round, at the hands of an unemployed truck driver. He stood and struggled for words. "The witness does not have to answer."

Crowell turned and shouted at Buckley, "You sit down and shut up! We don't take orders from you. We can indict you if we want to, can't we?"

Buckley sat and looked blankly at Ozzie. Crowell was a ringer. He was too smart to be on a grand jury. Someone

must have paid him. He knew too much. Yes, the grand jury could indict anyone.

Crowell retreated and returned to the window. They watched him until it appeared he was finished.

"Are you absolutely sure he done it, Ozzie?" asked Le-moyne Frady, an illegitimate distant cousin to Gwen Hailey.

"Yes, we're sure," Ozzie answered slowly, with both eyes on Crowell. ,

"And you want us to indict him for what?" asked Mr. Frady, the admiration for the sheriff obvious.

"Two counts of capital murder, and one count of assault on a peace officer."

"How much time you talkin' about?" asked Barney Flaggs, another black.

"Capital murder carries the gas chamber. Assault on a deputy carries life with no parole."

"And that's what you want, Ozzie?" asked Flaggs.

"Yeah, Barney, I say this grand jury should indict Mr. Hailey. I sure do."

"Any more questions?" interrupted Buckley.

"Not so fast," replied Crowell as he turned from the window. "I think you're tryin' to ram this case down our throats, Mr. Buckley, and I resent it. I wanna talk about it some. You sit down and if we need you, we'll ask you."