In the Heat of the Night

After Mr. Endicott leaves, Bill yells at Virgil for interfering with his investigation. Rather than fight, Virgil calmly leaves Bill’s office. Virgil retrieves his suitcase and starts walking to the railroad station to wait for his train out of town. Meanwhile, Frank Schubert, a local businessman and the mayor, calls Bill. Mr. Endicott just visited Frank to insist that they ask Pasadena if Virgil can help solve the case. Bill and Frank both don’t like Mr. Endicott’s idea, but Frank admits Bill might need help. Better yet, if Virgil stays, Bill can take all the credit if Virgil is right and use him as the fall guy if the investigation fails. Bill recognizes he has no choice but to let Virgil stay in Wells.

Bill gets in his car and finds Virgil walking to the railroad station. Virgil has been walking for a while now, and Bill detests the idea of having him in his car: “Gillespie hated the odor he associated with black men. He reached around and quickly rolled down the rear window behind him” (41). Virgil gets in the car and, to Bill’s relief, doesn’t smell. Bill tells Virgil he’s been approved to stay and help. Virgil is hesitant at first but agrees. Virgil asks for a civilian car he can use, and Bill takes him to a Black mechanic, Jess. Jess offers Virgil a car as Bill drives off, kicking up dust as he leaves. Jess shares with Virgil that he’s saving up to move out West, and Virgil reveals that he knows he’s been asked to stay in Wells so he can be blamed if the investigation fails.

Sam returns to the police station and is surprised to find Virgil there. Virgil wants to interview the Endicotts and Duena, and Bill tells Sam to take him. As they get in the car, Virgil sits in the front, beside Sam. Sam hesitates, but allows the Black man to sit in the front with him. They arrive at the Endicott estate and are greeted warmly. They meet Duena, and Sam is overtaken by her beauty. Eric Kaufman, a young man and an associate of Enrico’s, is also present, and Sam instinctually distrusts him. Virgil questions the group. Duena, still grieving, goes outside for air, and Sam goes with her. Sam reassures Duena that her father didn’t suffer, and he promises that the police are doing everything they can to find the murderer. Duena’s beauty entrances Sam, but he does his best to be professional. Duena asks if Virgil’s presence will cause problems, and Sam confesses he isn’t sure, given the segregated culture in Wells. Duena sympathizes with Virgil, having faced prejudice for being Italian: “‘Some people don’t like Italians; they think we’re different, you know. Oh, they’ll make an exception for a Toscanini or a Sophia Loren, but the rest of us are supposed to be vegetable peddlers or else gangsters’” (49-50). Sam vows to find her father’s killer, but he worries he’s becoming too emotionally invested. After, Virgil and Sam head back to the police station. Virgil plans to question Harvey, then gauge what else Bill will allow him to do. Sam drives, conflicted. He doesn’t know whether he wants Virgil to succeed. Sam wants to find someone to look up to, but he doesn’t think it can be Virgil, because he’s Black. 

Virgil goes to Harvey’s cell to question the suspect. Seeing Virgil, Harvey becomes aggravated because he assumes Virgil is there to share the cell. He nearly calls Virgil a racist slur before being told Virgil is there to question him: ”‘Put him someplace else. I don’t want no n**—’” (52). Virgil remains calm. Harvey yells that nice clothes and a college education don’t make Virgil white. Virgil retorts he doesn’t want to be white, and if Harvey doesn’t cooperate, he’ll be hanged for a crime he didn’t commit. Unlike the other officers, Virgil doesn’t think Harvey is guilty. Harvey’s temper cools, and they discuss his criminal record. He was caught with Delores, a minor, but he insists they didn’t have intercourse—Delores just likes to show men her body. Harvey reiterates that when he found Enrico, he was already dead. Even after taking Enrico’s money, Harvey felt guilty and went to the bank to turn it in. Virgil believes Harvey. He asks Bill to release Harvey. Bill listens to Virgil’s reasoning and reluctantly agrees. If Virgil is wrong about Harvey, it will be Virgil’s fault, not his.

Sam prepares for another night of patrolling the city. The murderer is still out there, so he worries about his personal safety. He feels an urge to drive toward the Endicott estate, even though it’s not on his route. Close to the Endicotts’, a car drives by going the opposite way, so he pulls the car over. The driver is Eric, the young man who worked for Enrico. At first, Eric is defensive and refuses to explain why he’s leaving so late at night. Then he tells Sam that Enrico’s death has been traumatic and stressful; now Eric must go to Atlanta to find a new host for the music festival. There’s less traffic at night, so he can get a head start. Sam finds validity in Eric’s story. He tries to keep his feelings about Eric from interfering with his work: “Sam knew that the story made sense and he didn’t want to let his dislike of the man color his judgment” (59). Sam lets Eric go, encouraging him to find a motel and get some rest on his way to Atlanta.

Sam resumes his official duties. He patrols his route and dwells on a frightening realization: Because of everything he’s seen and everything he knows, he’s a prime target for the murderer. A word starting with the letter “m” is on the tip of Sam’s tongue. Sam changes his routine, stopping in a different area to fill out his report than the night before, hoping it will throw the killer off his tracks. He goes to the diner for some food and then resumes his work, all the while feeling that he’s being watched. Nothing happens, but Sam is nervous for the rest of his shift. 

Bill calls the hotel Eric stayed at to check the validity of his alibi. He learns Virgil already called the hotel and becomes flustered. Ralph, the night clerk at the diner, calls the police station and reports a suspicious man from out of town. Bill doesn’t find Ralph to be particularly intelligent, but he trusts his intuition, so he orders his men to bring Ralph and the stranger to the station. Bill wants to pursue any potential leads, knowing his career hangs in the balance.

Virgil enters Bill’s office. He’s closing in on the murderer but doesn’t have anything concrete to report yet. Mr. Gottschalk, the stranger from out of town, comes in followed by Ralph. Ralph immediately accuses the man of the murder—he saw Mr. Gottschalk the night of the murder, and Mr. Gottschalk left the diner just before the crime took place. Bill lets Virgil question Mr. Gottschalk, happy to have someone else do the dirty work, but also recognizing that Virgil is the most experienced officer there: “And while he did not like to admit it to himself, he knew that Tibbs had something on the ball. How much he was not yet prepared to estimate, but the unhappy suspicion lurked that Tibbs might be better than anyone on the local force, which included himself” (65). Bill, like the other officers in Wells, lacks the proper training, so now he finds himself instinctually turning to Virgil for help.

Mr. Gottschalk is a chemical engineer. He was driving at night because of the heat during the day, and he didn’t see anything suspicious while driving through Wells. Virgil lets Mr. Gottschalk go, reiterating that he isn’t under investigation and that he won’t be charged with a fine. Mr. Gottschalk relaxes, happy that the police in Wells are progressive and uncorrupt: ”‘That’s a relief; I wish all cops were like you. And if I may say so without offense, I’m glad to see that democracy has hit the South in something besides the political sense. Good-bye, gentlemen’” (67). Bill is skeptical of Mr. Gottschalk’s alibi, and he wonders why Virgil let the man go. Calmly, Virgil explains that it’s because Enrico wasn’t killed where Sam found him on the road—the murder took place somewhere else.