Sycamore Row - John Grisham

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porch and no one raked them. For a moment, Jake was tempted to stop, knock on the door, barge in, have a drink with Willie, and talk business. But the temptation passed and he headed home.
24 On the morning of Christmas Eve, Jake slept late, or as late as possible. With Carla dead to the world, he eased out of bed at seven, and without a sound went to the kitchen. He brewed coffee, scrambled eggs, and toasted muffins, and when he returned with breakfast in bed she grudgingly came to life. They were eating slowly and talking quietly, thoroughly enjoying a rare moment, when Hanna bounded into the room full of anticipation and chattering nonstop about Santa Claus. She wedged herself between her parents and helped herself to a muffin. Without prompting, she reviewed everything she’d put in her letter to the North Pole, and seemed genuinely concerned that she might be asking for too much. Both parents patiently disagreed. She was, after all, the only child and usually got what she wanted. Plus, there was a surprise that would overshadow all of her requests. An hour later, Jake and Hanna left for the square while Carla stayed home to wrap packages. Roxy was off for the day, and Jake needed to retrieve a gift for his wife. The office was always the best hiding place. He expected to find no one there, but was not too surprised when he saw Lucien in the conference room, digging through a stack of old files. He looked as though he’d been there for hours, and, more important, he looked clean and sober. “We need to talk,” he said. Hanna loved to rummage through her father’s big office, so Jake turned her loose upstairs and went to find coffee. Lucien had already consumed half a pot and seemed sufficiently wired. “You’re not gonna believe this,” he said as he closed the conference room door. Jake fell into a chair, stirred his coffee, and asked, “Can this wait until Monday?” “No, shut up and listen. The great question here is, Why would a man do what Seth Hubbard did? Right? Make a last-minute will, crude and handwritten, cut out his family, and leave everything to a person who has no claim to any of his fortune? This is the question that haunts you now, and it will only get bigger until we find the answer.” “Assuming there is an answer.” “Yes. So to unravel this mystery, and to hopefully help you win this case, we have to answer that question.” “And you’ve found it?” “Not yet, but I’m on the trail.” Lucien waved at a pile of debris on the table—files, copies of old deeds, notes. “I have examined the land records of the two hundred acres Seth Hubbard owned in this county when he died. A lot of the records were destroyed when the courthouse burned after the second war, but I’ve been able to reconstruct much
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This book is a work of fiction. Nam
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Contents Cover Title Page Copyright
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1 They found Seth Hubbard in the ge
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Touching nothing, he backed away an
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2 Jake Brigance stared at the brigh
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shift and whose primary responsibil
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Dell was an old tart with the quick
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indictment. Secretly, Jake hoped Ma
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she left; now, though, he almost mi
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in knowing I will not be there to s
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She did as he instructed, and when
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“They’ll make all sorts of clai
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4 The drive from central Memphis to
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Lettie carefully poured the coffee
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minutes of near silence, they lost
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suicide. The second was addressed n
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5 By noon Monday the entire bar ass
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Jake said, “Tell me about Seth Hu
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“My client wants me to wait until
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and her husband rarely made things
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6 The parking lot of the Irish Road
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pretending to mourn at $200 an hour
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disbelief, then pointed to the park
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“I just got home and you’re rea
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“It’s very important, Ms. Lang,
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ead the two-page will. Slowly, her
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“You have a filthy mind. I love i
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8 Russell Amburgh hid behind a news
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good hurricane season, lots of dama
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was out of his mind. You can’t ma
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fictionalized, but through it all t
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seen liquor in the house; Seth didn
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the picnic table. An hour earlier,
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in ten years. And your family, with
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10 Three well-dressed lawyers from
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in different circles. As the favore
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everyone who crossed him and defend
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“Sure. I’d fight over a lot les
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11 A nosy paralegal sniffing throug
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Herschel was sitting behind the whe
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estate here and there. One of my jo
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“No comment, Dumas,” Jake said,
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the law than you do anyway. And, I
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Judge Atlee said, “Before we get
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“Skole, Your Honor. Skole, Rumky,
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people in the courtroom. Even Judge
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out of state. Otherwise, everyone i
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stairwell shook. Roxy called after
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To Jake, it was significant that Ha
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“No. My job is to protect the wil
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contest. Hell, we got three trials
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14 The Berring Lumber Company was a
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“That was my job. We talked every
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Kamila said, “He got pretty aggre
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“But why?” she managed to ask.
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suspect. He ran a ten-man litigatio
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too few square feet. Now, though, t
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“I think so.” Benjy dealt black
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so much, and with such authority, t
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the window. They rode in silence un
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panel. He was brash, loud, smart, f
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mother had been blown away by a saw
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jury also ruled against nasty littl
Page 129 and 130: 17 The usual white-collar crowd gat
Page 131 and 132: The lawyer calmly said, “Ethics a
Page 133 and 134: went to court. “I hear he’s got
Page 135 and 136: closed his eyes and heard the voice
Page 137 and 138: taken. He shook hands with Wade Lan
Page 139 and 140: client can get a fair trial. This i
Page 141 and 142: They looped twice around the square
Page 143 and 144: was blatantly obvious they were the
Page 145 and 146: Jake welcomed her into his office.
Page 147 and 148: Jake nodded and smiled. This woman
Page 149 and 150: had been a long time since he viewe
Page 151 and 152: Portia said. “It’s a lot easier
Page 153 and 154: 20 Ancil Hubbard was no longer Anci
Page 155 and 156: start slingin’ all your racist sh
Page 157 and 158: “In due course,” Jake said. “
Page 159 and 160: office, one of three empty ones ups
Page 161 and 162: corrected Jake in open court on two
Page 163 and 164: Hubbard is Wednesday, his sister Th
Page 165 and 166: When everyone was in place and some
Page 167 and 168: Lanier introduced himself with a sa
Page 169 and 170: Some come and go.” Jake glared at
Page 171 and 172: incident when a friend or business
Page 173 and 174: Death by deposition continued on We
Page 175 and 176: 23 Leaving the courthouse in a hurr
Page 177 and 178: “I suppose. Herschel and Ramona c
Page 179: and I think he paid something like
Page 183 and 184: “What’s the point here, Lucien?
Page 185 and 186: To be fair, there were some Langs i
Page 187 and 188: might just know how to throw one. T
Page 189 and 190: 25 For those contesting the handwri
Page 191 and 192: for pursuing Lettie, but was met wi
Page 193 and 194: typewriters, law books, and more fi
Page 195 and 196: 26 On the last Friday in January, R
Page 197 and 198: adviser had already worn thin. Luci
Page 199 and 200: “And these are the guys from D.C.
Page 201 and 202: Such a conspicuous purchase would n
Page 203 and 204: He produced some paperwork, and the
Page 205 and 206: worked the front while his sister h
Page 207 and 208: 28 On Monday, February 20, Judge At
Page 209 and 210: courtroom, but there were advantage
Page 211 and 212: Judge Atlee relit his pipe with a m
Page 213 and 214: “I’m not his lawyer, okay? Neve
Page 215 and 216: “Chuck Bennett, but I didn’t wa
Page 217 and 218: “I have no idea. Probably one app
Page 219 and 220: since Hubbard died. And now this. N
Page 221 and 222: 30 Early Thursday morning Simeon La
Page 223 and 224: nonetheless serious rules was one t
Page 225 and 226: Lang’s daughter,” he said, and
Page 227 and 228: He owned two furniture factories in
Page 229 and 230: settlement. He has a strategy to fo
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32 Eight days after the Roston trag
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“Saturday is your day off. I’m
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dean was waiting on us at school, t
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case so screwed up it’ll never ge
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me he was no longer counsel of reco
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notoriously clannish and sensitive
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was napping, Lettie gently shook hi
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facing me in Chancery Court, in thi
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everywhere. There are gaps in every
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35 Two weeks before the scheduled s
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clients with the greatest interests
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on, “Now, and listen to me, I wil
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They went through all ninety-seven
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oughly $1.5 million. It took the po
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“No, Lucien, I’m more concerned
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awake. He assumed he was an officer
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37 Jake walked into the Coffee Shop
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Mr. Eli Rady, had filed four lawsui
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“I’m always sober in the mornin
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ack was cramping and Lonny tried to
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“Where’s Mr. Willie going to li
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In six months, he’d gone through
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enough. They drove to a fish shack
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pot, flirting with the clerks who k
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ickering for later.” After the re
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So far, his firm had either spent o
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Jake said, “Judge, I’d like to
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40 Lucien shuffled the deck and def
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“I did,” Lonny said. “Tell me
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“Should I tell Judge Atlee?” Ha
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41 In his defense of Carl Lee Haile
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this?’ However, it is not your re
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was rich, and she also knew his rel
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Funeral Instructions: I want a simp
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holographic will, thus entitled to
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42 The detective was leaving the ho
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eight doses a day of Demerol, at a
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“Not to my knowledge. There was n
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10:00 p.m. Jake asked the easy ques
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happened to be looking for a part-t
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windows, arranged magazines, even w
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“About a year, then she moved awa
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here, Wade. Judge, this is a clear
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Fritz said, “Seventy-five hundred
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“Don’t bet on it. You can’t l
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Lettie stared at him, dumbfounded.
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her deposition back in December and
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“Twelve.” “So it’s been twe
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as a witness until two weeks ago, i
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“We’ll see. Maybe it’s not ov
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airport lounges, all of which he no
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victims. He was well acquainted wit
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emember all the white families she
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46 After butting heads with the Mem
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not a single way to get it in.”
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awake and eager to witness this une
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or so away, and she was yelling and
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And we were certain the sheriff wou
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47 The jurors filed silently out of
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“I’m afraid to ask,” Jake sai
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thought he looked lost. When he cou
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“Are you okay?” Jake whispered
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sipped wine by Harry Rex’s pool a
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admitted to college will qualify fo
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“I’d be delighted.” He was th
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Sycamore Row - John Grisham

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