Sycamore Row - John Grisham

everywhere. There are gaps in everything and I guess it’s because of the courthouse
burning down.”
Jake leaned on a file cabinet and pondered things. “So, they were fighting over some
land in 1928.”
“Yes, and it’s safe to say it’s the eighty acres Seth owned when he died. We know from
Lucien’s research that Sylvester owned no other land at that time. Cleon Hubbard took
title to the property in 1930 and it’s been in the Hubbard family ever since.”
“And the fact that Sylvester still owned the land in 1930 is pretty clear evidence he
won this lawsuit in 1928. Otherwise, Cleon Hubbard would have owned it.”
“That’s what I was going to ask you. You’re the lawyer. I’m just the lowly secretary.”
“You’re becoming a lawyer, Portia. I’m not sure you even need law school. Are you
assuming Sylvester was your great-grandfather?”
“Well, my mother is pretty sure these days that he was her grandfather, that his only
child was Lois, and that Lois was her mother. That would make the old guy my greatgrandfather,
not that we’re that close or anything.”
“Have you told Lucien what his ancestors were up to?”
“No. Should I? I mean, why bother? It’s not his fault. He wasn’t alive.”
“I would do it just to torment him. He’ll feel like crap if he knows his people
represented old man Hubbard, and lost.”
“Come on, Jake. You know how Lucien hates his family and their history.”
“Yes, but he loves their assets. I would tell him.”
“Do you think the Wilbanks firm has any of its old records?”
Jake grunted and smiled and said, “I doubt if they go back sixty years. There’s a pile
of junk in the attic, but nothing this old. As a rule, lawyers throw away nothing, but
over time the stuff just disappears.”
“Can I go through the attic?”
“I don’t care. What are you looking for?”
“The file, something with clues. It’s pretty clear there was a dispute over the eighty
acres, but what was behind it? And what happened in the case? How could a black man
win a lawsuit over land in the 1920s in Mississippi? Think about it, Jake. A white
landowner hired the biggest law firm in town, one with all the power and connections,
to sue some poor black man over a property dispute. And the black man won, or so it
appears.”
“Maybe he didn’t win. Maybe the case was still dragging on when Sylvester died.”
“Exactly. That’s it, Jake. That’s what I have to find out.”
“Good luck. I’d tell Lucien everything and enlist his help. He’ll cuss his ancestors, but
he does that before breakfast most days anyway. He’ll get over it. Believe me, they did
far worse.”
“Great. I’ll tell him, and I’ll start digging through the attic this afternoon.”
“Be careful. I go up there once a year and only when I have to. I seriously doubt you’ll
find anything.”
“We’ll see.”