“Best way to clear the air is to have it all out in the open.”
– Harper Lee
To Kill a Mockingbird, Chapter 30. This is Atticus’s response to Sheriff Heck Tate when the lawman claims that Jem never stabbed Bob Ewell. Atticus thinks that his son Jem killed Ewell in self-defense and that the sheriff is trying to hush it up to protect Jem. Always a firm advocate of honesty and the truth, Atticus believes that justice must be seen to be done, so he won’t countenance any cover-up.