Sycamore Row - John Grisham

from a sycamore tree.
“What time did he call you that Sunday morning?” Jake asked.
“Around nine, said to meet him at the bridge at two.”
“And you arrived at two on the dot, right?”
“Yes sir, I did.”
Jake’s plan was to use Boggs to illustrate how Seth took care of the details. He would
later argue to the jury that Seth left the note on the table, packed up his rope and
ladder, drove to the site, and made sure he was good and dead when Calvin arrived at
2:00 p.m. He wanted to be found not long after he died. Otherwise, it could have been
days.
Lanier had nothing to ask. The witness was dismissed.
“Call your next witness, Mr. Brigance,” Judge Atlee said.
Jake said, “The proponents call the county coroner, Finn Plunkett.”
Finn Plunkett was a rural mail carrier when he was first elected county coroner
thirteen years earlier. At the time, he had no experience in medicine; none was required
in Mississippi. He had never visited a crime scene. The fact that the state still elected its
county coroners was odd enough; it was one of the last states to do so. Indeed, it was
one of the few to ever initiate the ritual to begin with. For the past thirteen years, Finn
had been called at all hours of the day and night to such locations as nursing homes,
hospitals, accident scenes, honky-tonks, rivers and lakes, and homes wrecked by
violence. His typical routine was to hover over a corpse and solemnly pronounce, “Yep,
he’s dead.” Then he would speculate on the cause of death and sign a certificate.
He had been present when Seth was lowered to the ground. He’d said, “Yep, he’s
dead.” Death by hanging, a suicide. Asphyxiation and a broken neck. With Jake leading
him through his testimony, he quickly explained to the jury what was already painfully
obvious. Wade Lanier had no cross-examination.
Jake called to the stand his ex-secretary, Roxy Brisco, who, since she’d left the office
with bad blood, had initially refused to testify. So Jake issued a subpoena and explained
she might go to jail if she ignored it. She quickly came around, and took the stand
dressed fashionably for the moment. Tag-teaming, they walked through the events of the
morning of October 3, when she arrived at the office with the mail. She identified the
envelope, letter, and two-page will from Seth Hubbard, and Judge Atlee admitted them
into evidence as exhibits for the proponents. There was no objection from the other side.
Following a script that had been suggested by His Honor, Jake projected on the screen
an enlarged version of the letter to him from Seth. He also handed a copy to each juror.
Judge Atlee said, “Now, ladies and gentlemen, we’re going to pause for a moment while
each of you carefully reads this letter.”
The courtroom was instantly silent as the jurors read their copies and the spectators
studied the screen.
… herein you will find my last will and testament, every word written by me and signed
and dated by me. I’ve checked the law of Mississippi and am satisfied that it is a proper