"Yes. And I drove by the Kramers' house, saw the guard sitting on the porch, drove by his office, killed some more time, and around four or so I parked behind his office, slipped through the rear door, planted the bomb in a closet in the hallway, walked back to my car, and drove away."
"What time did you leave Greenville?"
"I had planned to leave after the bomb went off. But, as you know, it was several months before I actually made it out of town."
"Where did you go when you left Kramer's office?"
"I found a little coffee shop on the highway, a half mile or so from Kramer's office."
"Why'd you go there?"
"To drink coffee."
"What time was it?"
"I don't know. Around four-thirty or so."
"Was it crowded?"
"A handful of people. Just your run-of-themill all-night diner with a fat cook in a dirty tee shirt and a waitress who smacked her chewing gum.
"Did you talk to anybody?"
"I spoke to the waitress when I ordered my coffee. Maybe 1 had a doughnut."
"And you were having a nice cup of coffee, just minding your own business, waiting for the bomb to go off."
"Yeah, I always liked to hear the bombs go off and watch the people react."
"So you'd done this before?"
"A couple of times. In February of that year I bombed the real estate office in Jackson - Jews had sold a house to some niggers in a white section - and I had just sat down in a diner not three blocks away when the bomb went off, I was using a fuse then, so I had to hustle away and park real fast and find a table. The girl had just sat my coffee down when the ground shook and everybody froze. I really liked that. It was four in the morning and the place was packed with truckers and deliverymen, even had a few cops over in a corner, and of course they ran to their cars and sped away with lights blazing. My table shook so hard that coffee spilled from my cup."
"And that gave you a real thrill?"
"Yes, it did. But the other jobs were too risky. I didn't have the time to find a cafe or diner, so I just sort of rode around for a few minutes waiting for the fun. I'd check my watch closely, so I always knew about when it would hit. If I was in the car, I liked to be on the edge of town, you know." Sam paused and took a long puff from his cigarette. His words were slow and careful. His eyes danced a bit as he talked about his adventures, but his words were measured, "I did watch the Pinder bombing," he added.
"And how'd you do that?"
"They lived in a big house in the suburbs, lots of trees, sort of in a valley. I parked on the side of a hill about a mile away, and I was sitting under a tree when it went off."
"How peaceful."
"It really was. Full moon, cool night. I had a great view of the street, and I could see almost all of the roof. It was so calm and peaceful, everyone was asleep, then, boom, blew that roof to hell and back."
"What was Mr. Pinder's sin?"
"Just overall general Jewishness. Loved niggers. Always embraced the radical Africans when they came down from the North and agitated everybody. He loved to march and boycott with the Africans. We suspected he was financing a lot of their activities."
Adam made notes and tried to absorb all of this. It was hard to digest because it was almost impossible to believe. Perhaps the death penalty was not such a bad idea after all. "Back to Greenville. Where was this coffee shop located?"
"Don't remember."
"What was it called?"
"It was twenty-three years ago. And it was not the kind of place you'd want to remember."
"Was it on Highway 82?"
"I think so. What are you gonna do? Spend your time digging for the fat cook and the tacky waitress? Are you doubting my story?"
"Yes. I'm doubting your story."
"Why?"
"Because you can't tell me where you learned to make a bomb with a timing detonator."
"In the garage behind my house."
"In Clanton?"
"Out from Clanton. It's not that difficult."
"Who taught you?"
° "I taught myself. I had a drawing, a little booklet with diagrams and such. Steps one,
' two, three. It was no big deal."
"How many times did you practice with such a device before Kramer?"
"Once."
"Where? When?"
"In the woods not far from my house. I took two sticks 'of dynamite and the necessary paraphernalia, and I went to a little creek bed deep in the woods. It worked perfectly."
"Of course. And you did all this study and research in your garage?"
"That's what I said."
"Your own little laboratory."
"Call it whatever you want."
"Well, the FBI conducted a thorough search of your house, garage, and premises while you were in custody. They didn't find a trace of evidence of explosives."