The Chamber (Page 51)

The law library was known as the Twig because it was too small to be considered a full branch. The main prison law library was deeper into the farm, at another camp. The Twig was used exclusively by death row inmates. It was stuck to the rear of an administration building, with only one door and no windows. Sam had been there many times during the past nine years. It was a small room with a decent collection of current law books and up-to-date reporting services. A battered conference table sat in the center with shelves of books lining the four walls. Every now and then a trustee would volunteer to serve as the librarian, but good help was hard to find and the books were seldom where they were supposed to be. This irritated Sam immensely because he admired neatness and he despised the Africans, and he was certain that most if not all of the librarians were black, though he did not know this for a fact.

The two guards unshackled Sam at the door.

"You got two hours," Packer said.

"I got as long as I want," Sam said, rubbing his wrists as if the handcuffs had broken them.

"Sure, Sam. But when I come after you in two hours, I’ll bet we load your gimpy little ass into the van."

Packer opened the door as the guards took their positions beside it. Sam entered the library and slammed the door behind him. He laid his file on the table and stared at his lawyer.

Adam stood at the far end of the conference table, holding a book and waiting for his client. He’d heard voices outside, and he watched Sam enter the room without guards or handcuffs. He stood there in his red jumpsuit, much smaller now without the thick metal screen between them.

They studied each other for a moment across the table, grandson and grandfather, lawyer and client, stranger and stranger. It was an awkward interval in which they sized each other up and neither knew what to do with the other.

"Hello, Sam," Adam said, walking toward him.

"Mornin’. Saw us on TV a few hours ago."

"Yeah. Have you seen the paper?"

"Not yet. It comes later."

Adam slid the morning paper across the table and Sam stopped it. He held it with both hands, eased into a chair, and raised the paper to within six inches of his nose. He read it carefully and studied the pictures of himself and Adam.

Todd Marks had evidently spent most of the evening digging and making frantic phone calls. He had verified that one Alan Cayhall had been born in Clanton, in Ford County, in 1964, and the father’s name listed on the birth certificate was one Edward S. Cayhall. He checked the birth certificate for Edward S. Cayhall and found that his father was Samuel Lucas Cayhall, the same man now on death row. He reported that Adam Hall had confirmed that his father’s name had been changed in California, and that his grandfather was Sam Cayhall. He was careful not to attribute direct quotes to Adam, but he nonetheless violated their agreement. There was little doubt the two had talked.

Quoting unnamed sources, the story explained how Eddie and his family left Clanton in 1967 after Sam’s arrest, and fled to California where Eddie later killed himself. The trail ended there because Marks obviously ran out of time late in the day and could confirm nothing from California. The unnamed source or sources didn’t mention Sam’s daughter living in Memphis, so Lee was spared. The story ran out of steam with a series of no-comments from Baker Cooley, Garner Goodman, Phillip Naifeh, Lucas Mann, and a lawyer with the Attorney General’s office in Jackson. Marks finished strong, though, with a sensational recap of the Kramer bombing.

The story was on the front page of the Press, above the main headline. The ancient picture of Sam was to the right, and next to it was a strange photo of Adam from the waist up. Lee had brought the paper to him hours earlier as he sat on the terrace and watched the early morning river traffic. They drank coffee and juice, and read and reread the story. After much analysis, Adam had decided that Todd Marks had placed a photographer across the street from the Peabody Hotel, and when Adam left their little meeting yesterday and stepped onto the sidewalk, he got his picture taken. The suit and tie were definitely worn yesterday.

"Did you talk to this clown?" Sam growled as he placed the paper on the table. Adam sat across from him.

"We met."

"Why?"

"Because he called our office in Memphis, said he’d heard some rumors, and I wanted him to get it straight. It’s no big deal."

"Our pictures on the front page is no big deal?"

"You’ve been there before."

"And you?"

"I didn’t exactly pose. It was. an ambush, you see. But I think I look rather dashing."

"Did you confirm these facts for him?"

"I did. We agreed it would be background, and he could not quote me on anything. Nor was he supposed to use me as a source. He violated our agreement, and ripped his ass with me. He also planted a photographer, so I’ve spoken for the first and last time to the Memphis Press."

Sam looked at the paper for a moment. He was relaxed, and his words were as slow as ever. He managed a trace of a smile. "And you confirmed that you are my grandson?"

"Yes. Can’t really deny it, can I?"

"Do you want to deny it?"

"Read the paper, Sam. If I wanted to deny it, would it be on the front page?"

This satisfied Sam, and the smile grew a bit.

He bit his lip and stared at Adam. Then he methodically removed a fresh pack of cigarettes, and Adam glanced around for a window.

After the first one was properly lit, Sam said, "Stay away from the press. They’re ruthless and they’re stupid. They lie and they make careless mistakes."

"But I’m a lawyer, Sam. It’s inbred."

"I know. It’s hard, but try to control yourself. I don’t want it to happen again."

Adam reached into his briefcase, smiled, and pulled out some papers. "I have a wonderful idea how to save your life." He rubbed his hands together then removed a pen from his pocket. It was time for work.

"I’m listening."

"Well, as you might guess, I’ve been doing a lot of research."

"That’s what you’re paid to do."

"Yes. And I’ve come up with a marvelous little theory, a new claim which I intend to file on Monday. The theory is simple. Mississippi is one of only five states still using the gas chamber, right?"

"That’s right."

"And the Mississippi Legislature in 1984 passed a law giving a condemned man the choice of dying by lethal injection or in the gas chamber. But the new law applies only to those convicted after July 1, 1984. Doesn’t apply to you."

"That’s correct. I think about half the guys on the Row will get their choice. It’s years away, though."

"One of the reasons the legislature approved lethal injection was to make the killings more humane. I’ve studied the legislative history behind the law and there was a lot of discussion of problems the state’s had with gas chamber executions. The theory is simple: make the executions quick and painless, and there will be fewer constitutional claims that they are cruel. Lethal injections raise fewer legal problems, thus the killings are easier to carry out. Our theory, then, is that since the state has adopted lethal injection, it has in effect said that the gas chamber is obsolete. And why is it obsolete? Because it’s a cruel way to kill people."

Sam puffed on this for a minute and nodded slowly. "Keep going," he said.

"We attack the gas chamber as a method of execution."

"Do you limit it to Mississippi?"

"Probably. I know there were problems with Teddy Doyle Meeks and Maynard Tole."