The Summons

would not be greatly different than life apart from him. This day was long in coming, and he would simply take it in stride and go on

lamp on the rolltop, and the shadows were long and dark. Tomorrow he

e needed

became sullen and wanted to drive to Memphis. Ray suggested he simply stay there. "S

r normal circumstances, invite Forrest to stay with him, but th

n he was cold sober, he was intractable after a few drinks. Ray had seen it more ti

m at the Deep Rock Motel north of town. "I used to go there wh

f fleas," Ha

s it a

's wife?"

nt to know,"

eleven, and the house had been

s not working. The Judge could not operate a screwdriver and Ray had inherited this lack of mechanical skill. Every window had been closed and latched, and

Sitting in his father's sanctuary, he m

d was impeccable. Rarely did the Appellate Court reverse one of his decisions. Often he was asked by his colleagues to hear untouchable cases in their districts. He was a guest lecturer at the Ole

unty were approved without his endorsement, and few things he opposed were ever attempted. At various times he served on every local board, council,

ory and the Bible and wrote articles on the law. Never once had he t

argaret, who died suddenly of an aneury

way he managed to siph

in the drawers. Surely his father had left a clue, if not an outright explanation. There had to be a trail. Ray couldn't th

Blake & Son's boxes had made him anxious. He would wait until early morning, when there was plenty

the broom closet, where he could see the front drive and the house next door. Upstairs he found the Judge's .38-caliber Smith & Wesson

as and what he was hearing. A pecking sound, then a more violent shaking, then silence. A long pause as he poised himself on the mattress and grippe

wenty-seven

the list, first th

eaves or limbs brushing in the wind. Tap, tap, tap, then

the house had people in it, so whoever this fool was he didn't care. He pro

g like a sprinter. He stopped in the dark hallway and listened to the silen

edside gun loaded. The noise was louder and coming from a small bedroom they had once used for guests, but for decades now it had been collecting boxes of junk. He slowly nudged

t seemed like an hour, sweating, listening, swatting spiders, hearing nothing. The shadows rose and fell. A lig

its, according to his mother, because it was an old house where dozens had died. They had

host stories and

ing the three windows with his gun ready. If there had actually been an intruder, the noise evidently spooked h

ungy as the Deep Rock was, it had

ctical decision to crawl instead of slide, and by the time he got back to the foyer his knees were screaming. He stopped at the French doors that led

g in the darkness of his childhood home, armed, frightened out of his mind, ready to jump out of his skin, and all because

oor, footsteps on boards. Then the doorknob rattled, the flimsy one with the malfunctioning lock. Whoever h

frown on drastic action in this situation. He crouched beside the kitchen table, took aim at a spot high in the window above the sink, and began squ

c, Ray grabbed the empty pitcher of tea on the counter and hurled it at the door. To his great relief, it made more noise than any bullet could possibly have done. Scared out of his wits, he h

ept glass, making as m

as the only cop protecting Clanton at that time, and he confessed he wasn't really needed. "Nothin' ever happens this early Monday morning," he said. "Folks are asleep, gettin' ready for work." With a little prodding, he reviewed the crime scene in Ford County - stolen pickups, fights at the honky-tonks, drug activity in Lowtown, the colored section. Hadn't had a murder in four years, he said proudly. A branch bank got robbed two years ago. He prattled on and took a second cup. Ray would keep pouring it, and brewing it if necessary, until sunrise

away. The tapping came back, but he did not hear it. The kitchen door, now secured by a