The Boys from Biloxi

It’s 1971, an election year. Jesse decides to pursue a second run for DA and announces his candidacy. Keith supports his father’s campaign. Jesse is more strategic with his campaign this time. He realizes that he’ll have a better chance of winning if he can get a third candidate to go up against Rex Dubisson, splitting the votes. Jesse convinces a woman named Egan Clement to run against him, telling her that he’ll appoint her as assistant DA if he wins. This time, Jesse wins the race and becomes DA; he fulfills his promise, making Egan assistant DA.

Fats and Rudd meet Lance and Nevin for their monthly dinner at Baricev’s. They discuss Jesse’s winning the DA race. Nevin and Lance have a plan to disarm the new DA: A new competitor of Lance’s, Andy Rizzo, has opened a nightclub called Siesta that hosts illegal gambling; Nevin and Lance suggest setting up a police raid on Andy’s club and supporting Jesse’s subsequent prosecution. It gives Jesse an easy win and makes it look like Fats and his police will cooperate with the new DA. In fact, Fats and his men will continue conspiring with Lance. The scheme goes as planned, although Jesse is suspicious: “The case was too easy and Jesse smelled a rat” (203).

Jesse decides to go after the Biloxi “strip clubs” and bust them for illegal sex work. He finds two honest cops and has them go undercover in the clubs, wearing wires. They focus on the Carousel, one of Ginger’s clubs. Once Jesse has enough proof from the undercover cops, he files a lawsuit against the Carousel, citing the state’s “nuisance law,” which “allowed any citizen to file suit to enjoin another citizen from pursuing activities that were illegal and detrimental to the public good” (203). Although not personally targeted, “Lance Malco was livid and realized the gravity of the assault on his businesses. If Jesse Rudy could close Carousel, any club might be next” (206). The Judge overseeing the case declares Carousel a nuisance and orders it closed; although the club is allowed to reopen following an appeal and a $10,000 bond, it’s still a blow to the criminal underground.

Jesse’s next step in his mission to “clean up the Coast” (61) is even bolder: He convenes a grand jury to indict Ginger personally (not the club) on four counts of promoting sex work. If convicted, Ginger could face large fines and go to jail. Lance and the other underworld criminals are rattled: Jesse is no longer going after the institutions but after the people who own them. Lance meets with Fats: “It was time to discuss what to do about Jesse Rudy” (215).

Jesse’s assistant DA, Egan, starts investigating unsolved murders around Biloxi. Egan and Jesse are convinced that Lance is behind the Dusty Cromwell murder—but they can’t prove it. Jesse is determined to take down Lance, one way or another. He finds a man named Haley Stofer who’s in prison for running drugs; Jesse cuts a deal with Haley, helping get him out of prison early in exchange for Haley going undercover as a worker at Red Velvet or Foxy’s, Lance’s two main clubs. Jesse warns Haley: “These guys’ll kill you in an instant. Never drop your guard” (222). Haley agrees to Jesse’s terms.

The Rudy family drives to Oxford, Mississippi, to celebrate Keith’s graduation from law school. While there, they meet his new girlfriend, Ainsley. After the graduation, Ginger’s trial begins. The first step is jury selection. Fats and Rudd manage to obtain the jury list, and Rudd assures Lance: “Sixty names. Fats says he knows at least half of them” (224). It’s apparent that Fats and Russ are planning to tamper with the jury. Although Ginger is Lance’s competitor, it’s in his interests that she wins her case; it would set a dangerous precedent if she lost. The trial goes ahead with a lot of public attention on it. Shortly before the jury votes, Jesse receives an anonymous note on his car that reads: “Joe Nunzio [one of the jurors] got $2,000 cash to vote not guilty” (231). Jesse ignores the note. In the end, the jury can’t reach an anonymous decision, resulting in a mistrial. Ginger walks free.