In Chapter 15 of To Kill a Mockingbird, discuss why the men in the cars show up at the jailhouse so late?

The group of men from Old Sarum (mostly Cunningham family
members, apparently) showed up at the jail with the intent of lynching Tom Robinson. Atticus had
been warned by some townspeople earlier that Tom's stay in the local jail may not be safe, and
there is also mention of the Ku Klux Klan afterward. It is safe to assume that the men were
planning to take Tom from the jail by force while Sheriff Heck Tate was out "on a snipe
hunt"--investigating a bogus call that sent him "deep in the woods" deliberately meant to keep
him away from the jail. As in many scenes in To Kill a Mockingbird, the
darkness of the night is meant to hide the activities of its characters (Boo prowling around at
night, Jem paying night visits to the Radley house). The lynch mob probably thought it would be
safer to take Tom and hang him in the shadows of the night in order to better protect their own
identities .