Sycamore Row - John Grisham

seen the other will, the thick one, but I’m pretty damned certain I like it better. Why
should I be an advocate for this slipshod, last-minute, handwritten piece of crap that
gives everything to an undeserving black housekeeper who probably had too much
influence over the old boy. Know what I mean?”
Jake nodded slightly and frowned with great suspicion. After thirty minutes with this
guy, he was fairly certain he didn’t want to spend the next year with him. Replacing an
executor was generally no big deal, and Jake knew he could convince the judge that this
guy needed to go. Amburgh glanced around again and said softly, “It makes no sense.
Seth worked like a dog the last ten years of his life to build a fortune. He took enormous
risks. He got lucky. And then, he dumps it all in the lap of some woman who didn’t have
a damned thing to do with his success. Kinda makes me sick, Mr. Brigance. Sick and
very suspicious.”
“Then don’t serve as executor, Mr. Amburgh. I’m sure the court can find someone else
to do the job.” Jake picked up the will, creased the folds, and stuck it back into his
pocket. “But sleep on it. There’s no rush.”
“When does the war start?”
“Soon. The other lawyers will show up with the other will.”
“Should be fascinating.”
“Thanks for your time, Mr. Amburgh. Here’s my card.” Jake left his business card and
a $5 bill on the table and hurried out. He sat in his car for a moment, thinking, trying to
collect his thoughts and get his mind focused on a contested estate worth $20 million.
A year earlier, Clanton had gossiped its way through a lawsuit over an insurance
policy covering a fertilizer plant that had mysteriously burned to the ground. Its owner
was a local shyster named Bobby Carl Leach, a shifty operator with a history of burned
buildings and lawsuits. Fortunately, Jake was not involved in the litigation; he avoided
Leach at all costs. But during the trial, it was revealed that Leach had a net worth of
about $4 million. There was nothing liquid about his balance sheet, but when his
liabilities were subtracted from his assets, there was an impressive figure for his equity.
This had led to countless discussions and arguments over who, exactly, was the richest
person in Ford County. The debates had raged over early morning coffee around the
square, and in bars where bankers met after hours, and throughout the courthouse
where lawyers huddled to exaggerate the latest testimony, all over town, literally.
Bobby Carl, with $4 million, was certainly at the top of the list. The Wilbanks clan
would have been had Lucien not squandered the family fortune decades earlier. Several
farmers were mentioned, but only out of habit. They had “family money,” which, by the
late 1980s, meant they owned sections of land but struggled to pay their bills. A man
named Willie Traynor had sold The Ford County Times eight years earlier for $1.5
million, and there were rumors he’d doubled his money in the stock market. However,
few rumors about Willie had ever been taken seriously. A ninety-eight-year-old woman
held bank stock worth $6 million. As the contest wore on, an anonymous list appeared
in a court clerk’s office and was soon faxed all over town. It was cleverly labeled
“Forbes Top Ten List of Richest Ford Countians.” Everybody had a copy, and this fueled
the gossip. The list was edited, enlarged, detailed, amended, and modified and even