Sycamore Row - John Grisham

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Chapter 39 Chapter 40 Chapter 41 Chapter 42 Chapter 43 Chapter 44 Chapter 45 Chapter 46 Chapter 47 Chapter 48 Other Books by This Author
1 They found Seth Hubbard in the general area where he had promised to be, though not exactly in the condition expected. He was at the end of a rope, six feet off the ground and twisting slightly in the wind. A front was moving through and Seth was soaked when they found him, not that it mattered. Someone would point out that there was no mud on his shoes and no tracks below him, so therefore he was probably hanging and dead when the rain began. Why was that important? Ultimately, it was not. The logistics of hanging oneself from a tree are not that simple. Evidently, Seth thought of everything. The rope was three-quarter-inch braided natural Manila, of some age and easily strong enough to handle Seth, who weighed 160 pounds a month earlier at the doctor’s office. Later, an employee in one of Seth’s factories would report that he had seen his boss cut the fifty-foot length from a spool a week before using it in such dramatic fashion. One end was tied firmly to a lower branch of the same tree and secured with a slapdash mix of knots and lashings. But, they held. The other end was looped over a higher branch, two feet in girth and exactly twenty-one feet from the ground. From there it fell about nine feet, culminating in a perfect hangman’s knot, one that Seth had undoubtedly worked on for some time. The noose was straight from the textbook with thirteen coils designed to collapse the loop under pressure. A true hangman’s knot snaps the neck, making death quicker and less painful, and apparently Seth had done his homework. Other than what was obvious, there was no sign of a struggle or suffering. A six-foot stepladder had been kicked aside and was lying benignly nearby. Seth had picked his tree, flung his rope, tied it off, climbed the ladder, adjusted the noose, and, when everything was just right, kicked the ladder and fell. His hands were free and dangling near his pockets. Had there been an instant of doubt, of second-guessing? When his feet left the safety of the ladder, but with his hands still free, had Seth instinctively grabbed the rope above his head and fought desperately until he surrendered? No one would ever know, but it looked doubtful. Later evidence would reveal that Seth had been a man on a mission. For the occasion, he had selected his finest suit, a thick wool blend, dark gray and usually reserved for funerals in cooler weather. He owned only three. A proper hanging has the effect of stretching the body, so Seth’s trouser cuffs stopped at his ankles and his jacket stopped at his waist. His black wing tips were polished and spotless. His blue necktie was perfectly knotted. His white shirt, though, was stained with blood that had oozed from under the rope. Within hours, it would be known that Seth Hubbard had
Page 3 and 4: This book is a work of fiction. Nam
Page 5: Contents Cover Title Page Copyright
Page 9 and 10: Touching nothing, he backed away an
Page 11 and 12: 2 Jake Brigance stared at the brigh
Page 13 and 14: shift and whose primary responsibil
Page 15 and 16: Dell was an old tart with the quick
Page 17 and 18: indictment. Secretly, Jake hoped Ma
Page 19 and 20: she left; now, though, he almost mi
Page 21 and 22: in knowing I will not be there to s
Page 23 and 24: She did as he instructed, and when
Page 25 and 26: “They’ll make all sorts of clai
Page 27 and 28: 4 The drive from central Memphis to
Page 29 and 30: Lettie carefully poured the coffee
Page 31 and 32: minutes of near silence, they lost
Page 33 and 34: suicide. The second was addressed n
Page 35 and 36: 5 By noon Monday the entire bar ass
Page 37 and 38: Jake said, “Tell me about Seth Hu
Page 39 and 40: “My client wants me to wait until
Page 41 and 42: and her husband rarely made things
Page 43 and 44: 6 The parking lot of the Irish Road
Page 45 and 46: pretending to mourn at $200 an hour
Page 47 and 48: disbelief, then pointed to the park
Page 49 and 50: “I just got home and you’re rea
Page 51 and 52: “It’s very important, Ms. Lang,
Page 53 and 54: ead the two-page will. Slowly, her
Page 55 and 56: “You have a filthy mind. I love i
Page 57 and 58:
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
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17 The usual white-collar crowd gat
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The lawyer calmly said, “Ethics a
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went to court. “I hear he’s got
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closed his eyes and heard the voice
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taken. He shook hands with Wade Lan
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client can get a fair trial. This i
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They looped twice around the square
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was blatantly obvious they were the
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Jake welcomed her into his office.
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Jake nodded and smiled. This woman
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had been a long time since he viewe
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Portia said. “It’s a lot easier
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20 Ancil Hubbard was no longer Anci
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start slingin’ all your racist sh
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“In due course,” Jake said. “
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office, one of three empty ones ups
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corrected Jake in open court on two
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Hubbard is Wednesday, his sister Th
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When everyone was in place and some
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Lanier introduced himself with a sa
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Some come and go.” Jake glared at
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incident when a friend or business
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Death by deposition continued on We
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23 Leaving the courthouse in a hurr
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“I suppose. Herschel and Ramona c
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and I think he paid something like
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24 On the morning of Christmas Eve,
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“What’s the point here, Lucien?
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To be fair, there were some Langs i
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might just know how to throw one. T
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25 For those contesting the handwri
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for pursuing Lettie, but was met wi
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typewriters, law books, and more fi
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26 On the last Friday in January, R
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adviser had already worn thin. Luci
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“And these are the guys from D.C.
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Such a conspicuous purchase would n
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He produced some paperwork, and the
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worked the front while his sister h
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28 On Monday, February 20, Judge At
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courtroom, but there were advantage
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Judge Atlee relit his pipe with a m
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“I’m not his lawyer, okay? Neve
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“Chuck Bennett, but I didn’t wa
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“I have no idea. Probably one app
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since Hubbard died. And now this. N
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30 Early Thursday morning Simeon La
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nonetheless serious rules was one t
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Lang’s daughter,” he said, and
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He owned two furniture factories in
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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
Page 307 and 308:
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
Page 313 and 314:
“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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