“Mr. Turner,” Quentin says from his place by the defense table, “I can see—indeed we all can see—that you are very anxious to speak. I can understand that, after the testimony of your . . . your former stepfather. I have recalled you because I don’t want to silence anyone who can contribute to our understanding of the full truth in this case. I only ask one thing from you, and I ask it with the gravest possible concern. Please . . . remember that you are still under oath.”

“I know that,” Lincoln says with unalloyed bitterness.

“I don’t say that to insult you, but to remind you that in passion men often say things they later wish to take back.”

As if Lincoln has not already said a dozen such things . . .

“I know what I want to say, old man.”

“Mr. Turner!” Judge Elder says sharply. “Watch your tone, or you’ll pay a price.”

Quentin looks at Lincoln a few more seconds, then nods once and rolls his chair toward the witness box.

“Mr. Turner, did you destroy that second will?”

“I did.”

The collective gasp at this frank admission is like a wind at my back. I’m stunned enough, because I’m pretty sure that act could buy Lincoln two years in the county jail, and maybe longer, since his mother would have been considered elderly and vulnerable at the time.

“I’ll tell you about that in a minute,” Lincoln says. “But first I want to tell you about Junius Jelks.”

Shad looks like he might have a heart attack any second, but he knows there’s nothing he can do to stop this—only delay it.

“Mr. Turner,” Quentin says for form’s sake, “would you describe your familial relationship with Junius Jelks?”

“That man,” Lincoln says, shaking his head, “for most of my life, I thought he was my father. But he wasn’t. He pretended to be, when it suited him. And he taught me a lot, the way a father’s supposed to teach his son. He taught me that a lie was better than the truth, that stealing was better than working, that winning meant nothing if you hadn’t cheated to do it. Winning without cheating was just luck, he said, and any dumb sucker can get lucky.