“I’m fifty now, Jesse, and I’m not ready for a nursing home. I plan to run for the Senate if there’s ever an opening, which looks doubtful. Sorta gets in your blood, you know?”
“Again, I’m flattered, but I just don’t see it.”
“What about you, Keith?”
Keith almost choked on a bite of grilled shrimp. He swallowed and managed to say, “I guess I’m on the other end. I’m only twenty-seven.”
“Time to get started. I like the way you carry yourself, Keith, and you have your father’s personality, not to mention the last name, which could be a real asset.”
The conversation was not new. Jesse and Keith had discussed pursuing a seat in the state legislature, the traditional starting place for young, ambitious politicians in the state. Keith could not yet admit to anyone, not even his father, that he dreamed of living in the very mansion where he was now having lunch.
Jesse smiled and replied, “He’s thinking about it, Governor.”
Waller said, “Here’s an idea. A. F. Sumner just got reelected to his third term as attorney general. I don’t know why the governor gets only four years when everybody else can serve for life, but that’s the law. As you know, the legislature does not want a strong governor. Anyway, I’m close to A.F. and he owes me some favors. Think about coming to Jackson and working in the AG’s office for a few years. I’ll be around and I can introduce you to a lot of people. It’ll be a great experience.”
Keith was flattered but he wasn’t ready to leave the Coast. “That’s quite generous, Governor, but I have this new wife and we’ve just settled into our apartment. The law firm is growing and we’re getting some good cases.”
“Send me some business. I’m about to be unemployed.”
“But thank you, Governor.”
“No rush. The offer stands. Perhaps in a year or two.”
“I’ll certainly consider it.”
Jesse had one last favor to request. It was rumored that the chief of the state police would hang on to his job through the change in administrations. Jesse wanted his continued cooperation for the next four years. The seven unsolved murders, all gang-related in Jesse’s opinion, still haunted him. Fats had never shown an interest and the cases were only grower colder. Extra muscle was needed from the state, and Jesse wanted a meeting with the chief to ask for help.
With only a month left in office, the governor would promise anything.
Chapter 37
The break came in February of 1976, some seven years after the murder, when a bootlegger named Bayard Wolf doubled over in pain and decided it was time to see a doctor. His wife drove him to Tupelo for tests that did not go well. He was diagnosed with acute pancreatic cancer and given a short time to live.
Wolf lived in rural Tippah County, one of the driest in the state, and for years made a decent living selling illegal beer to thirsty customers, many of them teenagers. As a younger man he had raised hell with the State Line Mob and had once worked in a club owned by Ginger Redfield and her husband. His second wife convinced him to leave that unstable and dangerous world and try to go straight. Bootlegging beer was an easy and harmless crime, one without the threat of violence. The sheriff left him alone because he provided a much needed service and kept the kids off the roads to Tupelo and Memphis.
Unknown to his wife, and to the sheriff, Wolf maintained contacts with the Dixie Mafia and provided a service that few others could. In the business his nickname was “the Broker.” For a nice fee, he could liaison between a man with money and a grudge, and a professional hit man. From the obscurity of his quiet little farm near Walnut, Mississippi, he had arranged numerous contract killings. He was the man to go see when murder was the only option.
Faced with imminent death himself, Wolf found a sudden interest in God. His sins were numerous, far more impressive than most, and they became burdens too heavy to carry. He believed in heaven and hell and he was frightened over what he was facing. During a late-night revival service, Wolf walked down the aisle to the altar where the evangelist met him. In tears, he confessed his sinful past, though he did not, at that emotional moment, give much in the way of details. The congregation rejoiced that a notorious bootlegger and sinner had found the Lord and they celebrated with him.