The Twilight Zone: Complete Stories by Rod Serling Page B

you didn’t. So tomorrow when I sum up for you, I’m going to lead from terrible weakness.” He shrugged hopelessly. “But I intend to do the best I can.”
    He turned and went to the cell door, tapping on it for the guard. After a moment they heard him coming down the corridor. He unlocked the door and Cooper walked out.
    “Mr. Cooper,” Bedeker’s voice came from behind the bars.
    The defense attorney turned to look at him.
    Bedeker smiled at him. “Mr. Cooper,” he said. “Really—don’t bother!”

    The prosecution on the following morning delivered one of the briefest summations in a murder trial ever presented in the history of the State. It lasted only a minute and a half and afterwards the District Attorney walked smiling and confident back to his seat. Mr. Cooper rose for his summation and after about ten seconds of a stumbling if sincere start, he seemed to warm up and a relatively listless jury suddenly seemed very aware of him. Even the judge leaned over on his elbows to listen more intently. A court reporter later described it as one helluva summation—one of the best ever heard in that courtroom.
    “Guilty, yes,” Cooper roared. “But premeditated? Hardly!” His client, Cooper contended, had not led his wife up to the roof. She had followed him No witness had proven otherwise. Killed her—yes, this he did. Pushed her off the stoop, down the light well—absolutely. No contest. But had he planned to do it? This was a moot point. Twenty-eight minutes later, after an address loaded with moot points, Cooper sat down next to Walter Bedeker and listened to the murmur running through the courtroom. Bedeker smiled vaguely at him. He hadn’t been listening. He was busy jotting notes on a pad. Things he intended to do after he got out. Cooper could see a few of his scrawled plans over Bedeker’s shoulder. “Land on third rail in subway station.” “Jump in front of diesel engine.” “Hide in hydrogen bomb testing area.” Etc. Etc.
    Sixty-three minutes later the jury came back with a verdict of guilty and shortly thereafter Walter Bedeker stood in front of the bench for his sentencing. He leaned against the bench on his elbow, picked his teeth, yawned and looked generally bored. Walter Bedeker had paid little heed to the proceedings in that courtroom. Even now he scarcely heard what the judge was saying. Something to the effect that the court prescribed life imprisonment. It was not the words that jarred him. Rather it was Cooper, grabbing him, hugging him, shaking him.
    “Life imprisonment, old man,” Cooper screamed into his ear joyfully. “I knew we could do it! I just knew we could do it.”
    As the turnkey led Bedeker through the side door of the courtroom he became gradually aware of the hum of voices around him. “God, what a summation!” “Life imprisonment—masterful!” “There’s one helluva lucky man!”
    It wasn’t until Bedeker was walking down the corridor outside that he realized what had happened. Cooper had got him off with life imprisonment. He stopped, turned toward the courtroom at the other end of the corridor and screamed out loud, “Wait a minute! WAIT A MINUTE! I can’t get imprisoned for life! Don’t they understand? Don’t they know what this means? I can’t go to prison for life. ”
    He began to cry. He was crying when they put him in the black paddy wagon to take him back to jail. He cried all during the trip and that night in his cell he was still crying.
    When the cell guard brought him his dinner he noted that Mr. Bedeker’s eyes were red-rimmed and that he only toyed with his food.
    “You’re a lucky guy, Bedeker,” the guard said through the cell doors. “Tomorrow they’ll be taking you to the penitentiary. That’ll be your new home. It’s a long way from the death cell.”
    Bedeker didn’t answer. He sat looking down at the tray of food on his lap and felt the rising bubbles of sadness and hopelessness and misery crawl up his body and he