“I am disinheriting you because I have finally found a cause for which I would give anything, even my life. There is a reporter down here working on Jimmy’s and Luther’s disappearance, still working after all these years. A white man named Henry Sexton. He and a producer are trying to make a movie about the case, and they need money to finish it. I have looked into this man’s eyes, and I trust him in a way I have never trusted anyone but my brother. So I am taking what little money I’ve managed to save and giving it to Mr. Sexton, in the hope that Jimmy’s killers will finally be brought to justice, and the truth brought to light at last. I am still giving Cora and Lincoln small bequests, but less than half of what they were going to get before. You, on the other hand, have no need of money since you are in prison and may well die there. Bribing judges and buying drugs do not count as legitimate needs.

“Cora and I have finally reconciled after all the years of silence since what happened around Mama’s death. I have secured a new will, and I am trusting Cora to make sure my wishes are followed. I believe she’ll do it, but just in case, I have taken one further step to be sure you can’t twist her to your own ends once more. But that’s my business. It’s already done, so don’t try to talk me out of it. My mind is made up. Jimmy was the only one who stayed true to me, and to Mama and Daddy.

“As for us, I thought you broke my son’s heart when you told him that story about the rape, but I understand now that you broke him long before that. I only wish I’d known then, so I could have left you in time to help him. You have so much charm, but there’s something in you that brings out the worst in people. You tempted my sister into adultery, and you even turned my own son against me. I know Cora was at fault also, but she was weak, and you took advantage. That’s what you do, Junius, you exploit human weakness. I know better than to hope that prison will change you any more than it did before, but I pray that you will someday find faith, or at least peace, behind those walls.