A Cold Winter Trip

I was in Amarillo, having been sent to interview some deserters from the Army during the Korean conflict. It was wintertime and bitterly cold. I received permission to return home. I made it as far as Big Spring and settled into a motel for the night. I had just relaxed when the telephone rang. It was Percy Foreman. He was going to release the man who allegedly shot and killed the government agent nearly two years before as he crossed the bridge. This was the agent whom Jimmy Rowe had insisted on an autopsy which led to a murder trial. The man who was being represented by Foreman had been hiding in Mexico. Who had hired Foreman was not known but I had my suspicions. "You need to be in Corpus Christi at 8 o'clock in the morning," Foreman told me. I protested that it was nearly midnight and I was exhausted. "If you want this story, be there," Foreman told me and hung up. And so I got up and drove to Corpus, arriving about six the next morning. Foreman and his client arrived in court at 8 AM. Percy pleaded not guilty and posted bond. It was all over in a few minutes. Percy refused my plea for an interview and took his client and left. It was a front page story but not really exciting. Later on, Percy won his case and the man was freed.