In the Heat of the Night

way or another, that they have been deprived of social acceptance. They believe they can overcome this handicap by sensational conduct, irresistible to males.”
    He looked up to see how Duena was taking his words. She showed frank interest; so did the other three men. He went on. “The most common thing that happens is that a girl in these circumstances gives herself to a man in the hope of attaching him to her for the sake of her physical advantages. Sometimes it works, sometimes it simply brings about a further rejection.
    “According to Harvey Oberst, who is a little older than she is, she displayed herself to him without his even asking for that favor. I believe this is so because of two supporting pieces of evidence. The first is her visit here to file a complaint against Mr. Wood. It is a serious matter to come into a police station to make an accusation against a popular and respected officer. But instead of being in the least upset, she had on figure- revealing clothes and wore her brassiere in such a way that it pushed her breasts up in an unnatural and highly conspicuous position. That is not the action of a modest girl who has been violated.”
    Tibbs paused and waited a moment, but none of his four hearers showed any signs of interrupting him.
    “Now we come to the matter of Mr. Wood. On the night of the murder, Mr. Wood drove his police car past the Purdy home. This was entirely consistent with careful performance of his duty; he had already covered almost every other part of the city and for him to patrol this area was both his privilege and his obligation. He went past a few minutes after three in the morning. He has not told me what took place at that moment, but I can guess. A few nights later, when I was riding with him, Mr. Wood pointedly avoided driving past the Purdy house; not knowing why, I jumped to the conclusion that he had something to conceal. My faith in him was shaken for a time; I was wrong, and for thinking that of him, I apologize.”
    “How did you know where the Purdys live?” Gillespie asked.
    “Harvey Oberst mentioned it when I interviewed him here a few days ago, and I checked for myself with the records.”
    Gillespie nodded that he was satisfied.
    “Now putting the pieces together as far as we have diem, here is what happened as closely as I can reconstruct it At some time in the recent past, Miss Purdy was indiscreet with a man of her acquaintance and ended up either pregnant or believing she might be. Who that man is is not important at the moment, except that she couldn’t or didn’t want to marry him. Believing herself to be ‘in trouble,’ she did what many young women have done—she looked around for someone to blame who would be unable to defend himself positively and who would be a more desirable temporary husband or source of obstetrical and child-care expenses. Fortunately this variation on the old badger game is thoroughly understood in police circles so that the unsupported word of a girl is seldom taken at its face value without some sort of supporting evidence.
    Of course, Mr. Gillespie knows this well.
    “Miss Purdy knew that Mr. Wood patrolled the city at night on the graveyard shift and therefore it could be believed that he had made one or more stops at her house during the year that the Purdys have lived in Wells. Secondly, she knew that he was unmarried and therefore might be trapped into marriage. Lastly, she was attracted to him, at least to a degree, as evidenced by the fact that she revealed herself to him at least once during his nightly rounds, probably in such a way as to make it appear an accident. It would be my guess that this had happened more than once, but not often enough to arouse the suspicion of a conscientious police officer.” Tibbs looked at Sam Wood. “I don’t want to embarrass you, Mr. Wood, especially in Miss Mantoli’s presence, but can you confirm that?”
    Sam took a moment to find the words. Then all he said was, “Yes.”
    “Now comes a matter of probability," Tibbs went on. “ If Mr. Wood were guilty of accepting the attentions of such women, or inviting them, this tendency probably would have been visible at some time during the three preceding years that he has been guarding this city at night. This is not completely true, because people who have always led exemplary lives have been known to commit murder or run off with bank funds without warning. However, Mr. Wood is a bachelor, with the right,