The Guardians

Frankie and Post gain access to the deserted Taft home. It’s overrun by wildlife, spiders, and snakes. They find what they’re looking for: Three cardboard boxes, labeled “Ruiz County Sheriff’s Department—Evidence File QM 14” (359).

Glen arranges a meeting between Frankie and Post, and the current Seabrook prosecutor, Patrick McCutcheon, and the current sheriff, Wink Castle. Patrick and Wink been reluctant to get involved in the old case until Post revealed the discovery of the old boxes of evidence that Pfitzner tried to burn. The men agree to open the boxes together, on video tape. Post suggests: “If the flashlight is there, gentlemen, then I want the option of keeping it and having it analyzed by our experts, Dr. Kyle Benderschmidt and Dr. Tobias Black” (363). The men agree. They open the boxes. The flashlight is inside.

Post explains the flashlight’s significance:

The flashlight was planted by Pfitzner and it was carefully photographed. You’ve seen the pictures. Pfitzner knew he could find a quack like Paul Norwood who would look at them, without ever examining the flashlight, and feed the jury the prosecution’s theory that it was used by the killer, Quincy, to fire away in the dark. The reason Pfitzner wanted the flashlight to disappear was that he was afraid that another expert, one with better training than Norwood, might examine it for the defense and tell the truth. Pfitzner also knew that a Black guy in a white town would be much easier to convict. (366-67).

The men all agree to have the blood on the flashlight DNA tested. If it matches Quincy’s blood, it links him to the crime. If not, the prosecutor and the sheriff will help Post get Quincy out of prison as soon as possible.

Frankie and Post deliver the flashlight to Dr. Benderschmidt. His lab will do the testing. Frankie and Post leave Dr. Benderschmidt to take care of the testing.

Dr. Benderschmidt provides the results of his forensic investigation. The blood on the flashlight isn’t human. Dr. Benderschmidt suspects that Pfitzner killed a rabbit and doused the flashlight in its blood before planting it in Quincy’s car. Post calls Quincy in the hospital to tell him the good news—this is strong evidence that can help support his exoneration. Guardian Ministries puts together a new petition for post-conviction relief on Quincy’s behalf. This time, the courts agree to reexamine the case. There will be a hearing in three weeks.

The narrative jumps forward to the hearing, three weeks later. This brings together all the painstaking work the Guardian Ministries team has done over the past months and throughout the book’s narrative, piecing together many pieces of evidence to complete the puzzle and show how Quincy was framed by Pfitzner in the employ of the drug cartels. The evidence presented includes:

• The flashlight with the animal blood on it, which Pfitzner planted in Quincy’s car and then attempted to destroy in a fire.
• The expert testimony from Dr. Benderschmidt that the blood on the flashlight is animal blood.
• Testimonies from Zeke Huffey and Carrie Holland Pruitt, confirming that they lied in the original murder case to put Quincy away.
• Testimony from June Walker, Quincy’s ex-wife, confirming that she lied in the original case when she said that Quincy had a shotgun and that he had a flashlight similar to the one found at the Keith Russo crime scene.

June’s testimony is a surprise, as she had been resisting working with Guardian Ministries for months. After her testimony, she and Quincy hug and cry. He is pleasantly surprised that she’s told the truth and forgives her for the past lie.

Guardian Ministries meets with Bill Cannon, the lawyer who represented Quincy at the hearing and who will also represent Quincy’s civil case. Quincy could get up to $10 million if the civil case is a success. The mood is celebratory. However, Quincy is technically still a prisoner (although being kept in a hospital, where he continues to recover). Following the hearing, the Guardian Ministries team is optimistic. Meanwhile, Quincy feels at peace. He has forgiven June, Zeke, and Carrie for testifying against him: “He closed his eyes and asked God to take away all of his hate, and in a flash a huge burden left his shoulders. He could actually feel the release as he exhaled. He forgave Zeke Huffey, and he forgave Carrie Holland, and he feels wonderfully, beautifully unburdened” (399).

The Judge gives his final verdict in Quincy’s case, vacating his conviction and commuting his sentence. The judge also apologizes to Quincy on behalf of the criminal justice system (although he had nothing to do with putting Quincy away initially). People cry and hug. Quincy will get $50,000 from the state for every year he was in jail (23 years). Standing with Frankie, who got a similar deal from the state of Georgia when he was exonerated, and Quincy, Post muses: “It dawns on me that I’m in the presence of two Black millionaires, though their fortunes were earned in ways that defy description” (413).

Quincy, Frankie, and Post drive a pickup truck to Savanna, Georgia, in a celebratory mood. They’re caught speeding and pulled over by the police. Post puts on his clerical collar and gives an extra one to Frankie. The cop who pulls them over is Black. The following exchange takes place:

‘Why are you driving this?’ [the cop] asks.

Frankie shrugs, says nothing.

‘I was expecting some Georgia cracker. Now I got a Black reverend.’ He looks across at me, takes in my collar. ‘And a white one too’ (415).

The officer concludes, “God told me to let you go” (415). Post then explains the circumstances—that Quincy has just gotten out of jail after 23 years after a false conviction. The Black officer responds by providing the three men in the pickup truck with a full police escort. The chapter ends with them driving 80 miles per hour down the highway, the police car leading the way for them.