"Good morning, Judge," he said cheerfully, trying to sound alert and awake.
"Good morning, Jake. How are you?"
"Just fine, Judge. Busy getting ready for the big trial."
"I thought so. Jake, what is your schedule today?"
What's today, he thought. He grabbed his appointment book. "Nothing but office work."
"Good. I would like to have lunch with you at my home. Say around eleven-thirty."
"I would be delighted, Judge. What's the occasion?"
"I want to discuss the Hailey case."
"Fine, Judge. I'll see you at eleven-thirty."
The Nooses lived in a stately antebellum home off the town square in Chester. The home had been in the wife's family for over a century, and although it could stand some maintenance and repair, it was in decent condition. Jake had never been a guest in the house, and had never met Mrs. Noose, although he had heard she was a snobby blue blood whose family at one time had money but lost it. She was as unattractive as Ichabod, and Jake wondered what the children looked like. She was properly polite when she met Jake at
the door and attempted small talk as she led him to the patio, where His Honor was drinking iced tea and reviewing correspondence. A maid was preparing a small table nearby.
"Good to see you, Jake," Ichabod said warmly. "Thanks for coming over."
"My pleasure, Judge. Beautiful place you have here."
They discussed the Hailey trial over soup and chicken salad sandwiches. Ichabod was dreading the ordeal, although he didn't admit it. He seemed tired, as if the case was already a burden. He surprised Jake with an admission that he detested Buckley. Jake said he felt the same way.
"Jake, I'm perplexed over this venue ruling," he said. "I've studied your brief and Buckley's brief, and I've researched the law myself. It's a tough question. Last weekend I attended a judges' conference on the Gulf Coast, and I had a few drinks with Judge Denton on the Supreme Court. He and I were in law school together, and we were colleagues in the state senate. We're very close. He's from Dupree County in south Mississippi, and he says that everybody down there talks about the case. People on the street ask him how he's gonna rule if the case winds up on appeal. Everybody's got an opinion, and that's almost four hundred miles away. Now, if I agree to change venue, where do we go? We can't leave the state, and I'm convinced that everyone has not only heard about your client, but already prejudged him. Would you agree?"
"Well, there's been a lot of publicity," Jake said carefully.
"Talk to me, Jake. We're not in court. That's why I invited you here. I want to pick your brain. I know there's been a lot of publicity. If we move it, where do we go?"
"How about the delta?"
Noose smiled. "You'd like that, wouldn't you?"
"Of course. We could pick us a good jury over there. One that would truly understand the issues."
"Yeah, and one that would be half black."
"I hadn't thought about that."
"Do you really believe those folks haven't already prejudged this defendant?"
"I suppose so."
"So where do we go?"
"Did Judge Denton have a suggestion?"
"Not really. We discussed the court's traditional refusal to allow changes of venue except in the most heinous of cases. It's a difficult issue with a notorious crime that arouses passion both for and against the defendant. With television and all the press nowadays, these crimes are instant news, and everyone knows the details long before the trial. And this case tops them all. Even Denton admitted he'd never seen a case with this much publicity, and he admitted it would be impossible to find a fair and impartial jury anywhere in Mississippi. Suppose I leave it in Ford County and your man is convicted. Then you appeal claiming venue should have been changed. Denton indicated he would be sympathetic with my decision not to move it. He thinks a majority of the court would uphold my denial of the venue change. Of course, that's no guarantee, and we discussed it over several long drinks. Would you like a drink?"
"No thanks."
"I just don't see any reason to move the trial from Clanton. If we did, we'd be fooling ourselves if we thought we could find twelve people who are undecided about Mr. Hailey's guilt."
"Sounds like you've already made up your mind, Judge."
"I have. We're not changing venue. The trial will be held in Clanton. I'm not comfortable with it, but I see no reason to move