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“I’m sure,” said Jack, who was now thinking of his brother.
DuBose said, “We’re only asking you this, Jerome, because the commonwealth may bring it up. Their argument might be that you had one of these... episodes, while you were at the Randolphs, and it caused you to attack them.”
“I ain’t never had none ’a that ’cept when I be sleepin’. I went in that house to get my money ’cause they didn’t answer the door. And they didn’t answer the door ’cause they be dead. That’s all I got to say.”
He bowed his head and looked at the floor.
DuBose eyed Jack. “Okay, well, I think that’s all for now.”
“We’ll be back to see you soon,” said Jack. “Anything you need?”
Jerome never took his gaze off the floor. “Just to get outta here.”
“We’re doing our best to make that happen,” said DuBose.
Back in the car Jack said, “I wish we had let him talk to his wife before he made that decision on the offer.”
“Jack, there was no way that man was going to agree to spend the rest of his life in prison.” She looked at him. “Are you having second thoughts about trying this case?”
“No, but you told Jerome if we lost you were confident we’d prevail on appeal.”
“I am confident.”
“Did you win most of your appeals?”
“Every case is different, and I feel good about this one.”
“We haven’t even seen the commonwealth’s case, Desiree. And we may not until trial. And I doubt that Battle would risk his reputation unless he was damn sure of winning it. And let me tell you, if they get that conviction they won’t waste any time getting him in that chair if the death penalty gets reinstated.”
“We will file appeals, Jack. That takes time.”
“Not so much in Freeman County and the Commonwealth of Virginia. Before the moratorium on the death penalty came into effect, we used to execute more people faster than any other state, by a country mile.”
“We better make sure we win at the trial level then,” she said brusquely.
“And we’re going to do all this in a week?”
“No, we will oppose Battle’s ridiculous timeline.”
“Look, as co-counsel, I thought I had the right to speak my mind.”
She gazed at him coldly. “You do. But don’t forget that I have a lot more experience than you. So I think we trust my professional instincts over yours.”
Later, they walked to a restaurant near Jack’s office and endured yet more stares and crude comments they could not fail to hear. They were finishing up when their attention was captured by a small TV that hung from a wall of the restaurant. It was a special news broadcast from Richmond.
The announcer, looking appropriately stern, said, “At a special session of the General Assembly in Richmond called by the governor, the moratorium on the death penalty was lifted and the bill was immediately signed by the governor. All murder cases satisfying the necessary elements that have been charged but not yet gone to trial can once more invoke the death penalty.”
Jack looked at DuBose. “Well, that changes everything,” he said.
DuBose said, “And it means when we win this case, Jack, it will bring even more attention to the cause.”
“My only cause is getting Jerome off for murder,” he said, frowning.
She glanced at him with an impassive expression. “I care about what happens to Jerome in ways you probably can’t understand. But I also have to think of the bigger picture.”
“What’s bigger than a man’s life?”
“You just don’t get it, Jack, being white.”
