Sycamore Row

Ancil’s story had closed so many circles.

With so many thoughts swirling around there were almost no words. Emotions were too high. Lettie thought of her grandmother Esther and the horror of the story. And her mother, a little girl with no clothes, no food, no shelter.

“How’d he know, Mom?” Portia asked.

“Who? Which one? Which story?”

“Seth. How’d he know it was you? How did Seth Hubbard ever find out you were the daughter of Lois Rinds?”

Lettie stared at the spi

Willie Traynor stopped by Jake’s office with a platter of sandwiches and invited himself to lunch. Jake and Harry Rex were upstairs, on the balcony, having a drink. Coffee for Jake, beer for Harry Rex. They appreciated the sandwiches and helped themselves. Willie chose a beer. He said, “You know, when I had the paper, somewhere around 1975, some guy published a book about lynchings. He did his homework, had lots of gory photographs and such, and it was a good read. According to him, and he was from up north and eager to make us look bad, between 1882 and 1968 thirty-five hundred blacks were lynched in the United States. There were also thirteen hundred whites, but most were horse thieves out west. From 1900 on, almost all lynchings were of blacks, including some women and children.”

“Is this really appropriate during lunch?” Harry Rex asked.

“I didn’t know you had such a delicate stomach, big boy,” Willie shot back. “Anyway, guess which state leads the nation in lynchings.”

“I’m afraid to ask,” Jake said.

“You got it. We’re number one, at almost six hundred, and all but forty were black. Georgia is a close second, Texas a close third. So I remember reading this book and thinking, Six hundred is a lot. How many were in Ford County? I went back a hundred years and read every copy of the Times. I found only three, all black, and there was no record of Sylvester Rinds.”

“Who compiled these numbers?” Jake asked.

“There have been studies, but you have to question their validity.”

“If they knew of six hundred,” Harry Rex said, “you can bet there were a lot more.”

Willie took a swig of beer and said, “And guess how many people were charged with murder for taking part in a lynch mob.”

“Zero.”

“You got it. Not a single person. It was the law of the land, and black folks were fair game.”

“Kinda makes me sick,” Jake said.

“Well, old buddy, your jury’s sick too,” Willie said, “and they’re on your side.”

At 1:30, the jurors reassembled in the deliberation room, and there was not a single word uttered about the trial. A bailiff led them into the courtroom. The large screen was gone. There were no more witnesses. Judge Atlee looked down and said, “Mr. Brigance, your closing argument.”

Jake walked to the podium without a legal pad; he had no notes. He began by saying, “This will be the shortest closing argument in the history of this courtroom, because nothing I can say could ever be as persuasive as the testimony of Ancil Hubbard. The longer I talk, the more distance I put between him and your deliberations, so I’ll be brief. I want you to remember everything he said, not that anyone who heard it is likely to forget. Trials often take unexpected turns. When we started this one on Monday, none of us could have predicted that a lynching would explain the mystery of why Seth Hubbard left his fortune to Lettie Lang. His father lynched her grandfather in 1930. And after he killed him, he took his land and scattered his family, and Ancil told that story far better than I’ll ever be able to. For six months, many of us have wondered why Seth did what he did. Now we know. Now it’s clear.

“Personally, I have a new admiration for Seth, a man I never met. In spite of his flaws, and we all have our own, he was a brilliant man. Who else do you know who could put together such a fortune in ten years? But beyond that, he somehow managed to keep track of Esther and Lois, and then Lettie. Some fifty years later, he called Lettie and offered her the job; she did not call him. He pla

Jake stepped over and picked up the handwritten will. “And lastly, I admire Seth because of his sense of justice. With this handwritten will, he is trying to fix a wrong inflicted upon the Rinds family by his father decades ago. It falls upon you, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, to help Seth correct that injustice. Thank you.”

Jake slowly returned to his seat, and, as he did, glanced at the spectators. Sitting on the back row, smiling and nodding, was Lucien Wilbanks.

Three minutes and twenty seconds, Harry Rex said to himself as he punched the timer on his watch.

Judge Atlee said, “Mr. Lanier.”

Wade was limping worse than usual as he made his way to the podium. He and his clients were watching helplessly as the money slipped away yet again. They had had it in the bag. As recently as eight o’clock that morning, they had been mentally spending it.

Wade had little to say at this urgent moment. History had suddenly and unexpectedly reared up and crushed him. However, he was a veteran who’d been in tough spots before. He began, “One of the most important tools a lawyer has in the courtroom is the chance to cross-examine opposing witnesses. The lawyer almost always gets the opportunity to do this, but occasionally, like now, that opportunity is not available. And it’s very frustrating. I feel handcuffed. I’d love to have Ancil here, to ask him some questions. For example, I’d say, ‘Now, Ancil, isn’t it true that you are now in the custody of the Juneau police?’ And, ‘Now, Ancil, isn’t it true you’re under arrest for cocaine distribution and escape from custody?’ And, ‘Now, Ancil, isn’t it true that you’re wanted by the authorities in at least four states for such things as obtaining goods under false pretenses, grand larceny, and nonpayment of child support?’ And, ‘Tell the jury, Ancil, why you haven’t filed a tax return in the past twenty years.’ And, the big one: ‘Isn’t it true, Ancil, that you’re all set to collect a million bucks if Seth’s handwritten will is declared valid?’

“But I can’t do that, ladies and gentlemen, because he is not here. All I can do is caution you. I caution you that everything you’ve just seen and heard from Ancil might not be all that it purports to be.

“For a moment, let’s take Ancil out of the picture. I want you jurors to go back to last night. Remember what you were thinking last night? You left here after hearing some powerful testimony. First, by doctors with unimpeachable credentials, experts who’ve worked with cancer patients and understand the extent to which powerful pain medications disrupt one’s ability to think clearly.” Lanier then went through summaries of the testimonies of Drs. Swaney and Niehoff. It was a closing argument and much leeway was given for the art of persuasion, but Lanier slanted things so perversely that Jake was compelled to stand and say, “Your Honor, I object. I don’t believe that’s what Dr. Niehoff said.”

“Sustained,” Judge Atlee said rudely. “Mr. Lanier, I’ll ask you to stick to the facts.”

Stung, Lanier rambled on about what these fine doctors had said. They had taken the stand only yesterday. It was not necessary to replay such recent testimony. Wade Lanier was stumbling now, and off his game. For the first time since the opening bell, Jake thought he looked lost. When he couldn’t think of anything, he said, repeatedly, “Seth Hubbard lacked testamentary capacity.”