Chapter 16

Jarrod got home just as the sun went down. The family was already gathered in the living room and even Phil Archer was downstairs, sitting comfortably in one of the armchairs.

But everyone looked uncomfortable the moment Jarrod came in. Victoria went to greet him in the foyer. "Jarrod, are you all right?"

"I'm fine," Jarrod assured her, and with their arms around each other they went into the living room. Victoria took her place back on the settee while Jarrod poured himself a scotch.

"So what in the world happened in there?" Nick asked.

"Something I never would have believed," Jarrod said, and took a sip of scotch before he turned around. "Where's Silas? He should hear this too."

"I'll get him," Audra said, popped up and headed for the kitchen.

"Did Bates get himself a lawyer?" Heath asked.

"No," Jarrod said. "No. He talked instead. He doesn't want a lawyer and he plans to plead guilty at his arraignment tomorrow."

"Lou Bates," Archer said, thinking. "I knew he was a lawyer back east and now he ranches down toward Modesto, but that's all I know about him."

"That was all I knew too, until today," Jarrod said.

Audra returned with Silas. She sat back down on the settee while Silas just waited by the archway.

Jarrod looked Silas's way. "Silas – I was worried about a southern lawyer giving you grief for testifying, but there was never any risk of that. Bates never intended for anybody to testify. Bates was never here to defend Carlin. He was here to kill him."

"Why?" Archer asked.

"We were so busy trying to figure out who was killing lawyers in Stockton that we never got around to seeing if any lawyers had been killed anywhere else in California lately," Jarrod said. "One had, in Modesto. A lawyer I didn't know. His name was Michael Kingsley. He was Bates's son-in-law."

"What?" Archer asked. "What in the world – "

"Bates talked up a storm, not just about himself or his son-in-law but about Carlin, too," Jarrod said. "Bates said that Carlin had been a longtime resident in Modesto. He was born with one leg shorter than the other. A doctor there helped him get that shoe he wore to even his legs out. Before that doctor, his hip hurt all the time and people looked at him like he was a medicine show freak. Carlin thought the world of that doctor, but after he helped him, Bates's son-in-law Kingsley sued the doctor claiming the doctor had allowed the mother of a client of his to die when he could have saved her. Kingsley raked the doctor over the coals, the doctor's practice and his health both failed, and about a month ago, he finally died. Carlin blamed Kingsley, and he killed him."

"Why wasn't he charged?" Victoria asked.

"Carlin left town before he was found out. The evidence eventually was there, but Carlin wasn't."

"And Carlin still hired Bates to represent him here?"

"Carlin didn't know Bates was related to Kingsley, and Bates never told him. Carlin didn't even know anybody in Modesto thought he had killed Kingsley. When Bates found out Carlin was arrested for shooting and killing lawyers here, he got up here as fast as he could and ingratiated himself with Carlin. He intended to kill him all along."

"You'd have thought he'd have waited for the law to handle it," Heath said. "We had witnesses here, and you said they had the evidence in Modesto too. Bates didn't need to expose himself."

"No, he didn't," Jarrod agreed. "But Carlin had slipped away once and Bates said he wasn't going to take any chance it would happen again. You see, after Carlin killed Kingsley - Bates's son-in-law - Bates's daughter was overcome with grief. They had no children. She killed herself."

Victoria moaned.

"She was the only family Bates had left," Jarrod said. "This whole thing was revenge by Bates because of revenge Carlin had taken out on Kingsley."

"What happens to Bates now?" Heath asked.

"Bates intends to plead guilty at his arraignment tomorrow, and being the prosecutor, I'll have to recommend a sentence to the judge."

"What are you going to recommend?" Victoria asked.

Jarrod shook his head. "I don't know."

Tired, unable to explain anything else, Jarrod wandered out of the room and toward the library. Everyone left in the living room looked at each other. Victoria got up to go after Jarrod, but Silas quickly said, "Mrs. Barkley – may I go to him? He and I have been talking about this case. I'd like to talk to him now."

Victoria nodded. "Go on, Silas."

Silas turned and went to the library. He found Jarrod refilling his scotch in there. Jarrod looked over at him. "Well, Silas, we sure read this one all wrong, didn't we?"

"I feel bad, Mr. Jarrod," Silas said. "Me worrying about myself and testifying – maybe I distracted you too much."

"No, no, Silas," Jarrod said quickly. "Nobody could have seen this coming. You and I were paying attention to a legitimate concern you had about testifying."

"But you're sorry you didn't see this coming."

"Sorry, yes. Do I feel responsible somehow? No," Jarrod said. "And neither should you. If Bates hadn't killed Carlin – if we'd had to go to trial with Carlin – your concerns would probably have been legitimate. We were right to worry about them."

"Maybe - maybe. I was scared, Mr. Barkley, plenty scared."

Jarrod turned to look at him. "Silas, what happened had nothing to do with you. Bates killing Carlin had nothing to do with you or with you being scared."

"Mr. Bates killed Mr. Carlin out of feeling robbed and cheated," Silas said. "I was scared about being robbed and cheated – if I testified against a white man."

"That was worth worrying about, Silas," Jarrod said.

"Maybe so," Silas said, "but I feel bad about it, and I'm not gonna let it happen again."

Jarrod just listened, and watched as Silas raised his face up, defiantly in a way.

Silas said, "Mr. Carlin took his revenge on a man who hurt him, but then he kept going and kept getting his revenge on men who never did hurt him, but men who had the same job and did the same work. I'm a negro man, Mr. Jarrod. Lots of people get their revenge on negro people for things they never did, just because we're the same color."

"A lot of it isn't revenge, Silas," Jarrod said. "Some white people just purely hate colored people."

"It ain't much different, Mr. Jarrod," Silas said. "Hurting people who never hurt you – that's done to make people scared. Mr. Carlin made the lawyers around town scared."

Jarrod took a big breath. "He surely did, Silas."

"The way some white folks try to make negro folks scared all the time," Silas said. "But you stood up and stopped Mr. Carlin."

"Mr. Bates stopped Mr. Carlin," Jarrod said.

"And I know you feel bad about that," Silas said. "But you stopped Mr. Carlin first, because you didn't let being scared stop you from stopping him. Mr. Jarrod, I'm not gonna let being scared stop me either. Even if me being afraid didn't distract you this time, it could sometime, and I'm not gonna let that happen. If you ever need me to testify again, you call on me, and I'll do it, and I won't be quaking in my boots when I do it."

Jarrod smiled. "Silas, you're a very perceptive man, and you're a man I'll always admire. Even if you're scared, I'll always be standing beside you. And I know you'll always be standing beside me – even when I'm scared."

Silas just nodded, a firm, determined nod.

Jarrod's smile grew, and he threw an arm around his old friend. "Thank you, Silas. That actually helps me feel a whole lot better."

"Now I'm gonna go do my job," Silas said. "Dinner will be in about half an hour."

"Nobody does your job better," Jarrod said. "And I'm starved."

The End