A time to kill

A few minutes after ten-thirty, Jake entered the judge's chamber behind the courtroom and coolly shook hands with Buckley, Musgrove, and Ichabod. They had been waiting on him. Noose waved him toward a seat and sat behind the desk.

"Jake, this will take just a few minutes." He peered down that nose. "I would like to arraign Carl Lee Hailey in the morning at nine. Any problems with that?"

"No. That'll be fine," replied Jake.

"We'll have some other arraignments in the morning, then we start a burglary case at ten. Right, Rufus?"

"Yes, sir."

"Okay. Now let's discuss a trial date for Mr. Hailey. As you know, the next term of court here is in late August- third Monday-and I'm sure the docket will be just as crowded then. Because of the nature of this case and,

frankly, because of the publicity, I think it would be best if we had a trial as soon as practical."

"The sooner the better," inserted Buckley.

"Jake, how long will you need to prepare for trial?"

"Sixty days."

"Sixty days!" Buckley repeated in disbelief. "Why so long?"

Jake ignored him and watched Ichabod adjust his reading glasses and study his calendar. "Would it be safe to anticipate a request for a change of venue?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Won't make any difference," Buckley said. "We'll get a conviction anywhere."

"Save it for the cameras, Rufus," Jake said quietly.

"You shouldn't talk about cameras," Buckley shot back. "You seem to enjoy them yourself."

"Gentlemen, please," Noose said. "What other pretrial motions can we expect from the defense?"

Jake thought for a moment. "There will be others."

"May I inquire about the others?" asked Noose with a hint of irritation.

"Judge, I really don't care to discuss my defense at this time. We just received the indictment and I haven't discussed it with my client. We obviously have some work to do."

"How much time do you need?"

"Sixty days."

"Are you kidding!" Buckley shouted. "Is this a joke? The State could try it tomorrow, Judge. Sixty days is ridiculous."

Jake began to burn but said nothing. Buckley walked to the window and mumbled to himself in disbelief.

Noose studied his calendar. "Why sixty days?"

"It could be a complicated case."

Buckley laughed and continued shaking his head.

"Then we can expect a defense of insanity?" asked the judge.

"Yes, sir. And it will take time to have Mr. Hailey examined by a psychiatrist. Then the State will of course want him examined by its doctors."

"I see."

"And we may have other pretnal matters. 11 s a oig case, and I want to make sure we have time to adequately prepare."

"Mr. Buckley?" said the judge.

"Whatever. It makes no difference to the State. We'll be ready. We could try it tomorrow."

Noose scribbled on his calendar and adjusted his reading glasses, which were perched on the tip of that nose and held in place by a tiny wart located perfectly at the foot of the beak. Due to the size of the nose and the odd shape of the head, specially built reading glasses with extra long stems were required for His Honor, who never used them for reading or any other purpose except in a vain effort to distract from the size and shape of the nose. Jake had always suspected this, but lacked the courage to inform His Honor that the ridiculous, orange-tinted hexagonal glasses diverted attention from everything else directly to the nose.

"How long do you anticipate for trial, Jake?" Noose asked.

"Three or four days. But it could take three days to pick the jury."

"Mr. Buckley?"

"Sounds about right. But I don't understand why it takes sixty days to prepare for a three-day trial. I think it should be tried sooner."

"Relax, Rufus," Jake said calmly. "The cameras will be here in sixty days, even ninety days. They won't forget about you. You can give interviews, hold press conferences, preach sermons, everything. The works. But don't worry so much. You'll get your chance."

Buckley's eyes narrowed and his face reddened. He took three steps in Jake's direction. "If I'm not mistaken, Mr. Brigance, you've given more interviews and seen more cameras than I have during the past week."

"I know, and you're jealous, aren't you?"

"No, I'm not jealous! I don't care about the cameras-"

"Since when?"

"Gentlemen, please," Noose interrupted. "This promises to be a long, emotional case. I expect my attorneys to act like professionals. Now, my calendar is congested. The only

opening I have is the week of July 22. Does that present a problem?"

"We can try it that week," said Musgrove.

Jake smiled at Buckley and flipped through his pocket calendar. "Looks good to me."

"Fine. All motions must be filed and pretrial matters disposed of by Monday, July 8. Arraignment is set for tomorrow at nine. Any questions?"

Jake stood and shook hands with Noose and Musgrove, and left.

After lunch he visited his famous client in Ozzie's office at the jail. A copy of the indictment had been served on Carl Lee in his cell. He had some questions for his lawyer.

"What's capital murder?"

"The worst kind."

"How many kinds are there?"