52 pages • 1 hour read
John GrishamA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Jeri’s private investigator tracks down Officer Ozment, who now works at the Pelican Point hotel. The investigator shows Ozment a photocopy of the Lanny Verno case report. Ozment does not remember anything about the case until the investigator asks him whether a lawyer, Ross Bannick, might have been the alleged victim whose name was blacked out. That triggers Ozment’s memory. Thirteen years ago, Lanny painted Bannick’s house and claimed Bannick did not pay him. Bannick claimed Lanny did not finish the job. Lanny pulled a gun on Bannick. With no witnesses or evidence, the judge dismissed the case, enraging Bannick.
While the investigator is speaking with Ozment, the hotel staff record the license number on the investigator’s car and trace it back to Hertz rentals.
Lacy meets with Jeri at a hotel. Jeri gives her the complaint about the judge, calling herself “Betty Roe”. She has included only three of the murders in the complaint: Lanny Verno, Lanny’s supervisor Dunwoody, and Perry Kronke. Those seem to be the ones most directly connected to the judge. Now the BJC has 45 days to investigate the complaint before they deliver it to Bannick. If they find evidence for the murders, they will have to go to the police.
By John Grisham