Chapter 12 Summary

Graham meets with the Jacobi's attorney and discusses the fact that he is the family's executor, even though he has only known the family a short time. The Jacobis only recently moved to Birmingham after Mr. Jacobi was transferred from Detroit. The lawyer, Byron Metcalf, also tells Graham that the Jacobis did not have much in personal effects, because they suffered a catastrophic house fire before their move. Graham insists on looking at what personal effects they did have, in order to get a better feeling of what kind of family they were and perhaps to find a connection between the Jacobis and the Leedses.

Metcalf also tells Graham about Mr. Jacobi's eldest son, a product of another marriage, who recently moved from California to Birmingham to live with his father after spending some time in jail. Graham goes to the local college...