In the Heat of the Night (1988–1995): Season 1, Episode 3 - Road Kill - full transcript

♪ In the heat of the night

♪ I've got troubles
Wall to wall ♪

♪ In the heat of the night

♪ Must be an ending
to it all ♪

♪ Oh

♪ But hold on

♪ It won't be long

♪ Just you be strong

♪ And it'll be all right

♪ In the heat of the night

♪ In the heat of the night



♪ Oh

[gunshots]

[gunshots]

[gunshots]

He went by here,
moving towards
the railroad tracks.

Where are you at, Chief?
I mean, where'd you
hear the shots from?

What's the difference
where I heard them from?

The whole town heard them,
moving south to north.

He's at the girlfriend's.

[gunshots]

Sparta, Mississippi,
thinks it's Dodge City
all over again.

Come on, baby, don't be
so hard on the town.

You think I'm being
too tough on it?

Virgil, they had 35 murders
around here last year,



all but six with guns.

Deer rifles,
pistols, shotguns.

Where'd you get that?
The Reader's Digest?
[laughs]

That cop,
Junior what's-his-name.

Junior talks too much.
Parker, who's out there?

What an awful place this is.

Just some drunk.

Your friend, the cop,
can handle it, I'm sure.

Bubba's not on duty
tonight.

You sure keep track
of him, don't you?

[chuckles] Why in the world
do you think
you have to be jealous

of Bubba Skinner

is more than I can see.

You're all I want, Sonny.

What the hell happened
last night, Bill?

Some guy went riding around,
shot up the town.

I got my men going around
trying to find out
if anybody got hurt.

I sure hope not.

Now, you know, for a deer gun,
I don't think you can do
better than that.

It's what I'd use myself.

[brakes screech]

[horn honking]

I believe that's your
wife outside, Sonny.

Uh, look them all over, Bill.

I'll be right back.

[horn honking]

It's all right.
It's all right, honey.
I'm here.

Do you know
that Harold and Mary Lou

just bought an airplane,
a four-seater?

They don't have to drive
to, to Memphis anymore.

They can just jump
in the Cessna, zip on up,

and land on Mud Island
and be practically downtown.

[gasps] Harold and Mary Lou,
for God's sakes,
he runs a feed store.

Well, I own a store,
too, honey.

There's nothing
wrong with that.

[chuckles] Actually,
I own the store.

And we are absolutely
the last people in town

who don't have
an airplane, Sonny.

Can we talk about this
over supper?

Well, you're never
on time for supper.

I will be tonight.
I promise.

[horn honks]

[man] Hey, watch where
you're going, lady!

Now, Margaret, I happen
to be driving out your way,

and I'd take it very kindly
if you'd keep me company.

I'll let you off
at your place.

Come on, now. Come on.

[sighs] I'm fine.

-Now, Bill, really, I'm fine.
-I know. I know. We're going
to keep you fine.

So, I had no choice
but to leave my car there

and be seen driving home
with Bill Gillespie.

What is that, Aurelia?

What Miss Pauline ordered.

More roadkill, Miss Pauline?

I am sure breaded possum

is a real gourmet treat

back home in Itawamba County.

It's veal, Lady Margaret.

And I'm from Tupelo,
in Lee County,

as you well know.

Aurelia.

Yes, ma'am.

From now on,
you serve me,

then Mr. Sonny,

and then Miss Pauline,
you hear?

Yes, ma'am.

I just wanted to make sure

that we are all served

in the order of our
financial contribution

to the household.

Well, now, your cousin
makes a contribution,
Lady Margaret.

She does all the shopping,
she rides herd on Aurelia.

Oh, she must be
simply exhausted.

I know I am.

If you'll all excuse me...

I've had an impossible day.

I remember when I was
about 10 years old.

We had this big
family get-together.

She treated me
like dirt then,

and she still does.

I got an appointment
with Parnell Bennett.

I'm going to tell him
to get a divorce started.

Can he get you
half of everything?

The land,
the store, the cash?

I don't care anymore.

I just want to get clear.

I love you, Pauline.

I wish I could see some way

for us to be together.

I mean, really together.

Secure, happy...

Come here.

[indistinct chatter]

Officer Jamison tells us
you had some trouble
last night.

Well, it wouldn't hardly
be a night down here

without a little trouble,
will it, Miss Elnora?

This was different.
It was a white man,
she said.

You know, I never seen
no white man
down here before,

not no customer.

You used to come down here
every now and then,

but that was to close me down.

Well, now, Miss Elnora,
that was just
in the way of business,

yours and mine.

Excuse me. Uh, Miss,
this white man,

somebody you knew?

Big city got you
mighty impatient, son.

Talking take time.

Scooter,
bring these gentlemen
some lemonade.

You will join me, won't you?

No, ma'am, I don't
believe I will.

I believe I will,
Miss Elnora. Thank you.

Ma'am, who was
this white man?

I don't know.
I'd never seen this white man.

Well, was he drunk
when he arrived?

Yes, he was.

Did you serve him?

Are you kidding?
And break the law?

[laughter]

They say he left
in a light-colored
pickup truck.

Didn't get any plates.

This pickup,
did it have a gun rack?

[laughing]
Of course it did.

Don't they all?

Virgil, have some lemonade.

[faint voices and laughter]

[laughter continues]

[Sonny] Whoo!

[Pauline gasps]

Everybody. Everybody
in my entire family
warned me.

Every last one of
my mother's relatives

said I would live to regret

the day I took Pauline Slade
into my home.

Oh, yes. Cousin Pauline,
where is your gratitude?

[imitating drunk]
Lady Margaret took you in

out of the goodness
of her tiny black heart.

[screaming] Get out!

Get out of my house!

Margaret. Hey, Margaret.
Come on, come on, come on,
come on, now.

Come on, come on, come on.
Come on, honey.

[crying]

It's all right.

Honey, just--

[sobbing]

Get out.

[slurring] I can't believe
what I saw.

Get out.

The sight of you
makes me sick.

You happen to know how
many pickups with gun racks
there are in this town?

Or do you take it for granted,
like Miss Elnora, that
they're standard equipment?

I have the highest respect
for Miss Elnora's opinion.

-[knocks on door]
-Uh, Chief, the Mayor
wants to see you. Sh--

Winona Prill was
on the phone to me

at 7:30 this morning.

Now I've had noisy rich women
calling my office all day
and you know,

you know that Winona
put them all up to it.

I suppose that shooter
went by her place
last night.

Look, Chief, now you got
to help me with her.

I mean, she... She wants me
to disarm this town.
Can you believe that?

Pretty radical.

Radical?
It's political suicide!

And if I don't,
she's quitting politics

and she's withdrawing
all financial support.

Now, I don't understand her.

I mean, in all reason,
one man shooting
from a pickup truck

has got nothing to do
with gun control!

Maybe it has something to do
with pickup control.

Should we look into that?

[laughing]

Uh, Mayor, now,
I wanna assure you
we're doing everything we can

to find that truck
and the guy who's driving it.

Well, that's fine.
That's just, uh, fine.

You just see that you got
an arrest report on my desk

by the time my office opens
tomorrow morning.

You can't leave.

I can't stay.

All right.
We'll go together.

She'll divorce you
and take you to the cleaners.

[scoffs]
She's gonna do that
anyway after tonight.

No, she won't.
She'll blame me, not you.

And I'll leave, and she'll
hold it over your head
for the rest of your life.

I don't have a life
without you, Pauline.

Oh, Sonny.

I'll send for the rest
of my things.

I swear, I'd kill her
if there was any way
to do it clear.

[car engine starts]

[gun cocks]

[glass shatters]

[bell dingles]

[indistinct chattering]

[camera shutter clicking]

[sniffling]

I was scared, Bubba.

I know. I know.

You heard the shots?

Of course she did.
They woke her up.

Then I take it
you were asleep
at the time

in your room.

Where else do you reckon?

Were you alone?

You're on thin ice, Virgil.

So are you.

Bubba. Would you wait
outside for me, please?

Yes, sir.

How does this seem to you?

Here's this aristocratic
white woman

sitting in front of a window

in the dead of night

wearing practically nothing.

Say anything like that
about my wife again,
I'll feed you your face.

Hold it. Hold it now, Sonny.

Come on, now.

You and I've known
each other a long time.

This man didn't mean
anything by that.

He's just a police officer
doing a job.

[indistinct police radio
chatter in distance]

Now settle down, please.

No, no! I don't want
to hear any more about that!

I want to hear about finding
whoever it was shot up
the town last night.

Chief, our job
is to find the person

that killed that woman.

Well, I'm telling you
it's one and the same person.

and Sonny Mims
can't help you with that.

Chief, in any
homicide investigation,
you begin with the family.

And it's been my observation
that the surviving spouse

is always the best place
to start.

Surviving spouse.
Good God.

I can imagine
what it was like

to live 20 years with that
hopeless alcoholic there.

By the way, you talk about
why a woman

would sit that way
in front of an open window,

that's the kind of damn
fool thing drunks do!

A person gets edgy
after 20 years of putting up
with a drunk.

Edgy? The man was
sick at heart.

I'm going to tell you
one more time.

Sonny Mims cannot help you

in your investigation
of this woman's death.

How long has the cousin
been living there?

Well, I can see where
you're going with that.

Pauline? Pauline is
a whole other issue.

You want to find out
anything about Pauline,

-ask Bubba.
There he is. Ask him.
-Come on, now, Chief.

Pauline's isn't interested
in Sonny Mims. She's got
her hooks into Bubba.

Now, you hold on there, Chief.
You don't even know her.

You got no call
to talk about her like that!

Now, you can
fire me on the spot,

but I will not stand here
and discuss my private
social life with a--

A stranger!

I don't care
if he's the damn president.

All right!

But I want every man
in this department

out looking for the guy
who was driving that truck!

[horn honks]

[Bubba sighs]

How you doing?

I got a dress for the funeral.

Uh-huh. When can I
see you again?

I really can't say.

Hmm.

Well, maybe after
you've had time to recover.
Uh, how about tonight?

Well, Bubba,
I'm not sure what
the mourning period is

for a distant cousin,

but I think it's probably
more than one day.

Oh, yeah. I guess, huh.

But, uh...
Oh, Pauline, you know...

Oh, man.

Hmm. I feel
the same way, Bubba.

Uh, it was coming
from there.

[horn honks]

-Thank you.
Thank you very much.
-Oh, you're welcome.

[Gillespie] How you doing?

Yeah, well
the lady here says
she heard some shots,

but everybody's
heard shots.

We're getting a sense
of what the route
may have been,

but nothing on the driver
or the pickup.

Well, keep at it.

[Bubba] Then you go left
on Jeff Davis

to Lamar Circle,
once around,

and out to Bilbo Road.

What, no Simon Legree Lane?

Look, man,
you got Junior with you.

You got
Jamison's report here.

Why'd you call for me?

I wanted you.

Well, then
we lose him,

according to this.

Shall we?

Fine.

[beeping]

Hey, hey, hey, Bubba!

Hey, Gilmore.

You're Virgil Tibbs,
I bet.

I'm Gilmore Hodges.

I have been hoping
to work with you.

[Bubba] Oh, Gilmore,
he thinks he's a cop.
Gives out tickets.

I, I heard we're
looking for a pickup.

That's right.
For a light blue one.

-Did you see it
two nights ago?
-Nope.

What are you
doing right now?

-Are you looking
for clues?
-[Virgil] Yeah, that's right.

[beeping faster]

Here.

[chuckles]

You know,
I saw a car last night
you might be interested in.

Gilmore, I hear
there's a real bad speeding
problem over on Drexell.

-Better go check it out.
-Yes, sir.

This just about
ought to do it.

If it matches the bullet
taken from the body

and if we can find
the weapon that fired this...

I never realized Lady Margaret
had such fat little fingers.

Pauline!

[chuckles]
I'm sorry, darling.

It's just hard for me to be
as upset as you are.

I saw you talking
to Bubba this morning.

Just came by
to see how I was doing.
Nothing wrong with that.

Had his hands
all over you.

Lord, Sonny, how you go on
about poor Bubba Skinner.

How would it have looked
if all this time
I lived in this house

and never had a date?

Well, you don't have to
see him anymore now.

Of course I do.

Things will settle down
after a while.

Honest, Sonny.

I bought a dress
for the funeral.

I look good
in black.

[chuckles]

I'll show you what
you look good in.

How come you're
sending those slugs
to Washington, Virgil?

Because they don't have
a crime lab here in Sparta.

Well, they got a crime lab
in Jackson, Mississippi.

It's a whole lot closer.

And I do believe they got
a college graduate
working there.

And anyway, you're
gonna find those two slugs

came from the same gun.
I'm gonna bet you on that.

[Virgil] That'll be fine.

But no bets.

Why no bet?

I have an open mind.

To bet on things,
you have to have
a closed mind.

Think about it.

-Parker.
-Yes?

Will you find
the street address
for this place

and send it out
today, please?

I found somebody
who saw the pickup.

Light blue with primer
on the right-front fender.

And my witness saw
only the last
two numbers on the plate.

Uh, two and a four.

If we had a computer,
I could give you that driver
in two minutes flat.

I can give them to you
quicker than that.

That's Joe Ed Thaxton's truck.

Yeah! I remember
when Joe Ed had

that little accident
in that pickup.

He painted it a silly blue.
That isn't primer
on the fender.

That's where Joe
had started to repaint
the damn thing silly orange.

So I guess we need
to see Joe Ed.

If you two haven't got
more pressing concerns,

go get him.

[bell on door rings]

How you feeling?

Oh, I've decided
to stay busy, open up.

Nobody's come in.

I guess they don't
know what to say.

Well, I thought I'd tell you
we're picking up
Joe Ed Thaxton.

He's the one
who shot up the town
the other night.

Then he's the one
who shot Lady Margaret.

Yeah, it looks
that way.

Maybe I shouldn't
have opened the store.
It's just that...

At home,
everywhere I look,
I see her face.

Listen, why don't I
take you out to
Mossback Point this weekend?

We'll do a little hunting
out there.

We haven't been out there
in quite a while, eh?

Well, I appreciate it, Bill,
but I gotta tell you,
it's going to be a while

before I feel like
picking up a gun and killing
something with it.

Sorry. Bad idea.

[vehicle approaching]

Well, that's our man.

We're going
to get this thing
cleared up,

put it all behind you.

Thanks, Bill.

[Gillespie] Hey, Gilmore,
how you doing?

[Gilmore] Oh, hello, Chief!

-Mr. Mims.
-Hey, Gilmore.

Hey, uh, I'm sorry
to bother you at a time
like this, Mr. Mims,

but as you know,
I patrol Railroad Street
every night,

and I saw you
driving recklessly.

Now, you can't do no 50
in a 35 zone,

even late at night,
when there's
no other cars around.

I'm gonna have to
give you this ticket.

And you can't
discharge no firearm
in the city limits.

Well, I got to go. [sighs]

-Do you hear anything?
-[keys clacking]

Yeah, that damn
typewriter.

If the Chief wanted
you to hear,

you all would be on
the other side of that door,
now, wouldn't you?

You look tired,
Mr. Thaxton.

I ain't been sleeping.

His conscience
is bothering him.

Come on, Joe Ed,
we know you didn't
mean to do it.

Truth is, I did mean
to do it. [chuckles]

You're telling us
that you meant
to kill Mrs. Mims?

What? What are you
talking about?

Sonny Mims' wife
was shot to death last night.

What? I didn't do that.
That wasn't me!

I work night shifts
down at the plant.

I have for 32 years
till they got some
snot-faced Yankee

down here from Harvard,
or some other damn place
like that.

He talked to people
in the front office
into rotating everybody.

Six weeks on days,
six weeks on nights.

I haven't had
a good night's sleep
from that day to this.

So the night before last,

I worked my way
through every drop of bourbon
I got in the house.

I figured why the hell
should everybody else
get to sleep if I can't?

I went driving around
shooting off
my old carbine.

I did that, and you can
hang me for it,

but I did not kill
Mrs. Sonny Mims.
No, sir.

I wasn't even out
last night.

[phone ringing]

Jamison,
put this prisoner
in the cell.

Come on, let's go!

You know,
I believe him.

Well, then you're
a lot more innocent

than a hotshot
city detective ought to be.

You spend more time
studying people

instead of complaining about
the gadgets and the gizmos

we haven't got around here,

you might make a good cop.

I am a good cop.

And one of the reasons is
I've got good instincts,

and they're all saying,
"Sonny Mims."

Listen, let me tell you
something about Sonny Mims.

He's been a close and warm
personal friend of mine
for 35 years,

and you're wrong about him.
You hear me? You're wrong!

I watched him cry
when his only child died,

and his wife couldn't handle it
and took to the bottle.

And he took in
her poor relations
one after the other.

Now, that's a decent man,

and I don't want you
to intrude on his grief.

-If Sonny Mims--
-Virgil, you are
not hearing me!

Virgil, I'm telling you
to leave the man alone.
Leave him alone!

Open your eyes, Gillespie.
Mims and that tarantula
he's got living out there

have the oldest motive
there is for murder.

Joe Ed Thaxton just gave them
a convenient cover.

They arrested Joe Ed Thaxton.

Who?

-Look.
-What's this?

Gilmore gave me
one of his crazy tickets.

He saw me. He saw me
tearing down Railroad Street

shooting off that gun.

He's a moron, Sonny.

Well, I know that,
but sooner or later,

he's gonna put it together.

Gilmore Hodges
has shredded cabbage
for brains.

Who's gonna listen to him?

He makes copies
of these things, you know?

And he turns them in
to the police station
every Friday.

And every Friday,
Parker Williams tosses them
in the trash

without even looking at them.

How do you know that?

I told you Bubba Skinner
was a good choice.

Don't start, Sonny.

If Bill Gillespie's
in his office,

he makes a point
of going over the tickets

and thanking Gilmore.

Did Bubba tell you that, too?

Bill's your best friend.

Oh, for God's sake, Pauline,
he not gonna cover me
for murder!

Then we'd better
do something
about Gilmore.

Like what?

What would
you suggest?

Well, I guess I could get
his ticket book away from him
without him knowing it.

How hard could that be?

Can you get his brain
away from him, too?

I thought you just said
he didn't have one.

Do you want to spend
the rest of your life

wondering whether or not
Gilmore Hodges
is ever gonna get

his mind and mouth
working at the same time?

Well, we don't have
much choice about that,

[scoffs]
short of killing him, too.

Uh-uh, Pauline. Oh, no.

We don't have
any choice, Sonny.

Gilmore's as much in our way
as Lady Margaret ever was.

If we can't be together,
what was the point?

Isn't it worth it?

I was worried when
you didn't call, honey.

I know.

I was just driving around
trying to cool off.

Like dinner?

Do you want me
to make you a sandwich?

No, no.
This is all right.

You know Mary Johnson?

Yeah. She and mamma
were friends.

You know what
she said to me today?
And I quote, Virgil,

"Honey, we have white churches,
and black churches, and we even
got integrated churches,

but I haven't seen you
and Virgil in one
since you set foot in Sparta.

Now you maybe
don't know no better,
but Virgil does."

[chuckles, sighs]

People go to church down here,
Virgil. It's a big deal.

-[sighs]
-Now you knew that,
and you could have told me.

How am I supposed to know
about these things
if you don't tell me?

Al, do you think
I'm an unreasonable person?

Huh, single-minded, maybe.

But not unreasonable.

Maybe Mims didn't
kill his wife.

I'm willing to entertain
that notion.

But I also have
to entertain the possibility
that maybe he did.

What's so difficult
to understand about that?

See, the problem is,

Mims is one of
Gillespie's best friends.

If I go after him,

the Chief will have
my head on a platter.

You know, sometimes,
I think he may have
to beat me to it.

[sighs]

Virgil, we're going
to church on Sunday.
You heard me.

Is this him coming?

I can't do it.

All right, Sonny.
Then I'll do it.

There isn't anything
I wouldn't do
to be with you.

We're this close
to having what we want.
What we deserve.

I love you.

Pauline, I can't do it.

Do it!

[groaning]

Damn! Damn!

Can't read who it's from.

Uh, Detective? Telegram.

That was quick.

Well, I'm glad to see
my men so active.

And so handy with tools.

[Virgil] Chief...

From the Mississippi
Crime Lab.

Now you're probably
gonna tell me
that all this means

is that Joe Ed Thaxton
has more than one gun.

No, I got something
more interesting to tell you.

Chief, the slug I'd dug
out of that tree

and the one Dr. Bridges
took out of Lady Margaret

were not fired
from the same gun.

Yeah, I'm talking about
a lady named Bethel Herley.

-[Virgil] Chief, this proves--
-I know what it proves.
I know it already.

See, Bethel Herley
is a nurse supervisor
at the hospital,

and she lives next door
to Joe Ed Thaxton,

so I paid her a call.
The night of the crime,

she got home at 5:00 a.m.
in the morning,

and she saw Joe Ed Thaxton
moving around
in his living room.

So, at the time
Lady Margaret was murdered,

Joe Ed was
in his own house
six miles away.

Well, then, your nurse speaks
as loud as this telegram.

Mmm-hmm.

Uh, Chief,
that was the hospital.
They got Gilmore out there.

-Somebody ran him down
early this morning.
-Where was this?

Out on Railroad Street.
Uh, he was riding
his regular paper route.

[Gillespie]
Ma'am, who called this in?

That gentleman
right over there.

-Well, Clyde!
-Chief!

-How you doing?
-I'm all right.

Yeah. This is
Detective Virgil Tibbs.
This is Clyde Perry.

How do you do?

Sit down, Clyde.
Sit down.

Now... Now, tell me
what happened.

Well, I have
Mrs. Harrison's garden
on Tuesday.

-Yeah.
-And I was on my way
over there,

and I saw this white boy
all crumpled by the roadside.

What did you do then?

I looked to see
if he was dead.

He wasn't, so I went on
to see Mrs. Harrison
and have her call an ambulance.

And then I came down
and met the ambulance.

But why are you
still here, sir?

[indistinct chatter on PA]

Well, ain't nobody else
around to sit and wait.

Didn't seem
right to leave.

Chief Gillespie.

Yeah? Thank you, Clyde,
you did good.

These are Gilmore's things
he had on him.

I need you to sign for them.

Well, when am I
going to be able
to see the doctor?

He's busy now, though, sir.

He said he'd call you
and give you more details

-as soon
as he gets time.
-Thank you, Lita.

Gilmore's had
a bad accident.

Sorry, Chief.
I've been to the scene.

I'd say there
was no accident.

I just heard
about Gilmore Hodges.
What the hell happened?

Somebody ran him down.

Oh, no. Why in the world
would anybody want to run down
poor old Gilmore?

He was trying
to tell us something.

But we were all
too smart to listen.

Maybe he knew more
than we gave him credit for.

-Like what?
-Like who did it.

You cleared Thaxton, right?

We don't have
a scapegoat anymore.

That leaves us with family.

Ah, you want to get back
to Sonny Mims, don't you?

Now listen,
I wanna talk a little bit
about Pauline Slade.

-Now, Chief--
-Now, Bubba,
I know this is hard,

but you're gonna
have to take it.

Pauline is the woman
who knows where the body is.

Maybe she's trying
to take over everything
her cousin had,

including Sonny.

Maybe Lady Margaret
was standing in the way

of all Pauline wanted.

And maybe she was
in Sonny's way, too.

Now, Chief, I can't stand here
and listen to this.

Enough. Enough.

Chief.

Gilmore's little old
ticket book.

[Knock on door]

-Hi, Bubba.
-Hi.

Pauline, I don't want you
to take this
the wrong way, honey,

but I don't think you ought
to stay here anymore,

It just doesn't look right.

Bubba, I can't just
leave Sonny high and dry
at a time like this.

What kind of person
would I be?

Well, you going
back to Tupelo
after the funeral?

Why, Bubba Skinner,
it sounds like you're trying
to get rid of me.

-You know better than that.
-Well, I thought I did.

I just think
it might be a good idea
if you go on home awhile.

And why is that?

I can't tell you.
You're just going to have
to trust me on this one.

Pauline, no.

Pauline, now, you got
to listen to me--

Pauline, they think
Sonny did it.

And the Chief thinks you make
a pretty good suspect yourself.

-Well, that's just ridiculous.
-I know that. I know that.

What could they
possibly have on Sonny?

[Bubba] I don't know,

but Virgil's talking about
evidence, hard evidence.

Like what?

[Knock on door]

[Gillespie]
Bubba. Bubba.

Get out here.

I knew I'd find you here.

-Chief--
-What'd you tell her?

Nothing, I swear.
I was just paying
a consolation call.

[Gillespie]
I oughta fire you on the spot.

I wanna tell you something.
If you messed up
this investigation,

-I'm gonna bring you
up on charges.
-I haven't, I swear.

Go back to the station,
and you wait there.

Where the hell have you been?
I called you over an hour ago.

Well, I just couldn't run out
and leave the store.
What's the panic?

Well, that black detective
is closing in on you.

Oh, I suppose
you heard that from--

Yeah, yeah,
from Bubba Skinner.

And you better be damn glad
I've got him interested,

or we'd be sitting here
thinking everything
was as right as rain

and all the time,
that Virgil Tibbs

would be down there
getting a cell ready.

What could he possibly have?

The rifle.
I told you you should've
gotten rid of it.

They don't have it!

It's sitting down there
at the store along with
about two dozen others.

-Safer to keep it there.
-Not if they get
a search warrant

and test fire every gun
in your store.

-Get rid of it!
-How?

God! Can't you figure
anything out on your own?

It's clear. Come on.
Come on!

I'll take that rifle, Sonny.

I just couldn't take it
anymore, Bill.

No need to tell me about it.

Keep it to yourself
till you see a lawyer.

-[engine starting]
-[tires screech]

[crying]
Sonny threatened me, Bubba

He made me lie.
You've got to help me!

I told everybody
they were wrong about you.

They weren't.

You all killed her, Pauline.

-[grunts]
-Mm-mmm.

The sad truth is,

he really did
believe you, Ms. Slade.

I mean, we used him
to set you up.

The only reason
he went along with it
in the first place

was so he could
prove us wrong.

You tricked us into going
for the gun, didn't you, Bill?

Uh-huh.
We didn't have
enough on you.

You had nothing.

Well, we had this.

Gilmore's a little slow,

but he sure keeps
good records.

Now, y'all better hope
he pulls through this.

I'm sorry, Bill.

I'm sorry for Margaret.

You did very well, Bubba,

and you did right.

Yup.

You were right,
and I was wrong.

I don't believe that, uh,
I've ever been more wrong.

The certificate of merit
is the highest honor

that the city of Sparta
can bestow on anybody,

and it's always
a great pleasure to me

to present it
to a truly worthy recipient.

[all cheering]

[man] Way to go, Gilmore.

Thank you.

And also,
from this moment right now,

Gilmore Hodges
is appointed
honorary Sergeant

in the Sparta
Police Department.

[cheering]

It kind of makes you
feel like singing,
doesn't it?

What?

A little gospel music.

We're going to church, Virgil.