Summary

Tom Radney and Harper Lee got along very well from the beginning. For Tom’s part, he was thrilled to have Lee interested in one of his cases and did his best to help the book be written. He gave Lee a large, leather briefcase with all of his files on Maxwell, telling her “to keep it for as long as it took to write the book” (223). In telling the story of the Reverend, Radney claimed that Maxwell showed up to the Zoo a few days before his death asking for representation and Tom refused. Lee was not completely convinced, aware that there were some motives of “self-interest,” but nevertheless Tom was extremely helpful and gave Lee a special look into his life (224).

To try to find more information, Lee reached out to Jim Earnhardt, a reporter who...