A Time to Kill

"I think he’ll let us meet in his office."

"Good. Who is Mr. Hailey’s attorney?"

"Local boy. Jake Brigance."

"Make sure he’s invited. We’ll ask him to help us on the case. It’ll ease the pain."

Ethel’s obnoxious, high-pitched, bitchy voice broke the tran-quility of the late afternoon and startled her boss. "Mr. Brigance, Sheriff Walls is on line two," she said through the intercom.

"Okay."

"Do you need me for anything else, sir?"

"No. See you in the morning."

Jake punched line two. "Hello, Ozzie. What’s up?"

"Listen Jake, we’ve got a bunch of NAACP big shots in town."

"What else is new?"

"No, this is different. They wanna meet with Carl Lee in the mornin’."

"Why?"

"Some guy named Reinfeld."

"I’ve heard of him. He heads up their capital murder team. Norman Reinfeld."

"Yeah, that’s him."

"I’ve been waiting for this."

"Well, he’s here, and he wants to talk to Carl Lee."

"Why are you involved?"

"Reverend Agee called me. He wants a favor, of course. He asked me to call you."

"The answer is no. Emphatically no."

Ozzie paused a few seconds. "Jake, they want you 10 oe present."

"You mean I’m invited?"

"Yes. Agee said Reinfeld insisted on it. He wants you to be here."

"Where?"

"In my office. Nine A.M."

Jake breathed deeply and replied slowly. "Okay, I’ll be there. Where’s Carl Lee?"

"In his cell."

"Get him in your office. I’ll be there in five minutes."

"What for?"

"We need to have a prayer meeting."

Reinfeld and Reverends Agee, Roosevelt, and Hillman sat in a perfect row of folding chairs and faced the sheriff, the defendant, and Jake, who puffed a cheap cigar in a determined effort to pollute the small office. He puffed mightily and stared nonchalantly at the floor, trying his best to show nothing but absolute contempt for Reinfeld and the reverends. Reinfeld was no pushover when it came to arrogance, and his disdain for this simple, small-time lawyer was not well hidden because he made no attempt to hide it. He was arrogant and insolent by nature. Jake had to work at it.

"Who called this meeting?" Jake asked impatiently, after a long, uncomfortable silence.

"Uh, well, I guess we did," answered Agee as he searched Reinfeld for guidance.

"Well, get on with it. What do you want?"

"Take it easy now, Jake," Ozzie said. "Reverend Agee asked me to arrange the meeting so Carl Lee could meet Mr. Reinfeld here."

"Fine. They’ve met. Now what, Mr. Reinfeld?"

"I’m here to offer my services, and the services of my staff and the entire NAACP to Mr. Hailey," said Reinfeld.

"What type of services?" asked Jake.

"Legal, of course."

"Carl Lee, did you ask Mr. Reinfeld to come here?" asked Jake.

"Nope."

"Sounds like solicitation to me, Mr. Reinfeld."

"Skip the lecture, Mr. Brigance. You know what I do, and you know why I’m here."

"So you chase all your cases?"

"We don’t chase anything. We’re called in by local NAACP members and other civil rights activists. We handle only capital murder cases, and we’re very good at what we do."

"I suppose you’re the only attorney competent to handle a case of this magnitude?"

"I’ve handled my share."

"And lost your share."

"Most of my cases are supposed to be lost."

"I see. Is that your position on this case? Do you expect to lose it?"

Reinfeld picked at his beard and glared at Jake. "I didn’t come here to argue with you, Mr. Brigance."

"I know. You came here to offer your formidable legal skills to a defendant who’s never heard of you and happens to be satisfied with his attorney. You came here to take my client. I know exactly why you’re here."

"I’m here because the NAACP invited me. Nothing more or less."

"I see. Do you get all your cases from the NAACP?"

"I work for the NAACP, Mr. Brigance. I’m in charge of its capital murder defense team. I go where the NAACP sends me."

"How many clients do you have?"

"Several dozen. Why is that important?"

"Did they all have attorneys before you pushed yourself into their cases?"

"Some did, some didn’t. We always try to work with the local attorney."

Jake smiled. "That’s marvelous. You’re offering me a chance to carry your briefcase and chauffeur you around Clanton. I might even get to fetch you a sandwich during the noon recess. What a thrill."

Carl Lee sat frozen with arms crossed and his eyes fixed on a spot in the rug. The reverends watched him closely, waiting for him to say something to his lawyer, to tell him to shut up, that he was fired and the NAACP lawyers would

handle the case. They watched ana wauea, DUI sat calmly and listened.

"We have a lot to offer, Mr. Hailey," Reinfeld said. It was best to stay calm until the defendant decided who would represent him. A tantrum might ruin things.

"Such as?" Jake asked.

"Staff, resources, expertise, experienced trial lawyers who do nothing but capital defense. Plus we have a number of highly competent doctors we use in these cases. You name it, we have it."

"How much money do you have to spend?"

"That’s none of your business."

"Is that so? Is it Mr. Hailey’s business? After all, it’s his case. Perhaps Mr. Hailey would like to know how much you have to spend in his defense. Would you, Mr. Hailey?"

"Yep."

"All right, Mr. Reinfeld, how much do you have to spend?"

Reinfeld squirmed and looked hard at the reverends, who looked hard at Carl Lee.

"Approximately twenty thousand, so far," Reinfeld admitted sheepishly.

Jake laughed and shook his head in disbelief. "Twenty thousand! Y’all are really serious about this, aren’t you? Twenty thousand! I thought you guys played in the big leagues. You raised a hundred and fifty thousand for the cop killer in Birmingham last year. And he was convicted, by the way. You spent a hundred thousand for the whore in Shreve-port who killed her customer. And she, too, was convicted, I might add. And you think this case is worth only twenty thousand."

"How much do you have to spend?" asked Reinfeld.

"If you can explain to me how that’s any of your business, I’ll be glad to discuss it with you."

Reinfeld started to speak, then leaned forward and rubbed his temples. "Why don’t you talk to him, Reverend Agee."

The reverends stared at Carl Lee. They wished they were alone with him, with no white folks around. They could talk to him like he was a nigger. They could explain things to. him; tell him to fire this young white boy and get him some

real lawyers. NAACP lawyers. Lawyers who knew how to fight for blacks. But they were not alone with him, and they couldn’t curse him. They had to show respect for the white folks present. Agee spoke first.

"Look here, Carl Lee, we tryin’ to help you. We brought in Mr. Reinfeld here, and he’s got all his lawyers and ever-body at your disposal, to help you now. We ain’t got nothin’ against Jake here; he’s a fine young lawyer. But he can work with Mr. Reinfeld. We don’t want you to fire Jake; we just want you to hire Mr. Reinfeld too. They can all work together."