Sycamore Row - John Grisham

panel. He was brash, loud, smart, fearless and could be very intimidating in court and
out. When necessary, he could turn on the charm in front of a jury. There were always
casualties in a Sistrunk trial, and he showed no concern for who got hurt. Litigating
against him was so unpleasant that potential defendants had been known to settle
quickly.
Such tactics might work in the racially charged atmosphere of the Memphis federal
court system, but never in Ford County, not in front of Judge Reuben V. Atlee anyway.
Jake had read and reread the motions filed by Sistrunk, and the more he read the more
he became convinced that the big lawyer was causing irreparable damage to Lettie
Lang. He showed copies to Lucien and Harry Rex, and both agreed. It was a boneheaded
strategy, guaranteed to backfire and fail.
Two weeks into the case, and Jake was ready to walk away if Sistrunk stayed in the
game. He filed a motion to exclude the motions filed by Sistrunk and Buckley, on the
grounds that they had no standing in court. He was the attorney for the will proponents,
not them. He planned to lean on Judge Atlee to put them in their place; otherwise, he
would happily go home.
Russell Amburgh was discharged and disappeared from the matter. He was replaced
by the Honorable Quince Lundy, a semiretired lawyer from Smithfield, and an old friend
of Judge Atlee’s. Lundy had chosen the peaceful career of a tax adviser, thus avoiding
the horrors of litigation. And as the substitute executor or administrator, as he was
officially known, he would be expected to perform his tasks with little regard for the
will contest. His job was to gather Mr. Hubbard’s assets, appraise them, protect them,
and report to the court. He hauled the records from the Berring Lumber Company to
Jake’s office in Clanton and stored them in a room downstairs next to the small library.
He began making the one-hour commute and arrived promptly each morning at ten.
Luckily, he and Roxy hit it off and there was no drama.
Drama, though, was brewing in a different part of the office. Lucien seemed to be
acquiring the habit of stopping by each day, nosing around in the Hubbard matter,
digging through the library, barging into Jake’s office, offering opinions and advice,
and pestering Roxy, who couldn’t stand him. Lucien and Quince had mutual friends, and
before long they were drinking pots of coffee and telling stories about colorful old
judges who’d been dead for decades. Jake stayed upstairs with his door closed while
little work was being done downstairs.
Lucien was also being seen in and around the courthouse, for the first time in many
years. The humiliation of his disbarment had faded. He still felt like a pariah, but he was
such a legend, for all the wrong reasons, that people wanted to say hello. Where you
been? What’re you up to these days? He was often seen in the land records, digging
through dusty old deed books late in the afternoon, like a detective searching for clues.
Late in October, Jake and Carla awoke at 5:00 on a Tuesday morning. They quickly
showered, dressed, said good-bye to Jake’s mother, who was babysitting and sleeping on