Keith paused to give the reporters time to catch up. He tried to ignore the row of cameras against the back wall. The room was packed and quiet; everyone was waiting for more.
“This murder was solved by the brilliant work of our state police, and especially by the investigative prowess of the FBI. Special Agents Jackson Lewis and Spence Whitehead conducted an undercover operation that was nothing short of brilliant. For many reasons I cannot go into details, but I hope that one day the story will be told. We the people of this state owe a great debt to these fine officers. I will not belabor the point here. The purpose of this announcement was to inform the public. I will take a few questions, but only a few.”
A reporter in the front row leapt to her feet and yelled, “When will the defendants be in court?”
“Judge Oliphant has set a first appearance for Friday morning, in this courtroom.”
The next one yelled, “Will they be allowed to post bail and get out?”
“The State will oppose bail, but that’s a decision for the judge.”
“Was the investigation hampered by local law enforcement?”
“Well, it certainly wasn’t helped. We received some assistance from the Biloxi city police, but we kept the investigation away from the sheriff’s department.”
“Why?”
“Obvious reasons. It’s a lack of trust.”
“Will there be additional defendants?”
“No comment. It’s safe to say we can expect a lot of legal maneuvers between now and a trial.”
“Will you prosecute these defendants?”
“As of now, I plan to. That’s my job.”
“You don’t see a conflict of interest?”
“No, but if it becomes necessary for me to step aside, then I’ll do so.”
“Do you want these men put to death for killing your father?”
Without hesitation, Keith said, “Yes.”
* * *
The grand jury also indicted Sgt. Eddie Morton, a career air force mechanic who had been stationed at Keesler for nine years. An anonymous tip notified the FBI that Morton had been selling explosives and ordnance out the back door. Morton was in the base jail, facing court-martial and a long sentence, and on suicide watch.
With his lawyer present, he sat down with the air force police and told his story. He has been at Keesler for nine years and had spent too much time in the clubs. He had a serious drinking problem and heavy gambling debts. Mr. Malco down at the Lucky Star had offered to forgive his debts in return for some explosives. On August 3 of last year, Morton delivered five pounds of Semtex to Nevin Noll, as associate of Malco’s.
When Keith was told of this, he breathed an enormous sigh of relief. Then he rounded up his grand jury for an emergency session. In a quick meeting, it indicted Hugh Malco for capital murder.
* * *
Joshua Burch couldn’t find his clients and no one seemed too concerned about it. He called Keith repeatedly and objected strongly to his hiding all three defendants. He claimed there was some vague constitutional right to be housed in a jail close to home, but Keith politely said that was nonsense.
Burch’s immediate quandary was which defendant to represent, though the answer wasn’t that complicated; he’d take the one with the most money. When he finally spoke to Nevin Noll by phone he tried to break it to him gently and explain that, in a capital murder situation with three defendants, there were too many possible conflicts of interest for any one lawyer to surmount. He, Burch, was loyal to the Malcos, and he, Noll, would have to find another lawyer. It was a difficult conversation because Noll had been fond of Burch since he’d walked him out a free man following the murder of Earl Fortier thirteen years earlier. It had been Noll’s first murder, and, after he was found not guilty, had inspired him to kill again.