Sycamore Row - John Grisham

“About a year, then she moved away.”
“Before Mrs. Gillenwater, where did you work?”
“Ummm, that would be the Glovers, in Karaway.”
“And for how long?”
“Again, I can’t remember exactly, but it was three or four years.”
“Okay, I’m not trying to nail down specifics, Ms. Lang. Just remember things as best
you can, all right?”
“Yes sir.”
“And before the Glovers, where did you work?”
“That was Miss Karsten, here in town. I worked for her six years. She was my favorite.
I never wanted to leave her but she died suddenly.”
“Thank you.” Lanier scribbled on his legal pad as if he was learning something new.
“Now, just to summarize, Ms. Lang, you worked for Mr. Hubbard for three years, the
Tingleys three, the school two, Mrs. Gillenwater one, the Glovers three or four, and six
years for Miss Karsten. According to my math, that’s approximately twenty years. Does
that sound about right?”
“It does, give or take a year here, a year there,” Lettie said, confidently.
“And you’ve had no other employers in the past twenty or so years?”
She shook her head. No.
Lanier was going somewhere, but Jake couldn’t stop him. The inflections of his voice,
the slight hints of suspicion, the arched eyebrows, the matter-of-factness of his
sentences. He was trying to disguise all these, but to Jake’s trained ears and eyes they
meant trouble.
“That’s six employers in twenty years, Ms. Lang. How many times were you fired?”
“None. I mean I was terminated after Mr. Hubbard died, and Miss Karsten got sick,
and Mr. and Mrs. Tingley passed, but that was just because the job sorta played out, you
know?”
“You’ve never been fired for doing a bad job, or for doing something wrong?”
“No sir. Never.”
Lanier abruptly backed away from the podium, looked up at Judge Atlee, and said,
“That’s all, Judge. I reserve the right to recall this witness later in the trial.” He walked
smugly to his table, and, at the last second, Jake saw him wink at Lester Chilcott.
Lettie had just lied, and Lanier was about to expose her. Jake, though, had no idea
what was coming; thus, he had no way to prevent it. His instincts were to get her off the
witness stand. He stood and said, “Your Honor, the proponents rest.”
Judge Atlee said, “Do you have some witnesses, Mr. Lanier?”
“Oh yes.”
“Then call the first one.”
“The contestants call Mr. Fritz Pickering.”
“Who?” Jake blurted.
“Fritz Pickering,” Lanier repeated loudly and sarcastically, as if Jake were hard of
hearing.
“Never heard of him. He’s not on your witness list.”