A transformed Hale standing with his daughter and wife Credit
8Hale frequently came by Mollie’s house to collect Ernest, and
not long after Anna’s burial Hale showed up to pay his respects to
Mollie and her mother. He vowed to obtain justice for Anna.
With his supreme confidence and his mastery of that secret
world of whites (he often wore a diamond-studded pin from the
Masonic lodge), it didn’t seem to matter that he had no formal role
in the murder investigation. He had always expressed affection for
Anna—“We were mighty good friends,” he said—and during
another visit Mollie could see him huddled with Ernest,
apparently talking about hunting down whoever had murdered her
sister.
Members of the coroner’s inquest, along with the county