Three Classic Thrillers

by John Grisham

  “Sort of. Kerry is on salary. Part of his job is to monitor every death case in this state, but since Sam has private lawyers Kerry is off the hook. He’s donating his time, but it’s something he wants to do. Professor Glass is on salary at the law school, but this is definitely outside the scope of his employment there. We’re paying these students five bucks an hour.”

  “Who’s paying them?” she asked.

  “Dear old Kravitz & Bane.”

  Adam grabbed a nearby phonebook. “Carmen needs to get a flight out of here this afternoon,” he said, flipping to the yellow pages.

  “I’ll take care of it,” Goodman said, taking the phonebook. “Where to?”

  “San Francisco.”

  “I’ll see what’s available. Look, there’s a little deli around the corner. Why don’t you two get something to eat? We’ll walk to the governor’s office at two.”

  “I need to get to a library,” Adam said, looking at his watch. It was almost one o’clock.

  “Go eat, Adam. And try to relax. We’ll have time later to sit down with the brain trust and talk strategy. Right now, you need to relax and eat.”

  “I’m hungry,” Carmen said, anxious to be alone with her brother for a few minutes. They eased from the room, and closed the door behind them.

  She stopped him in the shabby hallway before they reached the stairs. “Please explain that to me,” she insisted, grabbing his arm.

  “What?”

  “That little room in there.”

  “It’s pretty obvious, isn’t it?”

  “Is it legal?”

  “It’s not illegal.”

  “Is it ethical?”

  Adam took a deep breath and stared at the wall. “What are they planning to do with Sam?”

  “Execute him.”

  “Execute, gas, exterminate, kill, call it what you want. But it’s murder, Carmen. Legal murder. It’s wrong, and I’m trying to stop it. It’s a dirty business, and if I have to bend a few ethics, I don’t care.”

  “It stinks.”

  “So does the gas chamber.”

  She shook her head and held her words. Twenty-four hours earlier she’d been eating lunch with her boyfriend at a sidewalk café in San Francisco. Now, she wasn’t sure where she was.

  “Don’t condemn me for this, Carmen. These are desperate hours.”

  “Okay,” she said, and headed down the stairs.

  ______

  The governor and the young lawyer were alone in the vast office, in the comfortable leather chairs, their legs crossed and feet almost touching. Goodman was rushing Carmen to the airport to catch a flight. Mona Stark was nowhere in sight.

  “It’s strange, you know, you’re the grandson, and you’ve known him for less than a month.” McAllister’s words were calm, almost tired. “But I’ve known him for many years. In fact, he’s been a part of my life for a long time. And I’ve always thought that I’d look forward to this day. I’ve wanted him to die, you know, to be punished for killing those boys.” He flipped his bangs and gently rubbed his eyes. His words were so genuine, as if two old friends were catching up on the gossip. “But now I’m not so sure. I have to tell you, Adam, the pressure’s getting to me.”

  He was either being brutally honest, or he was a talented actor. Adam couldn’t tell. “What will the state prove if Sam dies?” Adam asked. “Will this be a better place to live when the sun comes up Wednesday morning and he’s dead?”

  “No. But then you don’t believe in the death penalty. I do.”

  “Why?”

  “Because there has to be an ultimate punishment for murder. Put yourself in Ruth Kramer’s position, and you’d feel differently. The problem you have, Adam, and people like you, is that you forget about the victims.”

  “We could argue for hours about the death penalty.”

  “You’re right. Let’s skip it. Has Sam told you anything new about the bombing?”

  “I can’t divulge what Sam’s told me. But the answer is no.”

  “Maybe he acted alone, I don’t know.”

  “What difference would it make today, the day before the execution?”

  “I’m not sure, to be honest. But if I knew that Sam was only an accomplice, that someone else was responsible for the killings, then it would be impossible for me to allow him to be executed. I could stop it, you know. I could do that. I’d catch hell for it. It would hurt me politically. The damage could be irreparable, but I wouldn’t mind. I’m getting tired of politics. And I don’t enjoy being placed in this position, the giver or taker of life. But I could pardon Sam, if I knew the truth.”

  “You believe he had help. You’ve told me that already. The FBI agent in charge of the investigation believes it too. Why don’t you act on your beliefs and grant clemency?”

  “Because we’re not certain.”

  “So, one word from Sam, just one name thrown out here in the final hours, and, bingo, you take your pen and save his life?”

  “No, but I might grant a reprieve so the name could be investigated.”

  “It won’t happen, Governor. I’ve tried. I’ve asked so often, and he’s denied so much, that it’s not even discussed anymore.”

  “Who’s he protecting?”

  “Hell if I know.”

  “Perhaps we’re wrong. Has he ever given you the details of the bombing?”

  “Again, I can’t talk about our conversations. But he takes full responsibility for it.”

  “Then why should I consider clemency? If the criminal himself claims he did the crime, and acted alone, how am I supposed to help him?”

  “Help him because he’s an old man who’ll die soon enough anyway. Help him because it’s the right thing to do, and deep down in your heart you want to do it. It’ll take guts.”

  “He hates me, doesn’t he?”

  “Yes. But he could come around. Give him a pardon and he’ll be your biggest fan.”

  McAllister smiled and unwrapped a peppermint. “Is he really insane?”

  “Our expert says he is. We’ll do our best to convince Judge Slattery.”

  “I know, but really? You’ve spent hours with him. Does he know what’s happening?”

  At this point, Adam decided against honesty. McAllister was not a friend, and not at all trustworthy. “He’s pretty sad,” Adam admitted. “Frankly, I’m surprised any person can keep his mind after a few months on death row. Sam was an old man when he got there, and he’s slowly wasted away. That’s one reason he’s declined all interviews. He’s quite pitiful.”

  Adam couldn’t tell if the governor believed this, but he certainly absorbed it.

  “What’s your schedule tomorrow?” McAllister asked.

  “I have no idea. It depends on what happens in Slattery’s court. I had planned to spend most of the day with Sam, but I might be running around filing last minute appeals.”

  “I gave you my private number. Let’s keep in touch tomorrow.”

  ______

  Sam took three bites of pinto beans and some of the corn bread, then placed the tray at the end of his bed. The same idiot guard with the blank face watched him through the bars of the tier door. Life was bad enough in these cramped cubicles, but living like an animal and being watched was unbearable.

  It was six o’clock, time for the evening news. He was anxious to hear what the world was saying about him. The Jackson station began with the breaking story of a last minute hearing before federal Judge F. Flynn Slattery. The report cut to the outside of the federal courthouse in Jackson where an anxious young man with a microphone explained that the hearing had been delayed a bit as the lawyers wrangled in Slattery’s office. He tried his best to briefly explain the issue. The defense was now claiming that Mr. Cayhall lacked sufficient mental capacity to understand why he was being executed. He was senile and insane, claimed the defense, which would call a noted psychiatrist in this last ditch effort to stop the execution. The hearing was expected to get under way at any moment, and no one kn
ew when a decision might be reached by Judge Slattery. Back to the anchorwoman, who said that, meanwhile, up at the state penitentiary at Parchman, all systems were go for the execution. Another young man with a microphone was suddenly on the screen, standing somewhere near the front gate of the prison, describing the increased security. He pointed to his right, and the camera panned the area near the highway where a regular carnival was happening. The highway patrol was out in force, directing traffic and keeping a wary eye on an assemblage of several dozen Ku Klux Klansmen. Other protestors included various groups of white supremacists and the usual death penalty abolitionists, he said.

  The camera swung back to the reporter, who now had with him Colonel George Nugent, acting superintendent for Parchman, and the man in charge of the execution. Nugent grimly answered a few questions, said things were very much under control, and if the courts gave the green light then the execution would be carried out according to the law.

  Sam turned off the television. Adam had called two hours earlier and explained the hearing, so he was prepared to hear that he was senile and insane and God knows what else. Still, he didn’t like it. It was bad enough waiting to be executed, but to have his sanity slandered so nonchalantly seemed like a cruel invasion of privacy.

  The tier was hot and quiet. The televisions and radios were turned down. Next door, Preacher Boy softly sang “The Old Rugged Cross,” and it was not unpleasant.

  In a neat pile on the floor against the wall was his new outfit—a plain white cotton shirt, Dickies, white socks, and a pair of brown loafers. Donnie had spent an hour with him during the afternoon.

  He turned off the light and relaxed on the bed. Thirty hours to live.

  ______

  The main courtroom in the federal building was packed when Slattery finally released the lawyers from his chamber for the third time. It was the last of a series of heated conferences that had dragged on for most of the afternoon. It was now almost seven.

  They filed into the courtroom and took their places behind the appropriate tables. Adam sat with Garner Goodman. In a row of chairs behind them were Hez Kerry, John Bryan Glass, and three of his law students. Roxburgh, Morris Henry, and a half dozen assistants crowded around the state’s table. Two rows behind them, behind the bar, sat the governor with Mona Stark on one side and Larramore on the other.

  The rest of the crowd was primarily reporters—no cameras were allowed. There were curious spectators, law students, other lawyers. It was open to the public. In the back row, dressed comfortably in a sports coat and tie, was Rollie Wedge.

  Slattery made his entrance and everyone stood for a moment. “Be seated,” he said into his microphone. “Let’s go on the record,” he said to the court reporter. He gave a succinct review of the petition and the applicable law, and outlined the parameters of the hearing. He was not in the mood for lengthy arguments and pointless questions, so move it along, he told the lawyers.

  “Is the petitioner ready?” he asked in Adam’s direction. Adam stood nervously, and said, “Yes sir. The petitioner calls Dr. Anson Swinn.”

  Swinn stood from the first row and walked to the witness stand where he was sworn in. Adam walked to the podium in the center of the courtroom, holding his notes and pushing himself to be strong. His notes were typed and meticulous, the result of some superb research and preparation by Hez Kerry and John Bryan Glass. The two, along with Kerry’s staff, had devoted the entire day to Sam Cayhall and this hearing. And they were ready to work all night and throughout tomorrow.

  Adam began by asking Swinn some basic questions about his education and training. Swinn’s answers were accented with the crispness of the upper Midwest, and this was fine. Experts should talk differently and travel great distances in order to be highly regarded. With his black hair, black beard, black glasses, and black suit, he indeed gave the appearance of an ominously brilliant master of his field. The preliminary questions were short and to the point, but only because Slattery had already reviewed Swinn’s qualifications and ruled that he could in fact testify as an expert. The state could attack his credentials on cross-examination, but his testimony would go into the record.

  With Adam leading the way, Swinn talked about his two hours with Sam Cayhall on the previous Tuesday. He described his physical condition, and did so with such relish that Sam sounded like a corpse. He was quite probably insane, though insanity was a legal term, not medical. He had difficulty answering even basic questions like What did you eat for breakfast? Who is in the cell next to you? When did your wife die? Who was your lawyer during the first trial? And on and on.

  Swinn very carefully covered his tracks by repeatedly telling the court that two hours simply was not enough time to thoroughly diagnose Mr. Cayhall. More time was needed.

  In his opinion, Sam Cayhall did not appreciate the fact that he was about to die, did not understand why he was being executed, and certainly didn’t realize he was being punished for a crime. Adam gritted his teeth to keep from wincing at times, but Swinn was certainly convincing. Mr. Cayhall was completely calm and at ease, clueless about his fate, wasting away his days in a six-by-nine cell. It was quite sad. One of the worst cases he’d encountered.

  Under different circumstances, Adam would’ve been horrified to place on the stand a witness so obviously full of bull. But at this moment, he was mighty proud of this bizarre little man. Human life was at stake.

  Slattery was not about to cut short the testimony of Dr. Swinn. This case would be reviewed instantly by the Fifth Circuit and perhaps the U.S. Supreme Court, and he wanted no one from above second-guessing him. Goodman suspected this, and Swinn had been prepped to ramble. So with the court’s indulgence, Swinn launched into the likely causes of Sam’s problems. He described the horrors of living in a cell twenty-three hours a day; of knowing the gas chamber is a stone’s throw away; of being denied companionship, decent food, sex, movement, plenty of exercise, fresh air. He’d worked with many death row inmates around the country and knew their problems well. Sam, of course, was much different because of his age. The average death row inmate is thirty-one years old, and has spent four years waiting to die. Sam was sixty when he first arrived at Parchman. Physically and mentally, he was not suited for it. It was inevitable he would deteriorate.

  Swinn was under Adam’s direct examination for forty-five minutes. When Adam had exhausted his questions, he sat down. Steve Roxburgh strutted to the podium, and stared at Swinn.

  Swinn knew what was coming, and he was not the least bit concerned. Roxburgh began by asking who was paying for his services, and how much he was charging. Swinn said Kravitz & Bane was paying him two hundred dollars an hour. Big deal. There was no jury in the box. Slattery knew that all experts get paid, or they couldn’t testify. Roxburgh tried to chip away at Swinn’s professional qualifications, but got nowhere. The man was a well-educated, well-trained, experienced psychiatrist. So what if he decided years ago he could make more money as an expert witness. His qualifications weren’t diminished. And Roxburgh was not about to argue medicine with a doctor.

  The questions grew even stranger as Roxburgh began asking about other lawsuits in which Swinn had testified. There was a kid who was burned in a car wreck in Ohio, and Swinn had given his opinion that the child was completely mentally disabled. Hardly an extreme opinion.

  “Where are you going with this?” Slattery interrupted loudly.

  Roxburgh glanced at his notes, then said, “Your Honor, we’re attempting to discredit this witness.”

  “I know that. But it’s not working, Mr. Roxburgh. This court knows that this witness has testified in many trials around the country. What’s the point?”

  “We are attempting to show that he is willing to state some pretty wild opinions if the money is right.”

  “Lawyers do that every day, Mr. Roxburgh.”

  There was some very light laughter in the audience, but very reserved.

  “I don’t want to hear it,” Slattery snapped. “Now move on.”<
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  Roxburgh should’ve sat down, but the moment was too rich for that. He moved to the next minefield, and began asking questions about Swinn’s examination of Sam. He went nowhere. Swinn fielded each question with a fluid answer that only added to his testimony on direct examination. He repeated much of the sad description of Sam Cayhall. Roxburgh scored no points, and once thoroughly trounced, finally went to his seat. Swinn was dismissed from the stand.

  The next and last witness for the petitioner was a surprise, though Slattery had already approved him. Adam called Mr. E. Garner Goodman to the stand.

  Goodman was sworn, and took his seat. Adam asked about his firm’s representation of Sam Cayhall, and Goodman briefly outlined the history of it for the record. Slattery already knew most of it. Goodman smiled when he recalled Sam’s efforts to fire Kravitz & Bane.

  “Does Kravitz & Bane represent Mr. Cayhall at this moment?” Adam asked.

  “Indeed we do.”

  “And you’re here in Jackson at this moment working on the case?”

  “That’s correct.”

  “In your opinion, Mr. Goodman, do you believe Sam Cayhall has told his lawyers everything about the Kramer bombing?”

  “No I do not.”

  Rollie Wedge sat up a bit and listened intensely.

  “Would you please explain?”

  “Certainly. There has always been strong circumstantial evidence that another person was with Sam Cayhall during the Kramer bombing, and the bombings which preceded it. Mr. Cayhall always refused to discuss this with me, his lawyer, and even now will not cooperate with his attorneys. Obviously, at this point in this case, it is crucial that he fully divulge everything to his lawyers. And he is unable to do so. There are facts we should know, but he won’t tell us.”

  Wedge was at once nervous and relieved. Sam was holding fast, but his lawyers were trying everything.

  Adam asked a few more questions, and sat down. Roxburgh asked only one. “When was the last time you spoke with Mr. Cayhall?”

  Goodman hesitated and thought about the answer. He honestly couldn’t remember exactly when. “I’m not sure. It’s been two or three years.”