In the Heat of the Night

Mr. Wood has been on the force for several years and was always looked on as a very reliable man.”
    “He’s in jail for murder.” Purdy raised his voice almost to a scream.
    Tibbs nodded again. “I know. I’m not going to give away any secrets but maybe there’s a reason for it you don’t know. I sat in a jail cell once for almost three weeks until the man who was in there too told me something the police wanted very badly to know.”
    “Black cop,” Purdy threw it down like a curse. “Now about the case of your daughter,” Tibbs said quietly. “Whenever this happens and the man admits his responsibility, that’s all there is to it. But Wood is a stubborn man. He won’t admit that he did it. So now all the tests will have to be given. That is unless you can help me prove him guilty.”
    “You mean I got to tell it again?” Delores asked. “What tests?” Purdy wanted to know.
    “Well, in a case of this kind there is a lot that has to be done. The law says so. You see, it’s hard for a man to prove he didn’t have relations with a girl; the only way he can do it is through certain medical evidence.”
    “What’s that?” Purdy asked. “She’s my natural-born daughter.”
    Tibbs spread his hands. “Nobody doubts that,” he said. “And everybody knows you’re a respectable man. But because Sam Wood says he never even talked to your daughter, the cops are going to take some tests on her just to be sure.”
    “There ain’t no test’ll tell who done it to a girl,” Delores protested.
    “That’s right,” Tibbs agreed, “but there are tests that will prove a certain person didn’t do it. Those are the ones you’re going to have to take.”
    “Like what?” Purdy asked.
    “Well, first they take a sample of her blood. That isn’t so bad. They stick a needle in her vein at the forearm and draw out enough to fill some test tubes.
    “I don’t like needles stuck in me,” Delores protested.
    “Who’s gonna do that?” Purdy demanded.
    “The doctor will do that,” Tibbs replied. ”All these tests are done by doctors; nobody else will touch your daughter.”
    "They better not,” Purdy said.
    “Then, after that,” Tibbs went on, “they have to make an examination to make sure that she was violated as she says. Also they have to find out whether or not she is going to have a baby.”
    Purdy sprang to his feet, his face twisted in a rage.
    “Ain’t nobody gonna look at her secrets, he thundered. “I’ll shoot the man who tries to look at her secrets. You get outa here.”
    Tibbs continued to sit still. “All I’m doing is warning you,” he explained. “You want to know these things before they come and do them when you’re away, don’t you?“
    “Nobody’s gonna look at her secrets,” Purdy persisted.
    “The only thing that will save her is if the man confesses,” Virgil emphasized. “He says he’s innocent, you filed charges, so the doctors have to examine her.”
    “Gillespie can stop it,” Purdy said. “You’ll see.” Tibbs shook his head. “He’d like to, of course, but the law won’t let him. Wood can get a court order through his lawyer and then you have no choice.” Tibbs locked his hands together and stared at them as he made his next statement. “Now I want to tell you something that’s very important. But I don’t want you to tell anyone I told you. I just don’t want to see an innocent man like you framed and put into trouble.”
    “They can’t do nothin’ to me, I didn’t do it.” Purdy let his voice reach for hysteria. “I told you she’s my own natural-born daughter.”
    “Of course she is,” Tibbs said, putting sudden authority in his tone. “But suppose you get up in court and say that Sam Wood is the man who got her into trouble. Then suppose the doctor makes a mistake and says he isn’t. That leaves you guilty of perjury, swearing falsely in court, and for that you can go to prison. That’s what I want to warn you about and tell you how to protect yourself.”
    “Doctors don’t make mistakes like that,” Delores protested, but heavy strain showed in her voice.
    “Sometimes they do,” Tibbs said, “and juries believe them. Now suppose you tell me just how it happened, then I’ll try to get Sam Wood to confess. If he does, you both have nothing to worry about.”
    “You mean then they’ll leave us alone?” Purdy wanted to know.
    “That’s right,” Tibbs told him.
    He turned to his daughter. “Tell him,” he