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“We just heard,” said Jack.
“Y’all come on in,” Miss Jessup said curtly.
Inside, Jack saw another younger woman holding on to the hand of a little boy.
“This is Maggie, Pearl’s ma, and my daughter. And this here is Elijah. Maggie, this is Jack Lee and Desiree DuBose, Jerome’s lawyers.”
Jack and DuBose greeted Maggie, who was petite with hair that fell to her shoulders. Her eyes were red-ringed, no doubt from crying, and her face puffy for the same reason.
Jack knelt and shook Elijah’s hand. “You got yourself a strong grip, young man,” he noted.
“You gonna be Pearl’s lawyers, too?” asked Miss Jessup.
“Yes,” said Jack, standing. “Her arraignment is tomorrow morning. We just wanted to make sure things were okay here.”
Miss Jessup handed Darla Jean to Maggie and placed her hands over Elijah’s ears. She said quietly, “Police come early this mornin’. Pulled Pearl outta bed. Good thing Maggie was sleepin’ over, else the children woulda been left all alone.”
“Surely the police wouldn’t have done that,” said Jack.
“The hell they wouldn’t,” snapped Maggie.
Miss Jessup said, “Maggie said Pearl was half-crazy when they took her away. The police were callin’ her names so bad Maggie had to take the children out the room. Now, you two go on and see that poor woman right now, please.”
On the drive over to the women’s jail, DuBose read through the new filings. “Damn,” she exclaimed.
“What?”
“You can hear when I ask Pearl about it. But it’s not good.”
At the jail they were led down a dark, bleak hall that smelled of equal parts bleach and urine. Behind a secure door, they were directed to a cell with a barred portal. Inside was Pearl, dressed in faded prison denim that was two sizes too large. It was so hot in here that Jack immediately felt a little nauseous. Knees drawn up to her chest, Pearl sat on the floor next to a filthy commode that bulged from the wall like a tumor.
“Pearl?” Jack said.
She looked up and then stood on trembling legs.
The jailer opened the door and locked it behind them.
“Are you all right?” said Jack, looking her over.
Tears slid down her cheeks. “I don’t know what be happenin’, Mr. Lee. They come and say I helped Jerome kill those people. The kids were bawlin’. My momma—”
She started hyperventilating. DuBose clutched her hand and said calmly, “Take some deep breaths, nice and slow. Now, sit on the bed. Take as long as you need and then just tell us what happened. We’re here to help you. Deep, deep breaths. Take your time.”
They stood in front of her bunk as Pearl composed herself.
After a minute or so, her breathing normalized. She said, “They come early in the mornin’. ’Bout knocked my door down. Pulled me out my bed, and I was in my undies. My kids were bawlin’ and they put the handcuffs on me, and put me in the car. And all the time they jabberin’ away about me helpin’ to kill them people.”
DuBose glanced at Jack. “They’re saying that you went to the Randolphs’ that day with clean clothes and shoes for Jerome. That you took the murder weapon from him, and his bloody clothes and shoes. They searched your property and found some money in the lean-to they assert you stole from the Randolphs.”
“Ain’t none ’a that true. And I don’t know nothin’ ’bout no money in the lean-to.”
DuBose said, “The reason they brought you into this is because Jerome had no blood on his clothes or shoes, and no murder weapon or money was found on his person. Those are big gaps in the prosecution’s case. To get around that they concocted this whole story about you and Jerome planning the murders together. That closes all the holes in their theory. And now that they found the money—or, more likely, planted it—that bolsters their argument.”
DuBose perched next to Pearl. “But they’re also saying that you weren’t at your job the day that the Randolphs were killed. They must have checked on that before they laid out a plan to charge you, otherwise their scheme wouldn’t have worked. Which means you weren’t at work on that Friday?”
Pearl dabbed at her nose with her wrist and wouldn’t look at either of them.
“Where do you work during the week?” asked Jack.
