Later that day Jem, Dill and I went over to talk to Miss Maudie about everything. She said, “You’d be surprised how many people care about Tom. Judge Taylor cares, for example. Did it ever strike you that Judge Taylor naming Atticus to defend that boy was no accident? That Judge Taylor might have had his reasons for naming him?”
Miss Maudie had a good point. Usually Maxwell Green is the lawyer to do these kinds of trials. But he’s not very good. So Judge Taylor must have chosen Atticus because he wanted Tom to have a good defense and a fair trial.
When we got home, Aunt Alexandra came to the door and called us, but she was too late. It was Miss Stephanie’s pleasure to tell us: this morning, Mr. Bob Ewell stopped Atticus on the post office corner, spit in his face, and told him he’d get him if it took the rest of this life.
