Sycamore Row - John Grisham

“I did. Mr. Hubbard asked me if I’d ever driven a new Cadillac. I said no. I had said
somethin’ earlier about how nice the car was, and so he asked me if I wanted to drive it.
At first I said no, but he handed me the keys. So I drove it over to the office. I was a
nervous wreck.”
“You drove him over?” Zeitler repeated. Around the table all heads were low as the
lawyers scribbled furiously, their minds spinning. In perhaps the most famous will
contest in the history of the state, the beneficiary, who was not a blood relative, actually
drove the dying person to the lawyer’s office to sign a will that cut out all family and
left everything to the beneficiary, the driver. The Supreme Court invalidated the last will
on the grounds of undue influence, and gave as a significant reason the fact that the
“surprise beneficiary” had been so involved in the making of the new will. Since that
court decision thirty years earlier, it was not unusual for a lawyer to ask “Who drove
him over?” when an unexpected will was discovered.
“Yes,” she said. Jake watched the other eight lawyers as they reacted exactly as he
anticipated. It was a gift to them, and a hurdle for him to clear.
Zeitler carefully arranged some notes, then said, “How long were you in his office?”
“I didn’t look at no clock, but I’d say a couple of hours.”
“Who else was there?”
“No one. He said they usually didn’t work on Saturdays, at least not in the office.”
“I see.” For the next hour, Zeitler probed through that Saturday morning. He asked
Lettie to draw a diagram of the office building to establish where she cleaned and where
Mr. Hubbard spent the time. She said he never left his office and the door was shut. No,
she did not go in there, not even to clean. She did not know what he was working on or
what he was doing in his office. He came and went with his everyday briefcase, but she
had no idea what was in it. He appeared to be clearheaded, certainly able to drive if
he’d wanted, and she knew little about his pain medications. Yes, he was frail and
weak, but he had gone to the office every day that week. If anyone else saw them at the
office, she was not aware of it. Yes, she drove the Cadillac back to Mr. Hubbard’s house,
then she went home, arriving there around noon.
“And he never mentioned the fact that he was writing his last will?”
“Objection,” Jake said. “She’s already answered that twice.”
“Okay, yes, well, I just wanted to make sure.”
“It’s in the record.”
“Sure.” Having scored big, Zeitler was reluctant to move on. He established that Lettie
drove the Cadillac on that day only; she rarely saw pill bottles or drugs around the
house; she suspected he kept his meds in his briefcase; at times he was in severe pain; he
never talked about suicide; she never witnessed bizarre behavior that would suggest he
was under the influence of medications; he was not a drinker but occasionally kept a
few beers in the refrigerator; and he kept a desk in his bedroom but almost never
worked at home.
By noon Tuesday, Lettie was ready to quit. She had a long lunch in Jake’s office,
again with Portia, then took a nap on a sofa.