The Perfect Shot

While the team is celebrating their win against the Raiders over pizza, Brian brings up his and Todd’s idea of having the team act in their movie about Leo Frank. He is met with some resistance, but he reminds them how well they work together on the court and insists that it could translate to working well together on school projects, too. He suggests that if everyone helps each of the groups with their projects, they would all get higher grades. The team is a little more amenable to the idea when he tells them that they won’t have to memorize lines because it will be a silent film.

When Brian gets home, he turns on the news and catches an update on Mr. Daine’s trial. A reporter interviews Daine’s lawyer, Mr. Rosen. Rosen insists that the prosecution decided that Daine was guilty from the beginning and is trying to shoehorn any evidence they have to fit that narrative, even though this evidence is circumstantial. He points out that they are ignoring the gray fabric fibers that were found at the scene and that the murder weapon has not been found.

Brian thinks how Amanda increasingly wanted to get out of her house because her parents were fighting more. He didn’t think it was because her father was violent, though. She never told Brian that she was afraid of her father. He still believes that Mr. Daine did not kill his family, and he wonders if the police ever investigated the jogger he told them about when they questioned him. He assumes that since they never mentioned it, they must have looked into it and found a dead end.

On Saturday, Brian’s mom drops him off at Todd’s house to work on the project. Brian notices that there is a sign at one of the entrances that says, “Warren Pollian, Attorney at Law.” Todd tells him that he has been living there with his brother, Warren, and sister-in-law, Elise, for the last three years, but he doesn’t tell him why. They go up to his room to work on the project. Brian is surprised that Todd’s room is all white because he wears all black to school every day.

They begin looking through old newspaper articles and things that Todd printed off the internet, and they wonder what the main takeaway from studying this case is supposed to be. Brian realizes that maybe Todd relates to Leo Frank in a way because he is also an outsider in the community. Todd says that Warren has told him stories about how the police, lawyers, and prosecutors can manipulate trials to get their preferred outcome. The justice system is only as fair as the people operating within it, and when one trial doesn’t follow the correct procedure, it also damages the integrity of the Constitution and everyone else’s civil rights.

As they are going through their research, Todd comments that Amanda would have loved this project—she was very interested in social justice and community projects. Brian is taken aback by the comment, and for a moment, he is jealous that Todd was friends with Amanda, too. Todd can tell Brian is upset, and he apologizes for bringing Amanda up.

Brian asks his mom if they can stop at the library on their way back from Todd’s house. She is surprised by his request but agrees. While he’s there, he runs into Leslie, who is still angry that she is stuck working with Julius. She believes he is a dumb jock and doesn’t care about pulling down her grade. Brian looks for some more books about Leo Frank and eventually finds one. He begins reading and finds some new information.

The last chapter is about Alonzo Mann, who was a young boy who worked at the pencil factory. He testified at the trial, but no one paid attention to him because he was so young. He saw Jim Conley carrying Mary Phagan’s body by himself, not helping Leo Frank as the prosecutor claimed. Conley threatened to kill Alonzo if he told anyone that he was the true murderer, and his parents urged him to keep quiet about it. It wasn’t until 70 years after Frank’s lynching that Alonzo Mann came forward and told the truth.

After Brian learns this new piece of the story, he begins to think that Alonzo’s reluctance to tell the truth could be the lesson they are supposed to learn from the project. He thinks about the gray fibers found at the scene of the Daine murders and the stranger jogging around his neighborhood the day of the murder. He begins to understand that he is in a similar situation as Alonzo Mann.

Brian is in his dad’s wood shop, daydreaming about all the time he spent with Amanda there. Suddenly, a loud motorcycle pulls into his driveway, and he is surprised to see Todd riding it. They go up to the wood shop to work on their project, and Brian tells Todd what he learned about Alonzo Mann. Todd is angry and critical about the way he kept silent for 70 years, but Brian defends him a little, reminding him that he was young and scared. He asks Todd if he’s ever felt scared. Todd reminds him that he was bullied by the basketball team for years, and Brian only helped him out of the lockers he was shoved into because Amanda told him to. Brian is hurt and angry that Todd brought up Amanda in this way, and he tells Todd that he should have fought back or stood up for himself. Todd insists that he is fighting back in his own way—by doing the right thing when others don’t. Brian’s mood turns darker, and Todd notices. He suggests that they do their work downstairs instead of in the wood shop because it is clearly an emotional place for him. Brian agrees, and they leave the room.

When they get into the house, Todd stops to admire it, impressed by Brian’s dad’s design and construction. He also admires the shelves of basketball trophies that Brian has accumulated. He pauses when he notices the head of a buck mounted on their wall. Brian explains that his dad hunts occasionally with his friends. They move into his room, which is much messier than Todd’s. They discuss their project for a while, deciding that Alonzo Mann is a more important character than they originally thought and that they will need two different people to play him—one as a child, and one as an adult.

When they’re done working, they go back through the house. Brian’s father appears, and Todd compliments his guitars and work on the house. Mr. Hammet notices him eyeing the deer head on the wall again and tells the story of how he got it—he calls the gunshot that killed the deer “the perfect shot” (128). Todd listens politely, but Brian can tell that he is not very interested in hunting. When they leave the house, he admits that he’s a vegetarian and a pacifist, and they laugh.

When Brian goes back into the house, he tells his dad that he is still bothered by the gray fibers and the jogger in the gray sweatsuit from the day of the Daine murders. He does not want to be like Alonzo Mann—the one person who had information that could change the outcome of the trial and chose not to speak up. His father tells him that he shouldn’t get involved; he already did his part by telling the officer who questioned him all those months ago. If nothing became of it, then it must not have been important. Brian tells himself that his dad is probably right, and he tries to forget about it.

Everybody in Mr. Fortner’s class is working on their history projects. The basketball players help each other and some of the cheerleaders with theirs. Julius is willing to help everyone, but he is not interested in working on his own project with Leslie. Brian warns him that Leslie is going to be really angry if he doesn’t step up soon, and his parents will be, too—Julius’s parents are academics and are more concerned about his school performance than basketball skills.

Everyone comes over to Brian’s house to work on his and Todd’s project. Brian tells them the basic story and assigns roles, deciding that he will play Leo Frank and Todd will be the cameraman. Todd arrives later on his motorcycle, and everyone is surprised by how cool he looks. They spend the day shooting scenes, and Brian’s mom orders pizza for everyone.

After everyone leaves, Brian sees a headline about Mr. Daine’s trial. In the most recent hearing, a firearms expert explained that the victims were each killed with a single, perfect shot. This kind of shot is something only a person with a lot of practice can achieve, and police officers often receive a lot of training and practice. Though this fact does not necessarily mean Mr. Daine is the murderer, the jurors seem to absorb the idea unquestioningly. Brian is troubled by their lack of reasoning. He wonders if Alonzo Mann rationalized not speaking up in the same way that he has been; he still can’t help but believe the jogger is an important piece of the puzzle. He doesn’t know if Alonzo Mann’s position is exactly the same as his, but he is interpreting it as a cautionary tale for himself.

Brian’s basketball team plays against the Spartans, and once again, they win. Brian thinks about how, unlike the justice system, basketball is fair. If players break the rules, the referees will call fouls. This is comforting to him since he’s been learning about all the ways the justice system can go wrong.

Julius and Take-Away Ray are the MVPs of the game, and everyone celebrates them, including Julius’s parents. They almost didn’t come to the game because they are flying to Germany that night, but his father says they are so glad that they stayed to watch, which makes Julius happy. Everyone parts ways, and Julius tells Brian that he is driving his parents to the airport later that night.