In the Heat of the Night by John Dudley Ball

Colbert), Larry Gates (Endicott), James Patterson (Mr. Before long, Tibbs is schooling Gillespie in modern police methods and schooling the town in how to deal with a proud, capable black man who refuses to accept second-class citizen status.Ĭast: Sidney Poitier (Virgil Tibbs), Rod Steiger (Chief Gillespie), Warren Oates (Sam Wood), Lee Grant (Mrs. Things heat up further for Gillespie when Tibbs's police chief and the victim's widow insist he stay to help with the case. But his first suspect, a black man caught leaving town at the local train station, turns out to be Virgil Tibbs, a Philadelphia police detective passing through after visiting his mother. When a Chicago businessman is murdered in sleepy Sparta, MS, local police chief Ben Gillespie is under pressure to solve the case quickly. The two men shake hands in acknowledgment of the mutual respect that has grown between them. With the case closed, Gillespie drives Tibbs to the railway depot. Tibbs confronts him, and Henshaw confesses that he murdered Colbert to obtain the money for Delores' abortion. Upon learning about an abortionist called Mama Caleba, Tibbs visits the woman and he is still with her when Delores arrives, accompanied by the actual father of her child, diner counterman Ralph Henshaw. After Gillespie has wrongly charged his own deputy, Sam Wood, with the murder, the local tease, Delores Purdy, is dragged into the police station by her brother, who claims that she is pregnant by Wood. Gradually, as Tibbs and Gillespie combine their efforts, a grudging tolerance develops between them. Tibbs, for his part, is so determined to establish the guilt of Eric Endicott, an influential but insolent and bigoted conservative who opposed Colbert's progressive plans for a modern factory, that he too makes a false accusation. As the investigation gets underway, Gillespie accuses young Harvey Oberst of the murder when he catches him with the dead man's wallet, but Tibbs quickly proves that Oberst stole the wallet after he found the body. Though enraged, Gillespie reluctantly acquiesces in Tibbs's findings. Ordered by his superior in Philadelphia to assist with the case, Tibbs conducts the postmortem examination and thus displays his superior knowledge of criminology. But, to the consternation of police chief Bill Gillespie, Tibbs turns out to be a top homicide detective from Philadelphia who has been in town visiting his mother. Hunting for suspects, the police pick up Virgil Tibbs, a well-dressed Negro, and bring him to headquarters for questioning. In Sparta, Mississippi, one hot September night, the murdered body of wealthy industrialist Philip Colbert is found in an alley.

In the Heat of the Night by John Dudley Ball