Page 65 of The 1 Lawyer

Jenny had no response, so she kept her mouth shut.

The waitress returned with their beverages and steaming plates of food. Gates smiled and thanked her, bowed his head, and murmured grace. He picked up his knife and fork, then stopped, put down the cutlery, and pushed the plate away. “Benjamin and I grew up in Gulfport together, did you know that?”

Jenny shook her head.

“We lived just three doors apart on the same street. We were close, more like brothers than cousins. I tell you, it’s hard to lose him under these circumstances. Almost unbearable.” He massaged his temples with his fingers as if his head ached.

Jenny recalled the preacher’s presence at the trial. She’d seen him sitting beside Benjamin Gates during the testimony and standing with him in the courthouse lobby. The preacher had been the center of Gates’s support network.

She took a bite of the black-eyed peas, silently debating how far she could push her line of inquiry. It was a delicate undertaking. “I don’t know whether you’ve seen the police reports, but they claim that your cousin Benjamin had openly said he wanted vengeance against Stafford Lee Penney. You knew your cousin better than anyone. Does that sound accurate to you?”

“No. No, it doesn’t.”

She took a breath and tried to finesse the follow-up. “The detective named you as his source of information, Pastor Gates. He said that when they questioned you, you confirmed that you’d heard your cousin say he wanted revenge, that he was angry about what had happened during the Caro trial and about the verdict. The police concluded that those statements provided the motive for the murder/suicide inside the Penney home.”

The pastor fixed her with a look of resentment. “Yes, the police questioned me. And I talked to them, answered their questions. But the police in Biloxi weren’t listening to my story. They heard what they wanted to hear. They’d already made up their minds about what Benjamin had done and why he’d done it.”

She said, her voice soft, encouraging, “I’d like you to tell me what you think happened. From your point of view.”

“What do you care?”

She’d expected the blunt question and was prepared for it. “I want to uncover the truth.”

Gates pulled his plate toward him, picked up the fork, and stabbed it into a chunk of candied yam. He chewed slowly as he studied her across the table.

After he swallowed, he said, “It’s true that Benjamin despised that doctor. Who can blame him? Caro was a married man who was trifling with Ben’s young daughter. My cousin resented the lawyer too. He’s your friend, isn’t he? Penney?”

Jenny nodded. She couldn’t deny it. “Stafford Lee is my friend. We’re close.”

His brow furrowed and he gave a disapproving sniff. “Sounds like your friend’s in trouble. They say Stafford Lee Penney has become a common drunk.” He leaned across the table and said in his rumbling bass voice, “‘Woe to those who rise early in the morning that they may pursue strong drink, who stay up late in the evening that wine may inflame them.’” He gave her a stern look. “Isaiah, chapter five, verse eleven.”

Jenny met his gaze and said, “I agree with you, Pastor. ‘Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, and whoever is intoxicated by it is not wise.’ Proverbs twenty, verse one.” The pastor didn’t conceal his surprise. Jenny shrugged. “I was raised Baptist. The verses have a way of sticking in your head. I’m sure you know that.”

For the first time since she joined him, he smiled at her. “Yes, ma’am. I surely do.”

“But Stafford Lee—he’s working on it. I have faith in him; I think he’ll turn it around. But about the police report—is it true what the detective said? He wrote that your cousin wanted to see Stafford Lee dead.”

“They twisted it, twisted my words. I couldn’t deny that Benjamin had made certain statements, that he’d been known to say he wanted Caro and Penney to suffer the same grief he’d borne. It’s a natural reaction. I’d counseled him to turn the burden over to the Lord.”

She sat back in her chair, studying him closely. “If you were counseling your cousin, why did you feel compelled to share the information with the police? You could’ve claimed privileged communications. You’re clergy.”

“He didn’t confine those statements to private counseling sessions. He broadcast his feelings liberally, and I was witness to it. But I wanted the police to understand his thinking—that’s why I cooperated. Did he want revenge? Yes, but he never would’ve used violence. The only steps Benjamin took were legal measures.”

“What legal measures are you talking about?”

“You recall how distressed and agitated he became during the trial?”

Jenny nodded. She didn’t need the pastor to elaborate. They both remembered Benjamin Gates’s breakdown in the courtroom.

“While the case was in trial, we prepared letters to send to the State Bar Association and the medical board. Complaints against your friend Penney and Dr. Caro. Before the trial ended, Ben consulted with a lawyer in Gulfport about bringing a slander case.”

“Defamation?” Jenny knew that case wouldn’t fly, but she wanted to keep Gates talking.

“He couldn’t stand the things they said about his daughter at trial, all the insults to Aurora’s character. He wanted to sue Penney and Caro for soiling her reputation, hurting her good name. But the lawyers said he couldn’t.”

Jenny nodded in sympathy. Clients had often come to her with similar issues. “But Aurora was deceased—” she began.

He finished the sentence. “And the dead can’t sue for libel or slander. Benjamin was unhappy about that.”

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