I didn’t have much schooling, but at home I used to read a lot. Whenever my father caught me, that was an excuse for another whipping. In Chicago, I got a job working in a factory. That’s where I met Evelyn. I cut my hand on a milling machine and they took me to the dispensary, and there she was. She was a practical nurse.” He smiled at Jennifer. “She was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. It took about two weeks before my hand was healed, and I went to her for a treatment every day. After that, we just kind of started going together. We talked about getting married, but the company lost a big order and I was laid off with the rest of the people in my department. That didn’t matter to Evelyn. We got married and she took care of me. That was the only thing we ever argued about. I was brought up to believe that a man should take care of a woman. I got a job driving a truck and the money was good. The only part I hated was that we were separated, sometimes for a week at a time. Outside of that, I was awfully happy. We were both happy. And then Evelyn got pregnant.”
A shudder ran through him. His hands began to tremble.
“Evelyn and our baby girl died.” Tears were running down his cheeks. “I don’t know why God did that. He must have had a reason, but I don’t know why.” He was rocking back and forth in his chair, unaware of what he was doing, his arms clasped in front of his chest, holding in his grief. “I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go; I will counsel you.”
Jennifer thought, This one the electric chair is not going to get!
“I’ll be back to see you tomorrow,” Jennifer promised him.
Bail had been set at two hundred thousand dollars. Jack Scanlon did not have the bond money and Jennifer had it put up for him. Scanlon was released from the Correctional Center and Jennifer found a small motel on the West Side for him to move into. She gave him a hundred dollars to tide him over.
“I don’t know how,” Jack Scanlon said, “but I’ll pay you back every cent. I’ll start looking for a job. I don’t care what it is. I’ll do anything.”
When Jennifer left him, he was searching through the want ads.
The federal prosecutor, Earl Osborne, was a large, heavyset man with a smooth round face and a deceptively bland manner. To Jennifer’s surprise, Robert Di Silva was in Osborne’s office.
“I heard you were taking on this case,” Di Silva said. “Nothing’s too dirty for you to handle, is it?”
Jennifer turned to Earl Osborne. “What’s he doing here? This is a federal case.”
Osborne replied, “Jack Scanlon took the girl away in her family’s car.”
“Auto theft, grand larceny,” Di Silva said.
Jennifer wondered if Di Silva would have been there if she were not involved. She turned back to Earl Osborne.
“I’d like to make a deal,” Jennifer said. “My client—”
Earl Osborne held up a hand. “Not a chance. We’re going all the way on this one.”
“There are circumstances—”
“You can tell us all about it at the preliminary.”
Di Silva was grinning at her.
“All right,” Jennifer said. “I’ll see you in court.”
Jack Scanlon found a job working at a service station on the West Side near his motel, and Jennifer stopped by to see him.
“The preliminary hearing is the day after tomorrow,” Jennifer informed him. “I’m going to try to get the government to agree to a plea bargain and plead you guilty to a lesser charge. You’ll have to serve some time, Jack, but I’ll try to see that it’s as short as possible.”
The gratitude in his face was reward enough.
At Jennifer’s suggestion, Jack Scanlon had bought a respectable suit to wear at the preliminary hearing. He had had his hair cut and his beard trimmed, and Jennifer was pleased with his appearance.
They went through the court formalities. District Attorney Di Silva was present. When Earl Osborne had presented his evidence and asked for an indictment, Judge Barnard turned to Jennifer.
“Is there anything you would like to say, Miss Parker?”
“There is, Your Honor. I’d like to save the government the cost of a trial. There are mitigating circumstances here that have not been brought out. I would like to plead my client guilty to a lesser charge.”