“And the WCSA is?”
“The Western Capital Security Agency, Your Honor. It is the private detective group for which Bobby Lee Cabot claims he was working undercover.”
“You may read the letter,” Judge Briggs said.
Roswell cleared his throat, then began to read aloud.
“The Western Capital Security Agency has no record of recommending that Mr. Cabot associate himself with the outlaw Frank Dodd. On the contrary, we would strongly oppose such an idea. If Mr. Cabot was functioning as a part of the Dodd gang, it was for reasons of his own, and not for any type of investigative operation.”
There was a collective gasp from the gallery.
“Hell, that proves it right there!” someone shouted. “No need to go on any further with this trial! Hang the son of a bitch!”
“Quiet! Quiet in the court! “ Judge Briggs said, making aggressive use of his gavel.
“Your Honor, that doesn’t prove anything!” Bobby Lee shouted. “I didn’t tell the agency that I was doing this.”
“Are you putting that in the form of an objection, Mr. Cabot?” Judge Briggs asked.
“An objection, yeah. Uh, I mean, yes, sir, Your Honor. ”
“Objection overruled.” Judge Briggs looked at Roswell. “You may continue, Counselor.”
“Yes, Your Honor. I would like to point out to the jury that because of Cabot’s connection with the Western Capital Security Agency, he would know all the schedules, and he would know which trains would be carrying large amounts of money. This would make him a valuable asset to someone like Frank Dodd. And with that, prosecution rests.”
“Thank you. Summation, Mr. Cabot?”
“I beg your pardon?”
“This is where you make your final appeal to the jury.”
Bobby Lee didn’t even stand. Instead, he looked directly at the jury. “I can’t prove that I’m innocent, because neither Miss Smith nor Doc Baker nor Nate Nabors could stand up here and tell you what I told them about the letter, and Sheriff Wallace, who was the only witness I spoke to, lied. Also, I know that the letter from the WCSA makes it look bad for me, but everything I said is true. I worked my way into the Dodd gang so I could set it up for the sheriff to capture them in the act. Only, the sheriff wasn’t there, so nothing went the way it was supposed to. So here I am, on trial for my life, and there doesn’t seem to be anything I can do about it except tell you that I’m not guilty.”
“Mr. Roswell, your summation?”
Taking his cue from Bobby Lee, Roswell didn’t stand either.
“Gentlemen of the jury, I believe my case has been made,” he said. “All you have to do is consider the facts in evidence. I am confident you will come up with the verdict of guilty of murder in the first degree.”
After the judge charged the jury, the twelve men retired to one of the other rooms of the hotel to consider. It took but ten minutes for them to return a verdict of guilty.
“Will the defendant stand before the bench, please? Mr. Reid, approach with him.”
“He fired me, Your Honor,” Reid replied.
“Nevertheless, you are the court-appointed attorney of record. I don’t want any technicalities coming up after the fact. Please approach with him.”
“Yes, Your Honor.”
“Bobby Lee Cabot, you have been found guilty as charged. It is therefore the order of this court that a gallows be built sufficient to provide the mechanism needed to extinguish your life by hanging, said event to take place on the thirty-first of this month. May God have mercy on your soul. Sheriff, remove the prisoner.”
“No! “ a woman shouted out loud.
“Bailiff, remove that woman from my court,” Judge Briggs ordered.
As the sheriff put the cuffs back on Bobby Lee, he saw one of the sheriff’s deputies escort a weeping Minnie Smith from the hotel ballroom cum courtroom.
“I’ll come see you, Bobby Lee. I promise, I’ll come see you!” Minnie shouted.
“Bake him a cake, Minnie! Bake him a cake and put a file in it!” someone called, and to the raucous laughter of all in the court, Bobby Lee was removed and taken back to the jail.
Chapter Four
